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Shas chairman Aryeh Deri dramatically escalated pressure on the coalition on Monday, announcing that his party will block all coalition-backed legislation until key measures sought by the chareidi parties—including legislation protecting Torah study and ending arrests of yeshiva students—are advanced.

The announcement, made during Shas’s weekly faction meeting, reflected growing frustration within the chareidi parties over what they view as the coalition’s failure to deliver on longstanding commitments while arrests of Torah learners continue.

“We informed the coalition chairman that as long as the law to stop the arrests and the Basic Law on Torah study are not advanced, we will not support any coalition legislation,” Deri declared before members of his faction.

During the meeting, Deri also addressed the recent arrests of yeshiva students, expressing outrage over the way authorities have handled the issue.

“The violent arrests of Torah learners must stop,” the Shas leader said, sharply criticizing the treatment of yeshiva students by law enforcement.

At the same time, Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni delivered a similar warning to coalition leaders, making clear that his party would no longer move legislation forward without concrete action on issues important to the chareidi public.

“As long as the Daycare Law is not approved, no law will pass,” Gafni said. He added in unusually blunt language: “I have had enough of false promises—I will not humiliate myself any longer.”

Much of the anger among the chareidi factions stems from Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu’s announcement last week that the Daycare Law would not be passed during the current term, despite the legislation having been one of the highest priorities for the chareidi parties.

At the same time, coalition leaders have made little progress on either the proposed Basic Law on Torah Study or legislation aimed at ending the arrests of yeshiva students, despite repeated assurances that both measures would be addressed.

We reported earlier that the first casualty of the new strategy is expected to be Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s communications reform bill, which the coalition had hoped to advance in the coming weeks.

Senior Shas officials made clear that the blockade would remain in place until the coalition delivers results.

“As long as the Basic Law on Torah Study and the law to stop the arrests are not passed, no law will pass—including the communications bill,” party officials said.

Frustration within the chareidi parties has reached the point where some senior figures are openly questioning the value of their partnership with the coalition.

“It is inconceivable that the prime minister is nearing the end of a term and, after three and a half years, has not succeeded in passing a single major law important to the chareidi community,” one senior official said. “What kind of partnership is this?”

Behind closed doors, some party insiders expressed even deeper disappointment, suggesting that the chareidi factions have exhausted their political leverage.

“We no longer have anything left with which to threaten him,” one senior chareidi figure said. “The moment United Torah Judaism agreed to elections on October 20, as Netanyahu requested, we lost our last source of pressure. We were left with nothing.”

Another senior official offered an even harsher assessment of the situation.

“We failed in everything. We have nothing to show our voters,” he said. “Netanyahu played us again and again, and we followed him like a blind goat.”

{Matzav.com}

Two leading Israeli political commentators delivered a blistering critique of the chareidi parties during a heated discussion on Kol Chai Radio, accusing their leaders of political infighting, missed opportunities, and a failure to unite at a time of unprecedented challenges facing the Torah world.

During a segment on the station’s flagship news program, political analysts Avi Blum and Avi Ravina painted a grim picture of the state of chareidi politics, revealing internal tensions, a reportedly explosive conversation between Aryeh Deri and Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu, and what they described as a breakdown in the ability of the chareidi parties to advance crucial legislation.

Ravina opened by disclosing details of what he described as a particularly tense exchange between Deri and Netanyahu.

“I am reporting here on a difficult, tense, and unusually emotional conversation that took place between Shas chairman Aryeh Deri and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu,” Ravina said. “Deri threw harsh words at Netanyahu and told him directly: ‘You have nothing left to sell us. We do not have an ounce of trust in you anymore.’ The leaders of the chareidi parties understand that they are reaching the end of the term completely empty-handed. The atmosphere in the internal meetings of Shas and United Torah Judaism is described as tense and desperate. The politicians understand they have nothing to bring to the chareidi public ahead of the elections.”

Ravina also dismissed suggestions that major legislation could still be passed before the Knesset dissolves, arguing that the timeline makes such promises unrealistic.

“Who exactly do they think they are fooling?” he asked. “For two full years of a fully right-wing government, they received dozens of deadlines from Netanyahu, believed him time and again, and suffered complete failure. Now, less than a month before the Knesset officially dissolves on July 17, when these laws have not even passed a first reading and are still in preliminary committee stages—they are suddenly going to pass complex Basic Laws within three weeks? That is simply not realistic from a procedural standpoint, and the clear feeling within the coalition is that Netanyahu and the chareidi parties have completely lost control of the situation.”

Attorney and political commentator Avi Blum reserved some of his sharpest criticism not for Netanyahu but for the chareidi parties themselves, rejecting the notion that the prime minister alone should bear responsibility for the legislative stalemate.

“Blaming Netanyahu for ‘divide and conquer’ does an injustice to ourselves,” Blum said. “The chareidi politicians are dividing themselves and handing him that division on a silver platter. We are talking about an existential threat to the Torah world—yeshiva students are being arrested in large numbers, the decrees have reached even the large Gur chassidus, and yet how is it possible that, until this very moment, the party leaders are incapable of sitting around one table and presenting a united front?”

Blum argued that personal rivalries and political calculations have prevented progress even when workable solutions have been placed on the table.

“Aryeh Deri put forward an excellent emergency bill to stop the arrests, one that does not require quotas or sanctions. But because it is Deri’s bill, people in United Torah Judaism refuse to give him credit for it. Degel HaTorah is dragging its feet. On the other hand, Agudas Yisroel is proposing a bill to dissolve the Knesset without coordinating with anyone. It is an unbelievable absurdity that, during the most fateful days for the yeshiva world, the offices of chareidi lawmakers are busy leaking against one another and throwing mud at each other.”

Blum concluded with an especially harsh rebuke of the political leadership, saying the public would not easily forgive what he views as a failure to rise above personal interests.

“For this conduct, for this inability to put egos aside, there is no forgiveness and no atonement from the chareidi public. The public is bleeding and in pain, while the representatives are fighting over press coverage and political credit.”

{Matzav.com}

Organizers of a nationwide protest against the arrests of yeshiva students and kollel members say as many as 2,500 vehicles are expected to take part Wednesday in what could become one of the largest chareidi vehicle demonstrations in recent years. The convoys will travel from 19 locations across the country and converge near a military prison as part of a growing campaign against the detention of Torah learners.

Ahead of the demonstration, the organizing committee unveiled the official logo that will accompany the protest caravans. The logo features the slogan “עד כאן! אין דרך בלי דרך התורה!” and is expected to appear on cars, signs, and stickers throughout the event.

Yerushalayim Deputy Mayor Tzachi Brim, who chaired the committee’s most recent planning session, confirmed that organizers are preparing for participation on a massive scale, with estimates reaching approximately 2,500 vehicles.

According to the plans, convoys will depart at 4:00 p.m. from 19 cities and communities across Israel, including Elad, Ashdod, Tiberias, Beitar Illit, Beit Shemesh, Bnei Brak, Givat Ze’ev, Haifa, Hatzor HaGlilit, Yerushalayim , Modiin Illit, Nof HaGalil, Netanya, Emmanuel, Afula, Arad, Safed, Kiryat Gat, and Rechovot. The separate processions will eventually merge into a unified convoy heading toward the military prison.

Organizers said participants will recite Tehillim, hear words of encouragement, and broadcast messages of protest throughout the journey. In a statement, the committee said, “The slogan and logo we selected reflect the feelings of the entire community—the red line has been crossed. This is the opening shot of what will be a historic display of solidarity that will send one message to the prisoners of the Torah world: You are not alone.”

The campaign is being coordinated by a joint committee representing several major chassidic communities. Participants in the planning meetings have included Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Tzachi Brim and his chief of staff Srulik Frenkel; Yitzchok Bartler of Vizhnitz and adviser to MK Yaakov Tessler; Shimi Blau of Shlomei Emunim and chief of staff to MK Meir Porush; Yisroel Dranger representing Gur; and Aharon Frishman representing Belz.

Those involved in the effort say one of the most striking aspects of the protest has been the unusually broad cooperation among the various chassidic groups. Organizers described the alliance as one of the most significant examples of inter-chassidic cooperation seen in recent years around a public cause.

Notably absent, however, are Degel HaTorah and Shas. While representatives of Gur, Belz, Vizhnitz, and Shlomei Emunim have taken leading roles in the campaign, neither Degel HaTorah nor Shas has publicly endorsed the protest. Yated Ne’eman, the newspaper identified with Degel HaTorah, has likewise not provided coverage of the initiative.

Despite the scope of the planned demonstration, organizers acknowledged that they have not yet received final police approval. Nevertheless, they insist preparations are moving forward as scheduled.

“There is no official confirmation that there is official confirmation,” Brim said. “This is a complex event that crosses multiple districts and regions, so the handling of it is naturally more complicated. But we demand that the chareidi public be allowed to protest and demonstrate just as every other sector in the State of Israel is permitted to do.”

Shimi Blau said the campaign was entering its final phase and warned that organizers were prepared to respond if police attempted to restrict the protest.

“We are in the final stretch. Hundreds of people have already registered, but I do not want to provide numbers,” Blau said. “If the police create obstacles and do not allow us freedom of expression in the same way they allow it to other groups, we have contingency plans. It is also worth remembering the attorney general’s own statement that there is no effective protest without some disruption of public order.”

Meanwhile, Kfar Yona Mayor Albert Taieb reiterated his opposition to allowing the convoys into his city. Speaking earlier this week, he said his concerns were not directed at the chareidi community but rather at the traffic disruptions caused by repeated demonstrations in the region. Taieb said he planned to stand at the entrance to the city together with local residents in an effort to prevent road closures and traffic disturbances.

The protest comes amid mounting outrage in the chareidi community over a recent wave of arrests involving yeshiva students and kollel members. Earlier this week, the former Rishon LeTzion, Rav Yitzchok Yosef, launched a sharp attack on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, accusing her of responsibility for the arrests of lomdei Torah and intensifying calls for public action.

{Matzav.com}

A month after the shocking murder of 75-year-old Avromi Itzkowitz in Queens, his family says they are convinced the killing was an antisemitic attack and is urging authorities to intensify efforts to solve the case.

Itzkowitz was fatally shot on May 18 near a lake in Kissena Park in the Flushing section of Queens, a location he regularly visited. He was discovered shortly before 5:00 p.m. suffering from gunshot wounds to his neck and back. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene. Although police classified the incident as a homicide, no arrests have been made and investigators have not publicly identified a motive.

Speaking to JNS, Itzkowitz’s son, Tzvi Yonah Itzkowitz, said the family firmly believes his father was targeted because he was visibly Jewish.

“My family and I feel that this was an antisemitic attack,” he said. “It happened in broad daylight, and we want to know what happened and get some closure. My father deserves justice.”

According to his son, Itzkowitz was immediately recognizable as an Orthodox Jew, frequently wearing a yarmulke and sporting a long beard. Family members believe those visible signs of Jewish identity may have made him a target.

The tragedy came just weeks after another devastating loss for the family. Itzkowitz’s wife passed away from cancer on April 30, less than three weeks before he was murdered.

“We lost my mother two and a half weeks before we lost my father,” his son recalled.

Family members became alarmed when they were unable to reach Itzkowitz for several hours. Concern soon turned to fear as attempts to contact him went unanswered.

His daughter eventually tried reaching him through a video call, but instead of her father, a member of the NYPD answered the phone.

“For an hour and a half, we sat around the table not knowing anything,” his son said. “We thought maybe he had fainted or gotten lost. We had no idea.”

Itzkowitz was a well-known and beloved figure in the Jewish community of Kew Gardens Hills. For many years he worked at G&I Kosher Bakery, the family-owned kosher bakery established by his parents in the early 1960s.

“He was the sweetest, kindest person, always with a smile for everyone,” his son said. “A short walk home from the bakery would take three times longer than normal because he would stop and talk to people along the way.”

In addition to his work at the bakery, Itzkowitz devoted years of service as a volunteer with Hatzalah of Queens.

Family members say detectives have maintained regular contact and have shown compassion throughout the investigation. Nevertheless, the case remains unsolved.

Investigators have collected surveillance footage from nearby streets, but the absence of security cameras inside the park has complicated efforts to identify a suspect or reconstruct exactly what happened.

The family believes the case deserves far greater public attention and argues that authorities should examine it as a possible hate crime.

“We feel that a chareidi Jew shot to death in broad daylight should receive much more public attention,” his son said. “If the case is treated as a hate crime, perhaps additional resources will be devoted to the investigation. We believe that a Jewish man who was shot to death in broad daylight because of his Jewish appearance is the victim of an antisemitic attack.”

One month after the killing, the questions surrounding Avromi Itzkowitz’s death remain unanswered, leaving his family still searching for justice—and for the person responsible.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli police have begun reviewing calls for an “urban intifada” against the chareidi community after United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzchok Goldknopf demanded a criminal investigation into former Arad Mayor Nissan Ben Hamo over remarks he said amounted to incitement.

According to information obtained by Matzav.com, the Israel Police Investigations Division has started examining Goldknopf’s complaint regarding statements made by Ben Hamo against the chareidi public.

In an official letter sent to Goldknopf’s office following his appeal to Police Commissioner Danny Levy, police confirmed that the request to investigate Ben Hamo on suspicion of incitement against the chareidi community had been forwarded to the appropriate professional authorities within the Investigations and Intelligence Division for review.

The letter further noted that police have not yet taken a position on the substance of the allegations and thanked Goldknopf for bringing the matter to their attention.

As previously reported, Goldknopf contacted the police commissioner after Ben Hamo publicly called for what he described as an “urban intifada” amid ongoing protests conducted by Gur chassidim in Arad.

In a video message published at the time, Ben Hamo declared: “When I said that we need to go out to an urban intifada, some people objected — this is exactly what I meant. If we do not stand our ground, we will receive this tenfold.”

In his complaint, Goldknopf argued that the use of the term “intifada” went far beyond legitimate public criticism and constituted “an explicit call for violent actions, public disorder, and the endangerment of human life.”

He urged law enforcement authorities to examine the remarks from a criminal standpoint and determine whether they violated laws against incitement.

Police have now confirmed that the matter is under review by investigators and intelligence officials. The outcome of that examination remains unclear, and no decision has yet been announced regarding whether a formal criminal investigation will be opened.

We will continue following developments in the case and provide updates as they emerge.

{Matzav.com}

Tensions flared Monday night in Ramat Beit Shemesh as dozens of demonstrators took to the streets to protest the filing of an indictment against a local resident accused of participating in the break-in at the city’s police station several weeks ago.

The protest, held on Nahar HaYarden Street, quickly escalated into a chaotic confrontation. Demonstrators reportedly hurled barricades, set fires in the roadway, and damaged a police vehicle as clashes intensified.

According to police, protesters threw rocks and various objects at officers, caused significant damage to public infrastructure, and ignited multiple fires. Law enforcement officials described the participants as “unrestrained” and said a police vehicle sustained substantial damage during the unrest. Large numbers of officers were deployed to the scene in an effort to restore order.

The demonstration came just hours after state prosecutors filed an indictment against a 46-year-old Beit Shemesh resident in connection with violent disturbances that erupted near the city’s police station during protests over the arrest of a yeshiva student accused of draft evasion.

As previously reported by Matzav.com, prosecutors are seeking to keep the suspect, identified as Friedman, behind bars until the conclusion of legal proceedings.

According to the indictment, filed in the Yerushalayim District Court by attorney Shirel Eldar of the Yerushalayim District Attorney’s Office, calls were circulated urging people to gather near the Beit Shemesh police station following the arrest of the yeshiva student.

The charging document alleges that hundreds of protesters assembled at the site and that the demonstration eventually devolved into a violent riot. During the disturbance, the station’s gate was breached, police officers were assaulted, rocks and other objects were thrown, property was damaged, and fires were set around the station complex.

Prosecutors allege that Friedman personally ignited vegetation near the police station fence on three separate occasions during the unrest. According to the indictment, the fires were set at different locations and at different times throughout the evening. Each blaze burned for several seconds before extinguishing.

The investigation was conducted by the Beit Shemesh police station under the Jerusalem District Police. Friedman has been charged with three counts of arson and one count of participating in a riot.

The latest indictment follows a broader police operation carried out approximately two weeks ago, when Yerushalayim District officers raided the homes of three suspects allegedly involved in the violent disturbances and the breach of the Beit Shemesh police station compound. Detectives from the Beit Shemesh station, together with officers from the Metpa special unit, arrested the suspects—residents of Beit Shemesh ages 26, 46, and 56—for questioning.

Monday night’s renewed unrest underscored the continuing tensions surrounding the arrests of yeshiva students and the increasingly volatile protests that have accompanied them in recent weeks.

{Matzav.com}

Michael Kedar, the dual American-Israeli citizen known as the “Ashkelon Hacker,” has been extradited to the United States and made his first appearance in federal court in Orlando, Florida. Kedar, 27, previously served seven years in prison in Israel for issuing terror threats against Jewish institutions and is now facing a new federal indictment in the United States over similar allegations.

Federal prosecutors accused Kedar of carrying out hate crimes and interfering with the religious freedoms of members of the Jewish community by targeting institutions across Florida, including Jewish community centers, schools, and preschools. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the alleged offenses were conducted using sophisticated technology from his home in Ashkelon.

If convicted, Kedar could face a lengthy prison sentence of up to 35 years. The Justice Department said each hate-crime charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, each bomb-threat count carries a maximum of 10 years, and interstate-threat charges carry penalties of up to five years.

In addition to possible prison time, the court could order Kedar to pay restitution to institutions and individuals affected by the threats. While Kedar has already completed a seven-year sentence in Israel for terror threats directed at Jewish institutions, U.S. authorities contend that he also committed similar crimes targeting Jewish organizations in Florida.

Justice Department officials condemned the alleged actions in strong terms. An assistant attorney general said, “The crimes stand out for their cruelty and the damage they caused to the Jewish community. When someone uses technology to terrorize houses of worship and community centers, it is an attack on religious freedom and public safety.”

The prosecutor continued, “We will not forget the families, the staff members, and the emergency responders who were forced to live under these threats.”

Federal prosecutors in Florida likewise emphasized the seriousness of the case, stating that “Intentional targeting of individuals, groups, or institutions because of their religious beliefs is contrary to the freedoms enshrined in the American Constitution. The acts caused unnecessary fear and will not be tolerated.”

Kedar’s extradition marks the latest chapter in a long-running legal saga that has already resulted in years behind bars in Israel. He now faces a new battle in the American court system and the possibility of a substantial additional prison sentence if convicted of the charges related to threats against Jewish institutions in Florida.

{Matzav.com}

The director-general of Israel’s Central Elections Committee has sought to reassure the chareidi public ahead of the next national election, announcing that yeshivah students classified as military draft evaders will not face arrest when casting their ballots.

Attorney Din Livne, the committee’s director-general, made the announcement Monday following concerns raised by chareidi parties and community members that individuals designated as draft evaders might avoid voting out of fear of being detained at polling locations. The report was first published by Ynet journalist Amir Ettinger.

The remarks were made during a meeting of the Central Elections Committee, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg and attended by representatives of various political parties and factions.

According to Livne, the policy is intended to ensure that no segment of the population is discouraged from exercising its democratic right to vote because of concerns about arrest at registration points or polling stations.

The announcement comes as political leaders continue advancing legislation to dissolve the Knesset and trigger new elections.

The bill to dissolve parliament passed its preliminary reading on May 20 and cleared its first reading in the Knesset plenum on June 2.

Before elections can be formally called, the legislation must still pass through the relevant Knesset committee and receive approval in second and third readings. As part of that process, lawmakers will also determine the official election date.

At present, October 20 is emerging as the leading date under consideration within the political system.

Further developments regarding the timing of the election and the terms of the Knesset’s dissolution are expected to depend heavily on a coalition leaders’ meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening.

Senior coalition party leaders are set to convene for discussions that could significantly influence both the legislative timetable and the path toward elections.

At the center of the negotiations is the ongoing dispute between coalition leaders and the chareidi parties, which continue to press for progress on legislation addressing issues they consider critical, particularly matters related to the status of yeshivah students and military service.

The outcome of those discussions is expected to play a major role in determining whether the current timetable toward an October election remains on track.

{Matzav.com}

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday restored the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez, the man found guilty in the decades-old killing of six-year-old Etan Patz, whose disappearance in 1979 became one of the most infamous missing-child cases in American history.

Hernandez, now 64, was serving a sentence of 25 years to life after being convicted in 2017 for the murder of the young boy, according to Fox 5.

The high court ruled 6-3 in favor of Manhattan prosecutors, reversing a lower federal court decision that had thrown out the conviction.

The article said, “In a 6-3 decision, the justices granted an appeal from Manhattan prosecutors, undoing a lower federal court’s ruling that had previously overturned the verdict against Pedro Hernandez. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.”

Etan Patz vanished on May 25, 1979, while walking alone for the first time to a school bus stop in Manhattan. His disappearance captivated the nation and left a lasting mark on New York City.

The case transformed the way missing-child investigations are handled across the United States and became a symbol of the growing effort to locate missing children.

The case also “fundamentally changed how America responds to missing children, and made Etan one of the first children to have his face printed on a milk carton. Today, the anniversary of his disappearance is recognized as National Missing Children’s Day,” the Fox article stated.

At the time of Etan’s disappearance, Hernandez worked at a neighborhood convenience store near the location where the child was last seen. He was not identified as a suspect until 2012, when he confessed to the crime. His attorneys later argued that the admissions were unreliable and stemmed from his mental illness.

According to the Associated Press, defense lawyers focused heavily on the circumstances surrounding Hernandez’s confessions.

“They emphasized that the admission came after police queried him for about seven hours before reading him his rights and recording the interview. Hernandez then repeated his confession on tape, at least twice,” the Associated Press reported:

“During deliberations, the 2017 jurors asked a complicated question: If they decided Hernandez didn’t confess voluntarily when he hadn’t been read his rights yet, must they disregard his other confessions? The then-judge responded simply, “the answer is no.” The jury went on to convict.

“In overturning that verdict, the appeals court said the jury’s question should have gotten a more fulsome answer, including the possibility of discounting all the confessions.”

Video shown by 48 Hours included footage of the convenience store where Hernandez had worked near the bus stop Etan used. During police questioning, Hernandez told investigators he lured the child by offering him a soda and bringing him into the store’s basement.

“And then I choked him,” Hernandez said.

Investigators said Hernandez later led them to the location where the basement had once stood and described placing Etan’s body into a box. According to his account, he carried the box through the neighborhood and eventually left it in an area where authorities believe it was later collected with garbage.

Despite decades of investigation and one of the most closely watched child-abduction cases in the nation’s history, Etan Patz’s body was never recovered, according to ABC 7.

{Matzav.com}

A federal judge appointed by President Joe Biden has halted the Trump administration’s effort to use an upgraded federal verification system to help states identify and remove noncitizens from voter registration rolls.

In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan of the District of Columbia barred the administration from implementing changes to the federal SAVE program that were intended to make citizenship verification faster and more accessible for election officials.

The revised version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program allowed states to confirm voter eligibility without requiring all nine digits of an applicant’s Social Security number, a change supporters said would streamline efforts to ensure that only eligible citizens cast ballots in federal elections.

In her decision, Sooknanan argued that the case raised serious concerns involving both voter rights and the protection of private personal information.

“This case implicates two fundamental rights that protect Americans from government overreach: the right to privacy and the right to vote,” Sooknanan, an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago, wrote:

“In the past year, several federal agencies have joined forces to create a centralized federal database that contains the private information of United States citizens, including Social Security numbers, citizenship status, and other sensitive data.

“But decades ago, Congress put protections in place to prevent precisely this type of centralized data bank. And the record in this case shows that the federal agencies that created this database knew that the database violates those statutory protections. The agencies were scrambling to comply with an Executive Order aimed at reshaping federal elections, which directed them to create a system for mass voter verification. So they haphazardly combined and repurposed the private information of millions of Americans, including citizenship data that they knew to be unreliable. Since then, states have partnered with the federal government to access the database and are actively removing United States citizens from voter rolls based on inaccurate information. All in all, the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote. This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”

The ruling marked a significant setback for the administration’s election-integrity efforts, which officials said were designed to help states more effectively verify voter citizenship and prevent unlawful voting.

Previously, a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services defended the revised system, telling Breitbart News that the updated SAVE program was necessary to ensure “America’s elections are reserved exclusively for American citizens.”

The legal battle is expected to continue as the administration and its allies seek to preserve the changes, while opponents argue the system risks disenfranchising eligible voters and undermining longstanding federal privacy protections.

{Matzav.com}

A federal judge halted a Justice Department effort to subpoena Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and several other Democratic officials, ruling that the investigation appeared to be an improper use of federal prosecutorial power amid a probe into alleged connections between Somali fraud schemes and Minnesota politics.

The decision came from U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz, whose June 17 ruling was unsealed Monday. According to reports, Schiltz concluded that the government had misused the grand jury process and warned against employing criminal investigations as a political weapon.

“Initiating a criminal investigation in order to harass political opponents or to coerce them into taking official action — particularly official action that the federal government cannot directly require those political opponents to take — is a blatantly unlawful and unethical use of the grand-jury process,” Schlitz said.

Schiltz further argued that President Donald Trump’s public criticisms of Walz and other Minnesota Democrats, along with what the judge described as promises of retaliation, strongly suggested that the subpoenas were tied to a broader political objective rather than a legitimate criminal inquiry.

According to Politico, the judge wrote that Trump’s repeated attacks and promises of “retribution” directed at Walz and other state officials “establishes beyond reasonable dispute” that the DOJ’s grand jury subpoenas were “part of a broader campaign to coerce state and local officials,” according to the outlet:

“The George W. Bush-appointed chief judge said Trump’s repeated attacks and promises of “retribution” against Walz, a Democrat, and other Minnesota officials “establishes beyond reasonable dispute” that the grand jury subpoenas — issued at the height of ICE’s Operation Metro Surge — “were a part of a broader campaign to coerce state and local officials in Minnesota to assist the Trump administration in its enforcement of immigration laws.””

The judge also emphasized that constitutional principles prohibit Washington from compelling states to carry out federal law enforcement responsibilities. He additionally asserted that the subpoenas fit into what he characterized as a pattern in which the Trump administration has used criminal investigations against political adversaries.

The ruling stemmed from subpoenas issued by the Justice Department in January to Walz and several other high-ranking Minnesota Democrats, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.

Earlier this year, Breitbart News reported comments from Jim O’Neill, deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, who alleged that “Somali-run taxpayer fraud is a core part” of the Minnesota Democrats’ machine.

The court’s decision effectively blocked the subpoenas and marked a significant setback for the Justice Department’s investigation as legal and political battles over the scope of federal authority continue to unfold.

{Matzav.com}

A company led by a supporter of President Donald Trump committed $1 million in funding and materials to restore the White House South Lawn after it sustained damage during the June 14 Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

The White House announced on June 16 that ScottsMiracle-Gro would partner with the National Park Service to rehabilitate the historic grounds.

“ScottsMiracle-Gro and the National Park Service will work to restore the South Lawn grass after UFC Freedom 250, making it stronger than ever before,” the White House announced on June 16.

The Marysville, Ohio-based lawn care company said it had developed a specialized grass mixture tailored specifically for the White House grounds. According to the company, the blend was designed to improve the lawn’s long-term appearance, strength, and overall health.

In addition to supplying products, ScottsMiracle-Gro said members of its research and development team would provide technical expertise throughout the restoration effort.

“The White House South Lawn is more than just a landscape. It is a living piece of U.S. history, a stage for global diplomacy and, truly, the backyard of the American people,” Jim Hagedorn, the company’s chair and CEO, said in the release. “As the market leader in consumer lawn and garden, there is no better company than ScottsMiracle-Gro to play a role in the restoration effort.”

The company said it would coordinate the project with the National Park Service, which is responsible for maintaining the White House grounds. White House officials told The Washington Post that ScottsMiracle-Gro had offered a private donation to support the restoration and emphasized that no taxpayer funds would be used.

According to the company, the repair project will involve laying new sod and overseeding the area with a proprietary turf blend intended to improve thickness, durability, color, and overall lawn quality.

ScottsMiracle-Gro said President Trump personally selected the final seed mixture from eight proposed options. The blend includes tall fescue grasses, prized for their ability to withstand heat and heavy use, along with Kentucky bluegrass varieties known for disease resistance and dense growth.

Not everyone welcomed the arrangement. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog organization that has often challenged Trump administration policies, questioned the motives behind the donation.

“Major corporations generally don’t do things out of the goodness of their heart,” CREW Vice President Jordan Libowitz told the Post. “It’s generally — they do things for the government because they want something from the government.”

Libowitz also pointed to ScottsMiracle-Gro’s connection to the Roundup brand, noting that glyphosate-based versions of the weed killer have faced lawsuits alleging links to cancer.

Tom Matthews, a spokesperson for ScottsMiracle-Gro, disputed any suggestion of a conflict of interest. He told The Washington Post that the company sells only the consumer version of Roundup, which does not contain glyphosate.

“The special blend we’ve created for the White House is for the White House lawn regardless of who’s president,” he said, adding that it would not be available to consumers. “We’re not commercializing it. We don’t have commercial business with the federal government and we don’t plan to.”

Event planners had reportedly anticipated significant wear and tear to the South Lawn long before the UFC event took place. According to The Washington Post, UFC CEO Dana White acknowledged last year that funds had already been set aside to address the expected damage.

“We’re going to …. up the South Lawn,” White told the Sports Business Journal, explaining that organizers had budgeted $700,000 to replace the grass afterward.

{Matzav.com}

Rav Avishai Perlstein presents: “Can Tefillah Help Bring Moshiach Early, Beneficially, and Painlessly?”

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{Matzav.com}

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Rav Rav Yigal Cohen delivered a sharp and emotional condemnation of police conduct during last week’s Peleg Yerushalmi protest on Highway 4, denouncing what he described as excessive force and brutality against demonstrators, including minors.

Speaking during his weekly shiur, Rav Cohen said he could not remain silent after viewing footage from the protest and felt compelled to address the incident publicly.

“I have to speak about it, about those beatings that took place there with the police,” Rav Cohen said. “I have to, so that no one can say that we are remaining silent.”

The rav stressed that, in his view, no circumstances justify such violent behavior by law enforcement officers, regardless of the conduct of protesters.

“What I saw there—they lost their human decency,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if that child wasn’t acting properly, if that young man wasn’t acting properly. Even if there is a need to remove people, this is not the way.”

Rav Cohen expressed particular concern over what he described as harsh treatment of bnei Torah participating in the demonstration.

“He is a ben Torah, and he is fighting for principles of Judaism and Torah,” Rav Cohen said. “What are they asking for? They are asking to learn Torah. They are not asking for anything else. But such cruelty, such brutality, such behavior…”

The rabbi was especially disturbed by reports and footage showing officers striking teenage protesters with batons.

“A 16-year-old child—you hit him with a baton? You break all his bones? For what?” he asked.

Addressing the officers directly, Rav Cohen argued that protesters could have been removed without violence.

“You don’t agree with him, you do agree with him, you want to move him? Lift him up respectfully, give him a kiss like a mezuzah, put him on the side. But why are you hitting him?” he said.

He then intensified his criticism, comparing the conduct he witnessed to behavior historically associated with anti-Semites.

“You lost your human decency,” Rav Cohen declared. “You became like one of the anti-Semites among the nations of the world. Is this how people are beaten?”

Concluding his remarks, Rav Cohen called on the officers involved to engage in serious self-reflection and change their behavior.

“I would like to suggest to those police officers who did this that they do teshuvah,” he said.

Rav Cohen also revealed the emotional impact the footage had on him personally.

“Hashem should have mercy. I literally cried,” he said. “I didn’t have an opportunity to respond earlier because I was on an airplane.”

He concluded by offering wishes for a speedy and complete recovery to all those injured during the clashes.

{Matzav.com}

A federal judge on Monday struck down a key Trump administration initiative that sought to prevent food stamp recipients from using their benefits to purchase sugary beverages, candy, and certain dessert products.

The ruling overturned a series of waivers approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since last year that allowed more than 20 states to restrict purchases made through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Under those waivers, participants in the program could have been barred from using benefits to buy items such as soda, energy drinks, candy, and other prepared sweets.

The legal challenge was filed in March by SNAP recipients in five states, who argued that the restrictions were unlawful, created confusion for beneficiaries, and made it harder for some individuals to manage medical conditions such as diabetes.

In a 68-page opinion issued Monday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court in Washington sided with the plaintiffs, concluding that the Agriculture Department lacked the authority to authorize the waivers and had also failed to comply with required public notice procedures.

The decision represented a significant setback for a policy championed by supporters of the Make America Healthy Again movement, who had touted the restrictions as a major public health victory.

Judge Jackson wrote that while federal law permits the department to authorize projects designed to improve the administration and efficiency of SNAP, the agency had gone far beyond that authority and effectively attempted to rewrite congressional definitions.

Judge Jackson stated that the department essentially “purports to waive not just a mere administrative or technical obstacle, but the very definition of ‘food’ as it was laid down by Congress.”

She further emphasized that policy goals, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot override statutory requirements.

“The federal defendants and the states may have a genuine desire to improve the health of SNAP households by encouraging healthy choices at the store, and they can take lawful steps to meet those goals,” she wrote. “But what they cannot do is violate the law and their own regulations along the way.”

The lawsuit was brought by the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, an advocacy organization focused on low-income Americans, together with the antitrust law firm Shinder Cantor Lerner.

Following the ruling, Katharine Deabler-Meadows, a senior attorney with the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, praised the court’s decision.

The ruling, she said, was “a major step in restoring essential food assistance to the millions of families that rely on SNAP nationwide.”

The Agriculture Department did not immediately comment on the decision. However, prior to the ruling, an agency spokesperson told The Associated Press that the department “will not be backing down from the fight to Make America Healthy Again.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci is expected to appear before Congress next month after Sen. Rand Paul announced Monday that he had issued a subpoena compelling the longtime public health official to testify publicly before a Senate committee.

Paul revealed in a social media post that Fauci, who previously led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had been formally subpoenaed to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The Kentucky senator said the decision came after Fauci indicated that he would no longer testify voluntarily, despite having earlier agreed to do so.

“Today, I have issued a subpoena requiring him to testify before the Committee, in public, next month,” Paul said in the post.

Fauci became a central figure during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained a frequent target of criticism from conservatives, including Paul, who has repeatedly challenged his handling of the crisis.

Among Paul’s criticisms is his book, “Deception: The Great Covid Cover-Up,” in which he argues that Fauci played a role in concealing information about the origins of the coronavirus. The book advances the claim that Fauci knew early on that the virus was connected to Wuhan and that research tied to the National Institutes of Health had helped fund related work.

The senator and Fauci have engaged in numerous heated exchanges over the years, particularly regarding the source of the virus and government vaccination policies.

Paul has also accused Fauci of offering conflicting accounts—both publicly and privately—about the origins of COVID-19, allegations that the senator contends amounted to misleading Congress.

{Matzav.com}

A recent halachic ruling by Rav Ben Zion HaKohen Kook has sparked growing interest throughout the chareidi world, with Judaica stores reporting increased demand for yarmulkes and talleisim katanim designated exclusively for Shabbos use.

The discussion originated during Rav Kook’s weekly halachah shiur and was later published in the widely distributed Shoalin V’Dorshin newsletter, produced by the General Rabbinical Court in Yerushalayim and circulated in tens of thousands of copies worldwide.

During a shiur delivered at Yeshivas Meor HaTalmud in Rechovot, Rav Kook addressed a well-known passage in the Mishnah Berurah regarding the honor of Shabbos, which states that it is preferable not to wear on Shabbos the same clothing worn during the week.

During the lecture, which is regularly attended by the rosh yeshivah and Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah member Rav Avrohom Yitzchok Kook, a student asked whether this guidance requires a person to designate every article of clothing specifically for Shabbos, or whether it is sufficient to wear a freshly laundered shirt that is also worn during the week.

Rav Kook responded that garments typically washed frequently, such as shirts, do not need to be reserved exclusively for Shabbos. Wearing a clean, freshly laundered shirt in honor of Shabbos is sufficient, even if the same shirt is used during the week.

However, he explained that items not normally laundered on a regular basis, such as a tallis katan and a yarmulke, should ideally be designated specifically for Shabbos.

Rav Kook added that he has personally followed this practice for many years after observing it in the home of his rebbi, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l.

According to Rav Kook, a clothing rack in Rav Elyashiv’s home held garments reserved for Shabbos, including special pants, a tallis katan, a vest, and even a yarmulke designated solely for Shabbos, despite appearing nearly identical to the weekday versions. Shirts, however, were not reserved specifically for Shabbos; rather, Rav Elyashiv would simply change into a freshly laundered shirt before the onset of Shabbos.

Following publication of the ruling, many people have reportedly begun adopting the practice and purchasing special Shabbos yarmulkes and talleisim katanim in an effort to fulfill the guidance of the Mishnah Berurah and emulate the practices of leading Torah authorities.

Rav Kook welcomed the development, stating that those who enhance the honor of Shabbos can expect spiritual benefit. He said that anyone who is meticulous in honoring Shabbos will merit the protection of Shabbos itself and receive its blessings, adding that the practice serves as a segulah for protection and shemirah.