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Lakewood’s Board of Education has reinstated free courtesy busing for more than 300 public school students following protests by parents, even as thousands of families sending their children to yeshivos and private schools are being required to pay $675 per child for the same category of non-mandated transportation.

The decision, approved unanimously in a 9-0 vote, commits approximately $245,000 in district funding to restore transportation for 307 public school students who had lost the service because of budget cuts. The reversal came after parents and students packed a contentious Board of Education meeting and demanded that the district restore their children’s bus routes.

The development has intensified a controversy that has gripped Lakewood since the beginning of the school year, raising questions about why public school students are receiving taxpayer-funded transportation while private school families, many already struggling with substantial tuition bills and rising living expenses, must pay hundreds of dollars per child.

The Asbury Park Press reported that the board reversed its earlier decision after dozens of parents and students pressed officials to restore the service at Wednesday’s meeting. The unanimous vote authorized the district to cover the transportation expense rather than leave the affected families responsible for arranging their own rides.

For Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish community, however, the decision has highlighted a disparity that has been at the center of the transportation debate for weeks. Parents of non-mandated yeshiva students are still being charged $675 per child through the Lakewood Student Transportation Authority, known as LSTA.

For a family with four children requiring non-mandated busing, the annual cost amounts to $2,700. A family with five children faces a $3,375 transportation bill, in addition to school tuition, property taxes and other household expenses.

The distinction involves students who live close enough to their schools that New Jersey law does not ordinarily require publicly funded transportation. Under state regulations, elementary school students generally qualify for mandated transportation when they live more than two miles from school, while the threshold for high school students is more than two and a half miles.

Children living within those distances are classified as non-mandated. Transportation for them is considered a courtesy service, although local officials have historically provided subsidies to help families obtain busing.

For years, Lakewood Township helped finance courtesy transportation for both public and nonpublic school students. Public school students received the service without a direct charge, while parents of non-mandated private school students paid a subsidized fee through LSTA.

That arrangement was thrown into turmoil this summer when township officials eliminated funding for the program amid a municipal budget shortfall.

The township had previously contributed approximately $1.4 million toward courtesy busing for public school students and $2.75 million toward subsidies for non-mandated private school students.

With those contributions eliminated, LSTA initially announced that the annual charge for non-mandated transportation would rise from $385 to $945 per child for the 2026–27 school year.

The announcement, made shortly before the start of the school year, triggered widespread anger among parents who suddenly faced hundreds or thousands of dollars in additional transportation expenses.

Following negotiations involving LSTA, local officials and community representatives, the fee was subsequently reduced to $675 per child. Although that represented a substantial reduction from the initially announced $945 rate, it remained $290 higher than the previous year’s $385 charge.

Meanwhile, Lakewood’s public school students initially faced the complete elimination of courtesy busing after the township withdrew its financial support.

The Board of Education voted in August to discontinue the service, but state-appointed fiscal monitor Louise Davis subsequently directed the district to continue transporting non-mandated public school students whose walking routes crossed roads classified as hazardous.

Approximately 80% of Lakewood’s 1,475 non-mandated public school students qualified under that exception, leaving roughly 300 children without transportation.

The remaining families continued demanding that the district restore the service, culminating in the board’s decision to approve funding for those students as well.

The controversy extends beyond the 307 students whose transportation has now been restored. According to figures reported by The Voice of Lakewood, approximately 12,952 non-mandated private school students reside in the district, compared with 1,475 non-mandated public school students.

An estimated 98% of those private school students must cross at least one road designated as hazardous by the Lakewood Police Department on their way to school. Nevertheless, their parents have not been granted the same publicly funded hazardous-route transportation that the district has provided to qualifying public school students.

The Board of Education attempted to address that disparity at a special meeting on September 9, voting to extend hazardous-route transportation to eligible nonpublic school students. The proposal carried an estimated cost of $14.9 million.

Davis, who exercises state oversight of the financially troubled school district, placed the resolution under advisement, preventing it from taking effect while she reviewed its financial implications.

In a subsequent written decision, the monitor rejected the proposal, citing the district’s lack of available funding and the additional borrowing that would be required.

“There is no available funding,” Davis wrote.

Her decision noted that the district had already sought more than $132 million in state loans for the current school year. Providing hazardous-route transportation to nonpublic school students would require an additional $14.9 million.

Yet when the board voted to restore courtesy transportation for the remaining public school students, Davis allowed the measure to stand.

That distinction has become a central point of contention among board members and community representatives, who argue that the district is applying different standards to children based on whether they attend public or private schools.

Board President Moshe Bender acknowledged that members had expected the monitor to block the public school transportation resolution as well.

“She surprised us when she allowed the resolution to stand, but we really had nothing to lose either way,” Bender told The Voice of Lakewood.

“Now that she allowed the resolution to pass, it’s a win for us because it shows how she is willing to give the public-school students courtesy busing—which is like a treat, which no one is legally entitled to—while denying nonpublic-school students busing even if they have a hazardous route to school.”

The board also renewed its effort to secure hazardous-route transportation for private school students, approving a revised resolution and authorizing borrowing to cover the proposed $14.9 million cost. Davis again placed the measures under advisement.

The dispute has raised legal questions about the district’s transportation policies. Board members have challenged the legal reasoning behind the monitor’s decision, while the district’s attorney has warned that providing hazardous-route transportation to public school students but withholding it from similarly situated private school students could expose the district to litigation.

At an earlier meeting, Assemblyman Avi Schnall sharply criticized the distinction, arguing that the safety of a child’s walking route should not depend on which school the child attends.

“This is appalling—that we have someone who’s willing to say that that [public school] child cannot walk on dangerous roads, and that [private school] child could, to me, is a shame. And [it’s] shameful that this is what’s being promoted from a state-appointed monitor,” Schnall said.

The transportation controversy is unfolding as Lakewood homeowners contend with a substantial increase in property taxes. Residents have reported annual increases of approximately $700 to $900, adding to frustration over municipal spending and the loss of transportation subsidies. The precise increase varies by property, and the reported range does not represent a uniform charge on every household.

For many families, the combined financial burden is considerable. A household facing an $800 annual property tax increase and paying $675 each for four children’s non-mandated busing would incur $3,500 in combined annual property tax increases and transportation charges.

Even measured against last year’s subsidized transportation rate, that same family would be paying $1,160 more for busing alone.

The financial situation has also renewed attention to Lakewood’s unusual school enrollment structure. While the township has one of New Jersey’s largest school-age populations, the overwhelming majority of its children attend private schools and yeshivos.

Local officials have long argued that the state’s school funding formula does not adequately account for the transportation and other obligations associated with such a large nonpublic school population.

The district has accumulated substantial debt to the state over years of borrowing to cover operating shortfalls, a situation that led to the appointment of a state fiscal monitor with authority over major financial decisions.

The latest vote has now created a situation in which all 1,475 non-mandated public school students are again eligible for district-funded transportation, while thousands of non-mandated private school students remain dependent on a paid LSTA program.

The dispute may ultimately be decided in court. Parents of yeshiva students are considering legal action challenging the monitor’s refusal to authorize comparable hazardous-route transportation for nonpublic school children.

For now, the Board of Education’s decision means that 307 public school students who had lost their bus service will once again receive transportation at public expense, while Lakewood’s private school families continue paying $675 per child and await a resolution to the dispute over hazardous-route busing.

{Matzav.com}

The IDF announced Thursday evening that Captain Eliav Chaim Tzapalamus, a 21-year-old combat engineering officer from Haifa, was killed when a military Humvee overturned during an operational mission in southern Lebanon. Three other Israeli soldiers were lightly injured in the accident.

The fatal incident occurred Thursday afternoon in the vicinity of the Litani River, where Israeli troops from the 7th Armored Brigade were carrying out military operations. Tzapalamus served in the Combat Engineering Corps’ 603rd Battalion, operating under the 7th Brigade within the IDF’s 36th Division.

According to preliminary military findings, the Humvee carrying the soldiers overturned during the operation. Tzapalamus was killed, while the three other soldiers sustained minor injuries and were transported to a hospital for medical treatment. Their families were subsequently informed.

The IDF has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident. Military officials have not yet disclosed what caused the vehicle to overturn.

Tzapalamus was the son of Heli, an employee of the Haifa Municipality, and Benny, who works for Israel Railways. His death prompted an outpouring of grief in Haifa, where Mayor Yona Yahav issued a statement mourning the young officer and extending condolences to his family.

“Eliav went out to defend his people and his country and will not return. He was part of the generation of heroes of the State of Israel – a generation of young people with dreams, aspirations, and an entire future ahead of them, who carry on their shoulders an enormous responsibility for the security of the country and the safety of its citizens. A generation that reminds us all what duty, dedication, and love of the land mean.”

The mayor also addressed Tzapalamus’ mother directly, acknowledging her connection to the municipal workforce and the grief being felt by her colleagues.

“Eliav is the son of Heli, an employee of the Haifa Municipality, and Benny. Dear Heli, all of us – your friends and colleagues at the Haifa Municipality – are devastated and heartbroken,” he wrote.

Tzapalamus’ levayah is scheduled for Friday, October 9, at 1 p.m. at the military cemetery in Haifa.

The tragedy occurred as Israeli forces continued operations in southern Lebanon despite the withdrawal of some troops from the area. IDF units remain active in a security zone, conducting operations to seize weapons and strike terrorist infrastructure.

Earlier Thursday, residents of communities in the northern Galilee were advised that explosions could be heard as a result of military activity across the border. Airstrikes were also reported in several areas of southern Lebanon.

Tzapalamus’ death follows other fatal operational accidents involving Israeli forces in recent months. On September 24, two reservists, Master Sgt. Nadav Keli, 24, of Har Halutz, and Master Sgt. Ofek Mualem, 23, of Yerushalayim, were killed when an Israeli military explosive drone malfunctioned during an operation in northern Gaza.

Earlier, Major Harel Birenstock, 34, of Nokdim, and Master Sgt. Tamir Vaknin, 33, of Eilat, were killed by an explosive device in the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun. Both were serving with the Paratroopers Brigade’s 55th Brigade.

In June, Master Sgt. Basel Sweid, 32, of Peki’in, was killed when a military fuel truck overturned in the southern Lebanese area of Rab Thalathin. Another soldier was moderately injured in that accident.

According to Israeli military casualty figures reported Thursday, 971 IDF personnel have been killed since the beginning of the war, including 88 soldiers who fell in southern Lebanon.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] Israeli police have completed an investigation into the deliberate burning of a sukkah in central Yerushalayim during Sukkos, with prosecutors preparing to indict a 52-year-old Arab resident of the Old City in what authorities suspect was a racially motivated attack.

The incident occurred on Sunday, September 27, in the Agrippas Street area, near Yerushalayim’s bustling Machane Yehuda market. Police believe the suspect intentionally set fire to the sukkah during the Yom Tov.

On Thursday, police announced that investigators from the Lev Habira station had completed their investigation and assembled evidence against the suspect. A prosecutor’s declaration was submitted to the court on Wednesday, signaling the intention to file a formal indictment in the coming days.

The case began when police received a report that a sukkah had been set on fire in the center of the city. Officers immediately opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of the blaze and identify whoever was responsible.

Detectives from the Lev Habira station worked alongside surveillance personnel from the Yerushalayim District, examining available evidence and conducting intelligence and operational activities.

Investigators soon concluded that the fire was suspected to have been deliberately set rather than caused by an accident. Evidence gathered during the investigation also raised suspicions that the act was motivated by racial hatred.

Police subsequently identified a 52-year-old resident of the Old City as the suspect. He was located and arrested shortly after the incident and taken for questioning.

The suspect was brought before a court, which extended his detention on several occasions while investigators continued gathering evidence and examining the circumstances surrounding the fire.

Following the completion of the investigation, prosecutors submitted a formal declaration stating their intention to pursue criminal charges.

The suspected arson occurred during Chol Hamoed Sukkos, when Jewish families spend time eating and gathering in their sukkos in fulfillment of the mitzvah of the Yom Tov.

The location of the incident, in the heavily traveled Agrippas Street area, added to the seriousness of the case. The street runs through one of central Yerushalayim’s busiest commercial districts, surrounded by residential buildings, stores and pedestrian traffic.

The suspected racial motive is a central component of the investigation, with police treating the burning of the sukkah as a possible hate-motivated offense rather than an ordinary property crime.

Authorities have not publicly disclosed whether anyone was inside the sukkah when the fire was started, whether there were injuries, or the full extent of the damage.

Police also released footage connected to the incident as they announced the conclusion of the investigation.

The suspect’s identity has not been publicly released. As of Thursday’s announcement, the anticipated indictment had not yet been filed, and the allegations remain subject to court proceedings.

The case now moves toward prosecution, with the police investigation completed and the state preparing to bring formal charges over the burning of the sukkah during Sukkos.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] An Egyptian pilot reportedly employed by EgyptAir has sparked fresh aviation security concerns after posting footage of an Israeli El Al passenger jet at an airport in Italy, accompanied by a recording of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat declaring, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and violence for violence.”

The video, posted Wednesday by Osama Mansour, who identifies himself on social media as an EgyptAir pilot, shows an El Al aircraft parked at an Italian airport as an EgyptAir plane moves into view nearby. As the Egyptian aircraft approaches, the soundtrack plays an excerpt from Sadat’s 1973 wartime speech threatening retaliation against Israel.

The recording includes Sadat’s declaration: “Let the Israelis remember what I always said: ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’.”

The video was shared on Mansour’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, accompanied by an Arabic caption that translates roughly as “A surprise entry disrupts the course of events.”

The footage quickly circulated across Israeli social media Thursday, drawing particular attention because it was posted just days after the attempted terrorist attack aboard a FlyDubai passenger flight bound for Israel.

The FlyDubai incident involved an Omani co-pilot who allegedly attacked the aircraft’s Indian captain and attempted to seize control of the plane. The confrontation prompted renewed scrutiny of airline personnel, security screening and the potential dangers posed by radicalized individuals with access to passenger aircraft.

Against that backdrop, Mansour’s decision to combine footage of an Israeli civilian airliner with a speech invoking retaliation and violence raised questions among Israeli aviation observers about the appropriateness of such messaging by someone identifying himself as a commercial airline pilot.

Israeli aviation journalist Itay Blumental was among those who publicized the footage, questioning whether European airports and international aviation authorities should permit pilots displaying potentially violent attitudes to operate passenger aircraft.

The recording attracted unusually widespread attention compared with Mansour’s previous social media activity. By Thursday evening, the Instagram video had accumulated more than 6,200 likes, while most of his earlier posts had received between 20 and 100 likes. Other reports indicated that the footage had been viewed more than one million times across social media.

The controversy also comes at a particularly sensitive moment in Egyptian-Israeli relations, with the video appearing during the anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which Egypt commemorates annually on October 6.

Sadat, who led Egypt during that war, subsequently became the first Arab leader to sign a peace treaty with Israel. The 1979 agreement established formal diplomatic relations between the countries and resulted in Israel’s withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula.

The speech selected for Mansour’s video, however, comes from the earlier period of military confrontation between the two countries.

Egyptian media coverage has presented the footage in a different light, describing it as a patriotic video marking the anniversary of Egypt’s 1973 military campaign. That interpretation contrasts with concerns expressed in Israel over the use of violent wartime rhetoric alongside images of an Israeli passenger aircraft.

The video itself does not contain an explicit statement by Mansour threatening to attack the El Al aircraft or its passengers, and there is no publicly established evidence that he intended to carry out an act of violence.

Although Mansour identifies himself as an EgyptAir pilot, independent confirmation of his current employment status has not been publicly established. No official response from EgyptAir regarding the video had been reported as of Thursday.

The incident follows another controversy involving an airline pilot whose social media activity raised concerns about extremist rhetoric.

Israeli media reported Thursday that United Airlines had suspended Captain Ibrahim R. Muslim following renewed complaints about social media posts praising the Oct. 7 massacre. According to those reports, the pilot had previously been suspended in November 2023 over similar material before eventually returning to work.

A United Airlines flight attendant told Israeli media that employees had raised concerns about the pilot following the 2023 massacre and renewed their complaints after the FlyDubai incident.

The latest episode has added to the growing debate over how airlines assess the conduct of flight crews outside the cockpit, particularly when their public statements involve violent political rhetoric or hostility toward countries whose citizens may be aboard their aircraft.

{Matzav.com}

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was loudly heckled and confronted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators Wednesday evening as he attended a candlelight vigil in Manhattan marking the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. Some of the protesters carried Hamas and Hezbollah flags while accusing the mayor of abandoning the Palestinian cause since taking office.

The confrontation erupted in Union Square, where the organization Israelis for Peace had arranged a memorial honoring Israelis murdered in the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack and Palestinians killed during the subsequent war in Gaza. Demonstrators who had gathered earlier outside City Hall marched to the memorial, where their shouting disrupted the proceedings and drew attention away from the commemorative gathering.

Mamdani, holding a candle and standing alongside former City Comptroller Brad Lander, remained largely expressionless as protesters directed a barrage of insults and accusations toward him. Several demonstrators wearing keffiyehs shouted at the mayor, demanding that he take a stronger position against Israel.

“You coward!” some protesters yelled. “How do you let this happen?”

Other demonstrators repeatedly chanted, “Zohran you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” while additional slogans included “Mayor Mamdani take a stand. Stop the sale of stolen land” and “Shame on you.”

The disruption came as an unusual public rebuke of Mamdani from activists who have generally shared his outspoken criticism of Israel. The protesters accused him of failing to translate his political positions into sufficient action since becoming mayor, and some objected to his participation in a memorial organized by an Israeli group.

For those attending the vigil, the confrontation turned an already emotional anniversary into an especially painful evening. Tamar Glazerman, co-founder of Israelis for Peace, described the gathering as “a difficult night, heckled by a few hundred counter-protesters.”

“Verbally, it was very violent,” she said, adding “what I think is unfortunate is the lack of listening.”

Glazerman said the demonstrators appeared unwilling to hear the message of the memorial, which sought to acknowledge the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians.

“Because the only thing that matters is that we had Israelis in our name,” she said. “Not a word that we said had mattered.”

Another woman who participated in the candlelight ceremony said she “felt it was emotionally difficult” to witness the protesters interrupting an event intended to remember people who had lost their lives.

“It was like, are they even listening to what’s happening over here?,” the woman, who declined to identify herself, said.

“Because if they were listening, they might even hear that actually might even [hear] some points of agreement.”

The attendee criticized the demonstrators for displaying “zero nuance when lots of nuance is needed.”

“So it was extremely painful and very jarring personally,” she added.

The confrontation followed a demonstration earlier in the day outside City Hall, where approximately 125 pro-Palestinian activists assembled to denounce what they described as Mamdani’s “betrayal” of Palestinian interests.

“Mayor Mamdani, take a side, justice for Palestine,” the protesters chanted during the earlier gathering.

One participant displayed an image depicting Mamdani welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a red carpet, apparently criticizing the mayor in connection with Netanyahu’s visit to New York the previous month.

After the City Hall demonstration, protesters made their way to Union Square, where their arrival created a tense atmosphere around the memorial. Images from the scene showed at least one individual displaying a Hamas flag, while other demonstrators carried signs criticizing Mamdani and Israel.

The mayor remained at the vigil despite the interruptions and did not publicly engage with those shouting at him. Following the gathering, he traveled uptown to Hinds Hall by Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant recognized by the Michelin Guide, where he met with Palestinian families, according to people familiar with his movements.

The incident occurred amid a separate controversy surrounding Mamdani’s official statement commemorating the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, in which approximately 1,200 people were murdered and 251 were abducted into Gaza.

Although Mamdani acknowledged the Hamas atrocities, his statement devoted considerable attention to criticizing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, prompting objections from Jewish organizations and Israeli representatives who argued that he had used the anniversary to advance his political agenda.

The mayor referred to the “unthinkable loss” suffered when “Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others” on Oct. 7, 2023.

He then accused Israel of committing “war crimes” and carrying out an “ongoing genocide” in Gaza.

“The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Mamdani wrote, referring to Palestinian casualties during the war that followed the Hamas attack.

Jewish leaders responded by accusing the mayor of diminishing the significance of the massacre and failing to give adequate recognition to the Jewish victims on the anniversary of their deaths.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt sharply criticized Mamdani’s statement, pointing out that the mayor had not explicitly identified Jews as the targets of the Oct. 7 atrocities.

“Not once do you say “Jews,” Greenblatt wrote. “On Oct. 7, Hamas-led attackers murdered civilians, committed … violence, mutilated bodies and took hostages.”

“You are weaponizing a day meant for mourning the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to recycle your usual anti-zionist talking points,” Greenblatt continued.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also condemned the mayor’s approach, accusing him of redirecting attention away from the victims of Hamas on a day designated for remembering the massacre.

Danon said Mamdani was attempting to “hijack the only day we have for the victims of survivors.”

“He’s trying to hijack the day to talk about attacking Israel,” Danon said, adding “It’s like on 9/11 you talked about victims and al-Qaeda terrorists.”

“He’s dangerous and sophisticated,” the ambassador said of Mamdani. “He will go to both ceremonies and try to say he feels for both losses of life.”

The controversy comes amid continuing concerns about antisemitism in New York City. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch recently reported that antisemitic incidents accounted for approximately 53% of confirmed hate crimes in the city during the first nine months of 2026, despite Jewish residents comprising roughly 10% of the population.

Mamdani has maintained that his administration is committed to protecting Jewish New Yorkers and combating antisemitism while continuing to oppose Israeli government policies. His handling of the issue has nevertheless drawn criticism from Jewish community leaders who believe his rhetoric has contributed to an increasingly hostile atmosphere.

Wednesday’s events also exposed tensions between the mayor and segments of the pro-Palestinian movement, with demonstrators accusing him of failing to deliver on their expectations even as Jewish leaders criticized his statements about Israel.

At Union Square, those tensions played out in full view of mourners who had gathered to commemorate the victims of Oct. 7, only to find their memorial disrupted by protesters directing chants and accusations at the mayor.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the United States will not launch military strikes against Iran before the November 3 midterm elections, even as Washington maintains its blockade of the Islamic Republic and continues applying economic and military pressure on Tehran.

The president made the announcement in a social media statement in which he reported progress in negotiations with Iranian officials, described Iran as facing severe economic and military difficulties, and reiterated that the United States would not permit Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.

“We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote at the beginning of a statement posted on his social media platform.

Trump indicated that the ongoing negotiations had not led Washington to ease its pressure campaign. He described Iran’s position as increasingly difficult, pointing to the country’s economic problems and weakened military capabilities.

The president emphasized that the American blockade would remain in effect while diplomatic discussions continued, signaling that the administration intended to maintain its leverage over Tehran despite the temporary commitment to refrain from military action.

He also highlighted the volume of oil shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategically important waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with international shipping routes.

According to Trump, approximately 22 million barrels of oil traveled through the strait overnight, with none of the shipments originating in Iran or intended for Iranian destinations.

The president cited those figures as evidence that international oil transportation was continuing at substantial levels while restrictions affecting Iran remained in place.

Trump then addressed the possibility of additional American military operations against the Islamic Republic, establishing a specific timetable tied to the upcoming congressional elections.

“We will not attack Iran at any time before the midterm elections in the United States on November 3.”

The declaration provides a public commitment that the administration will refrain from initiating attacks against Iran during the remaining weeks of the election campaign. It does not, however, establish what military options Washington might consider after November 3.

The announcement follows reports that the Trump administration had been reviewing plans for possible renewed military strikes against Iran before Election Day. The Pentagon had reportedly been instructed to prepare options for additional operations, although no final decision to launch an attack had been announced.

The United States and Israel began their military campaign against Iran in late February, triggering a wider confrontation that disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and sent energy prices sharply higher. Since then, Washington has sought to pressure Tehran through a combination of military deterrence, economic restrictions and negotiations.

The American blockade of Iranian ports has become a central element of that strategy. Washington has sought to prevent Iranian oil exports while allowing shipments from other countries to continue moving through the waterway, which carries a significant portion of the world’s petroleum supplies.

Iran and the United States have exchanged proposals in recent weeks aimed at ending the conflict and restoring normal maritime traffic. Trump rejected a recent Iranian offer, however, and significant disagreements remain over Tehran’s nuclear program, sanctions and control of shipping routes.

Among the unresolved issues is Iran’s refusal to abandon uranium enrichment or surrender its existing stockpile, despite American demands for substantial restrictions. Iranian officials maintain that their nuclear activities are intended for peaceful purposes, while Washington and Israel continue to warn about the possibility of an Iranian nuclear weapon.

The president’s announcement also comes as the Iran conflict increasingly influences the American midterm election campaign. Rising gasoline prices and concerns about the cost of military operations have become major political issues, with Republican candidates facing pressure over the administration’s handling of the war.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 60% of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict. The war has also become a significant concern for Republicans seeking to preserve their congressional majorities in the November elections.

Oil markets reacted to Thursday’s announcement, with crude prices retreating from earlier gains as traders assessed the reduced likelihood of immediate American military action. Brent crude moved toward $103 per barrel following the president’s statement, while U.S. benchmark crude fell to approximately $90.

Nevertheless, tensions in the Persian Gulf remain elevated. Recent attacks involving commercial vessels and threats to shipping routes have continued to raise concerns about the security of international energy supplies, even as American officials maintain that substantial volumes of oil are moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump’s pledge applies specifically to the period before November 3. He did not say whether the United States would resume military operations after the elections if negotiations fail, leaving the administration’s longer-term intentions unresolved.

{Matzav.com}

The IDF announced Thursday that it had eliminated two Hamas terrorists in separate airstrikes in Gaza earlier this week, including a battalion commander who was involved in holding Israeli hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Matan Angrest during their captivity. The military said both terrorists had recently been involved in planning attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians while working to rebuild Hamas’ military capabilities in violation of the ceasefire.

The first operation took place Monday in the Gaza City area, where the Israeli Air Force targeted and killed Muhammad Muhsen Nimr Yazji, a commander in Hamas’ Shati Battalion.

According to the IDF, Yazji played a role in holding Israeli captives in the Gaza City Brigade’s area of operations during the war. Among those held under the terrorist organization’s control were Damari, Gonen and Angrest, three Israelis whose abductions and captivity drew widespread attention.

Damari and Gonen were abducted during the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, while Angrest, an IDF soldier, was captured during the fighting that day.

In a separate operation Tuesday, Israeli forces carried out an airstrike in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, killing Muhammad Fawzi Muhammad Awad Gamal, a member of Hamas’ Daraj Tuffah Battalion.

The IDF said both men had remained involved in terrorist activities despite the ceasefire agreement, including efforts to organize attacks targeting Israeli troops and civilians.

Military officials also accused the two operatives of participating in attempts to restore Hamas’ operational capabilities, activities the IDF described as repeated breaches of the ceasefire.

The military said the airstrikes were carried out to eliminate the threats posed by the terrorists and prevent them from advancing additional attacks.

Before carrying out the strikes, the IDF said it implemented measures intended to reduce the possibility of civilian casualties. These included employing precision-guided weapons and conducting aerial surveillance of the targeted locations.

The military did not provide specific details about the attacks the two terrorists were allegedly preparing, nor did it disclose whether additional Hamas operatives were present at the locations when the strikes occurred.

The announcement comes amid continuing Israeli operations against Hamas members accused of attempting to reorganize the terrorist group’s military infrastructure despite the ceasefire. Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that Hamas operatives are seeking to rebuild their forces and prepare additional attacks.

In another operation disclosed Wednesday, the IDF said it had eliminated two Hamas terrorists after they emerged from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. According to the military, one of the men subsequently planted explosive devices near the ceasefire line in an attempt to target Israeli soldiers. The second was identified as Muhammad Tammous, a Hamas sniper who also worked in Gaza’s civil defense services.

The latest operations also follow the IDF’s announcement last month that it had eliminated Mahmoud Abd al-Fattah Awad, another Hamas commander accused of participating in the captivity of Israeli hostages. The military identified seven former captives connected to that case: Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Doron Steinbrecher, Naama Levy, Ziv Berman, Omri Miran and Eitan Mor.

Under the ceasefire arrangement, Israeli forces remain deployed in designated areas of Gaza, with the military maintaining that it retains the authority to respond to immediate threats against its personnel and Israeli civilians.

The IDF said troops operating under Southern Command remain positioned in accordance with the agreement and will continue taking action against threats identified in the area.

{Matzav.com}

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) is calling for a broad reassessment of America’s military relationship with Israel, raising the possibility of reconsidering weapons transfers, joint defense technology projects, and other longstanding elements of security cooperation between the two countries. His remarks signal that even military programs developed jointly by Washington and Yerushalayim could face renewed scrutiny as debate over American support for Israel continues in the Senate.

Appearing Wednesday on Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Coons said that “we should have a re-examination of our relationship” between the United States and Israel. He specifically identified shared military development initiatives as an area requiring closer examination, declaring that “part of our re-examination needs to be looking at what weapons systems we’re developing jointly, what technology we’re developing jointly.”

The Delaware Democrat also indicated that the discussion should extend across a wide range of American exports to Israel, including equipment designed for civilian purposes that can also be used militarily. Referring to debates already taking place on Capitol Hill, Coons said, “we have hotly debated in the Senate over the last year, things from purely civilian items, but with military applications, like bulldozers, and things with purely military applications…I think all of that has to be reconsidered and debated.”

Bloomberg co-host Kailey Leinz pressed Coons on whether his proposed review could eventually translate into restrictions on American arms shipments, particularly if Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon continue without a diplomatic resolution. She also raised the prospect of Coons becoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a future Senate.

Leinz asked, “Well, and if you potentially become the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee in the new Senate, as you talk about a re-examination of this relationship, could that also mean re-examining the arms that are provided to Israel if there is no peace solution by that time and they’re continuing to prosecute, not just what is happening in the Gaza Strip, but elsewhere as well, including Lebanon, could you see yourself deciding that there should be restrictions around what is provided?”

Coons responded by pointing to discussions about the future structure of American military assistance to Israel, including comments by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu suggesting that the two countries consider moving away from direct military grants as they negotiate their next long-term security assistance agreement.

“Look, Prime Minister Netanyahu himself has suggested that, as we negotiate the next MOU between the United States and Israel, we should seriously consider ending the direct donation to Israel of American military aid. We sell weapons, sophisticated, advanced weapons, to dozens and dozens of countries. Israel is and will remain our ally. And I think — I’ll stand by what I said, we should have a re-examination of our relationship.”

The memorandum of understanding, or MOU, governing American security assistance to Israel currently provides for $38 billion in military support over ten years, covering fiscal years 2019 through 2028. That framework includes $33 billion in foreign military financing and $5 billion for missile defense cooperation. Negotiations over a successor agreement will help determine the future of the security partnership.

Coons emphasized that reviewing the relationship would also require examining collaborative defense projects that have delivered important technological and strategic benefits to both countries. He cited the missile defense systems used to protect Israel from Iranian attacks as an example of the value of such cooperation.

“I think a part of our re-examination needs to be looking at what weapons systems we’re developing jointly, what technology we’re developing jointly. Some of the missile defense systems that have largely defended Israel from Iran were jointly developed between the United States and Israel, and there is real benefit to the American people in that.”

American-Israeli missile defense cooperation includes programs such as Arrow and David’s Sling, alongside extensive American support for Iron Dome. These systems have become central components of Israel’s defense against rockets, missiles, and other aerial threats, while joint development has also contributed to American defense capabilities.

The senator then turned to the controversial issue of heavy American-made bombs supplied to Israel during its war against Hamas. Coons alleged that 2,000-pound bombs had been used extensively against civilian targets in Gaza, and he linked that concern to the Biden administration’s earlier decision to suspend a shipment of such munitions.

“These 2,000-pound bombs have overwhelmingly been used on civilian targets in the war against Hamas in Gaza. And I think that was partly the cause for the pause by the Biden administration on their transfer. I thought that what was notified by the Trump administration was broader than just that transfer. And we have hotly debated in the Senate over the last year, things from purely civilian items, but with military applications, like bulldozers, and things with purely military applications, like the bombs you’re referencing. I think all of that has to be reconsidered and debated.”

Coons’ allegation about the use of heavy bombs against civilian targets was presented without supporting evidence in the interview. Israel has maintained that its military operations target Hamas terrorists and military infrastructure, and that Hamas’ use of civilian areas for military purposes has complicated efforts to avoid civilian casualties.

The Biden administration halted a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs in 2024 amid concerns over Israel’s military campaign in Rafah. President Trump’s administration subsequently reversed the hold in 2025, restoring the transfer of the munitions.

Coons did not announce a specific proposal to prohibit arms sales or terminate joint military projects. His comments nevertheless made clear that he wants Congress to revisit the full range of American military cooperation with Israel, from advanced weapons and missile defense development to equipment with potential battlefield applications.

The debate comes as Israel has already begun exploring a different model for its future relationship with Washington. In January, Netanyahu said he wanted Israel to gradually eliminate its dependence on American military aid over the next decade. Israeli defense officials have also discussed placing greater emphasis on joint research, weapons development, and strategic cooperation in a successor agreement, rather than relying primarily on direct financial assistance.

That distinction could become particularly significant if lawmakers pursue the broader review advocated by Coons. While Netanyahu’s proposal would reduce Israel’s reliance on American funding, Coons is suggesting that even the collaborative defense initiatives expected to play a larger role in the future relationship should be subject to congressional examination.

{Matzav.com}

A prominent posek has issued an unusual halachic ruling permitting the burial of a 44-year-old Jewish father of seven, whose body was discovered in Uman over Rosh Hashanah, to be delayed while investigators pursue mounting suspicions that he was murdered.

The ruling concerns R’ Yitzchok Elmakias z”l, a London resident who traveled to Uman for Rosh Hashanah and was subsequently found lifeless under circumstances that have raised serious questions about the cause of his death.

Although the initial possibility of a medical emergency had been considered, investigators now increasingly suspect that Elmakias was the victim of a homicide. The circumstances surrounding his death have prompted efforts to identify and locate a possible killer.

The developing investigation has also created a difficult halachic dilemma, pitting the obligation to arrange a prompt Jewish burial against the need to preserve evidence that could help investigators apprehend a suspected murderer.

According to a report by Emess, Ukrainian police authorities have indicated their willingness to release Elmakias’s body for burial without conducting further investigative procedures. However, a private detective agency involved in the case has urged that the investigation continue, arguing that additional efforts could lead to the identification and capture of the suspected killer.

Continuing those efforts would require the body to remain in refrigerated storage rather than being released immediately for kevurah.

Faced with the sensitive question, Nachman Dickstein, a ZAKA representative working overseas, sought an urgent halachic ruling from Rav Chaim Yosef Dovid Weiss, a Satmar dayan in Antwerp, Belgium.

Dickstein presented the conflicting considerations to the posek, explaining that local police were prepared to release the body, while private investigators believed there was a realistic possibility of locating the person responsible for Elmakias’s death if the investigation continued.

The question was whether halacha permits postponing a burial for the purpose of identifying and apprehending a murderer, particularly when doing so requires the deceased to remain in storage for an extended period.

In a detailed written response, Rav Weiss examined the issue through the teachings of Chazal and earlier halachic authorities.

He began by citing the Midrash Rabbah regarding the seriousness of halonas hameis, the prohibition against unnecessarily delaying burial.

Jewish law places considerable emphasis on the dignity of the deceased and the obligation to arrange burial without avoidable delay. The prohibition of halonas hameis is rooted in the Torah’s commandment that a body should not remain unburied overnight without a legitimate halachic justification.

Rav Weiss also cited the Sefer Chassidim, which discusses the spiritual significance of bringing a murderer to justice and teaches that a murder victim does not attain rest until justice is carried out against the killer.

However, the posek noted an important halachic distinction: legal rulings cannot necessarily be derived directly from passages of aggadah, even when those teachings offer insight into the gravity of a particular situation.

The question therefore required consideration of a more immediate halachic concern: the potential danger to other people if a murderer remains at large.

Rav Weiss reasoned that where there is a genuine concern of pikuach nefesh, because the suspected killer may pose a continuing threat to others, there is a basis for permitting the delay.

In his written response, he specifically referred to the circumstances of the Uman case, stating that the suspected murderer apparently belonged to a group of known dangerous individuals.

That concern, he explained, strengthened the argument for allowing investigators additional time to pursue the case.

After weighing the relevant sources and the information presented to him, Rav Weiss ruled that it is permissible to delay Elmakias’s burial for the purpose of continuing the investigation and attempting to locate the suspected killer.

The ruling provides halachic authorization for investigators to proceed with their efforts, even though doing so requires postponing the burial.

The decision does not establish that Elmakias was murdered, and the suspicions surrounding his death remain subject to investigation. No suspect has been publicly identified in the information released about the case.

For Elmakias’s family, the circumstances have compounded an already devastating tragedy. The London father of seven was found dead while in Uman for Rosh Hashanah, and weeks later, the question of exactly what happened to him remains unresolved.

The ruling by Rav Weiss now allows those involved in the case to continue pursuing answers without the additional concern that the necessary delay in burial violates halacha, provided the circumstances remain consistent with the considerations presented to the posek.

{Matzav.com}

For three years, the bedroom of Elitzur Hajbi Hy”d remained locked inside his family’s home in Moshav Yachini, untouched since the morning he was murdered by Hamas terrorists during the Simchas Torah massacre of October 7, 2023. This week, as Israel marked the third anniversary of the atrocities, his grieving family finally gathered the strength to open the door, leading to an emotional return by ZAKA volunteers to complete work that had remained unfinished since that terrible day.

Hajbi was among the victims murdered when Hamas terrorists invaded Moshav Yachini, a community in southern Israel, during the coordinated attacks that claimed approximately 1,200 lives across the region.

In the aftermath of the massacre, ZAKA volunteers worked throughout the devastated communities, recovering human remains and ensuring that victims received a proper Jewish burial. At the Hajbi home, most of the house was eventually cleaned and restored, but the bedroom where Elitzur had been murdered remained sealed.

For his family, entering the room was simply too painful. As the months turned into years, the door remained closed, preserving a part of the home that had become inseparable from the trauma of that morning.

In the days leading up to the third anniversary of the massacre, the family made the difficult decision to enter the bedroom for the first time since the attack.

Upon opening the room, family members discovered remains and other evidence that had been left behind. Recognizing the need to ensure that everything was handled in accordance with halacha and with the utmost respect for the deceased, they contacted ZAKA and requested assistance.

On Wednesday morning, ZAKA volunteers from the Sderot unit arrived at the Hajbi residence, accompanied by the organization’s deputy director of operations, Chaim Weingarten, and Rav Avi Deri, commander of ZAKA’s Lachish district.

The volunteers spent several hours carefully examining the room and collecting the remaining findings so they could be brought to kevurah.

For the ZAKA personnel, many of whom had spent the days following October 7 moving from one scene of devastation to another, the return to the Hajbi home was particularly emotional.

Weingarten described the experience as a deeply moving moment that brought him back to the work undertaken during the immediate aftermath of the massacre.

“When we arrived this morning and carried out the same work that we performed back then, we experienced a chilling sense of coming full circle,” he said.

“Precisely on this day, after the family had been unable to touch the room for three years, we merited to complete the work of honoring the deceased and bringing the remains to burial.”

Rav Avi Deri said the circumstances of Wednesday’s visit stood in stark contrast to the scenes ZAKA volunteers encountered three years earlier.

“Unlike three years ago, today we were not working alone among destroyed homes, but together with Elitzur’s son and brother,” he said.

“It is difficult to describe the feelings in words. We carried out our work with awe and reverence, praying that our efforts would provide the family with a little comfort.”

The presence of Hajbi’s son and brother alongside the volunteers added a particularly poignant dimension to the operation. Three years earlier, ZAKA personnel had entered homes throughout the region amid scenes of destruction and unimaginable loss. This time, they returned at the family’s request, working together with those who had spent the intervening years mourning their loved one.

The operation was carried out with particular sensitivity, recognizing both the emotional difficulty of reopening the room and the importance of ensuring that every remaining finding received the appropriate care and respect.

For the Hajbi family, the reopening of the bedroom marked a painful milestone in a grieving process that has continued for three years. The room that had remained closed since the morning of the massacre could finally be attended to, and the remaining findings could be brought to burial.

The volunteers departed after completing their work, having fulfilled a final obligation to Elitzur Hajbi Hy”d in the very room that his family had been unable to enter since the day he was murdered.

{Matzav.com}

Three years after the October 7 massacre and the outbreak of the war in Gaza, residents of the Palestinian enclave are describing a disturbing reality in which Hamas terrorists continue to patrol the streets, intimidate civilians, steal humanitarian aid and allegedly operate secret detention and interrogation facilities beneath hospitals.

In testimony provided to Israel’s Channel 12 News, two Gaza residents described the terrorist organization’s continuing presence throughout the territory, raising serious questions about efforts to dismantle Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.

Their accounts depict an organization that continues to exercise power over civilians through armed intimidation, surveillance and detention, despite the enormous destruction sustained in Gaza during the war.

One of the witnesses, a Gaza woman identified only by the Hebrew initial Aleph to protect her identity, described armed men operating openly in residential areas, particularly after dark.

“There is a phenomenon of armed men in the streets, especially at night,” she said.

According to her account, masked gunmen routinely stop vehicles, question passengers about their identities and sometimes demand identification documents.

The woman said the continued presence of armed groups has contributed to a breakdown in personal security, leaving ordinary residents vulnerable to crime and intimidation without effective protection.

“All kinds of problems and crimes are taking place, and there is no security authority that brings the criminal to justice, pursues the murderer or goes after the thief,” she said.

Her testimony suggests that despite the changes brought about by the war, armed Hamas operatives remain capable of exercising control over civilian movement and conducting security activities in populated areas.

A second witness, a Gaza activist identified only by the Hebrew initial Mem, offered an equally stark assessment of the terrorist organization’s continued influence.

“Hamas remains the same Hamas,” he said.

According to the activist, Hamas personnel repeatedly established themselves in areas of the Gaza Strip before displaced residents were able to return or relocate there.

He claimed that throughout the repeated movements of civilians between different parts of Gaza, Hamas operatives managed to arrive ahead of the population, maintaining their presence and reestablishing control wherever residents gathered.

The activist criticized the failure to establish a secure area free from Hamas influence, arguing that civilians had never been given a genuine opportunity to live under an alternative governing authority.

His comments reflect a central concern about Gaza’s future: even where Hamas has suffered significant military losses, its remaining armed personnel and organizational infrastructure may enable it to continue intimidating residents and obstructing attempts to establish a replacement administration.

The most disturbing allegations concern Gaza’s hospitals, where the witnesses say Hamas has established detention and interrogation facilities while using crowded medical compounds to conceal its activities.

The woman identified three major hospitals where she claimed Hamas operatives were active: Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

According to her testimony, Hamas personnel exploit the presence of patients, medical workers and displaced civilians to operate within the hospital complexes while avoiding detection.

“They have established prisons, interrogate people and summon them beneath the hospitals for questioning,” she said.

The activist provided a similar account, alleging that Hamas maintains torture facilities in the basement of Al-Shifa Hospital, where Palestinians suspected of opposing the organization can be detained and questioned.

He also accused Hamas of continuing to steal humanitarian assistance intended for Gaza’s civilian population, with supplies allegedly diverted and sold through the black market.

The allegations raise further concerns about the distribution of aid in Gaza, where shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies have created severe hardship for civilians throughout the war.

The activist additionally claimed that Hamas maintains command-and-control centers within an area comprising approximately 29 percent of the Gaza Strip. The precise geographical meaning of that figure and the extent of the organization’s control could not be independently established from the testimony.

The new accounts follow earlier reports from Gaza residents describing Hamas’s use of civilian institutions to detain, interrogate and punish Palestinians accused of disloyalty.

In June, an investigation published by the Washington Free Beacon included testimony from three Gaza residents who described Hamas transforming schools and hospitals into detention facilities.

One resident said classrooms had been converted into makeshift prisons, while underground rooms within hospital compounds were used to hold detainees.

Another witness described severe abuse at Nasser Hospital, alleging that Palestinians brought to certain departments were beaten or shot in the legs.

The investigation also cited documents attributed to Hamas’s Interior Ministry directing individuals to appear at hospital facilities for questioning.

Separately, an investigation conducted by the IDF and Shin Bet and publicized in August identified what Israeli authorities described as a Hamas interrogation and torture center on the second floor of Nasser Hospital’s outpatient clinic complex.

Israeli security officials said the facility was used to interrogate, threaten and extort Palestinian residents as part of Hamas’s efforts to preserve its authority in southern Gaza.

The allegations received additional attention following a United Nations human rights investigation released in June, which documented widespread violence by Hamas-linked armed groups and police units against Palestinian civilians.

The UN report recorded 249 incidents between August 2024 and January 2026, including 108 deaths, involving executions, beatings, shootings and other forms of abuse. Investigators described violence carried out against people accused of collaborating with Israel, engaging in criminal activity or opposing Hamas.

Some incidents occurred in public places and hospital compounds, according to the findings. The UN investigation also identified evidence of torture associated with the Nasser Hospital complex.

The findings provided independent documentation of abuses by Hamas-linked forces, although they did not verify every allegation concerning the particular underground facilities described in the latest Channel 12 interviews.

Throughout the war, Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of exploiting hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure to shelter operatives, store weapons and maintain command centers.

Israeli forces previously uncovered tunnel infrastructure at Al-Shifa Hospital and reported finding weapons and military equipment in several medical facilities. Hamas has denied using hospitals for military purposes, while international investigations have reached differing conclusions about the extent of such activity.

A previous UN commission confirmed the existence of a tunnel and shaft at Al-Shifa and verified that Israeli hostages had been brought into the hospital, but said it could not establish that the tunnel was used for military operations. Medical facilities retain special protections under international humanitarian law.

The latest testimony comes at a particularly sensitive moment, three years after Hamas terrorists carried out the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, murdering approximately 1,200 people and abducting 251 hostages.

Israel launched its military campaign with the declared objective of dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and preventing the organization from carrying out another attack of comparable scale.

Despite extensive Israeli military operations, the destruction of significant portions of Hamas’s infrastructure and the elimination of numerous senior commanders, the accounts emerging from Gaza suggest that the organization continues to maintain an armed presence and exercise coercive power over parts of the civilian population.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir launched an extraordinary public attack on Israel’s chareidi political leadership Thursday morning, accusing the heads of Shas and United Torah Judaism of betraying their constituents, manufacturing a political campaign against him to conceal their own failures, and treating chareidi voters as though they lack the intelligence to recognize what their representatives have failed to accomplish.

In a lengthy open letter addressed directly to the leaders of the chareidi parties, Ben-Gvir alleged that their attacks against him over the arrests of yeshiva bochurim were politically motivated and designed to divert attention from years of unsuccessful efforts to resolve the draft crisis and other issues affecting the chareidi community.

The Otzma Yehudit chairman also issued a pointed warning that he possesses damaging statements made privately by prominent rabbonim about senior chareidi politicians, including remarks from recent days that he claimed would leave some of those politicians too embarrassed to appear in public.

The letter represents a significant escalation in the increasingly bitter confrontation between Ben-Gvir and the chareidi parties ahead of the upcoming Knesset elections, as the struggle over military conscription, the arrest of yeshiva bochurim, and competition for chareidi votes intensifies.

Ben-Gvir opened his letter with a sarcastic introduction, accusing chareidi politicians of staging a campaign against him under the pretense of defending their constituents.

“An open letter to the heads of the chareidi parties: Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Itamar Ben-Gvir. Yesterday, you chose to launch a staged campaign against me. Ostensibly out of ‘concern’ for the public you were supposed to be looking after. In reality, it was a cynical political maneuver intended to divert attention from the anger over your failure to act on behalf of your voters throughout the entire last term.”

He continued by acknowledging the growing frustration within the chareidi community, arguing that the politicians responsible for representing that community had failed to deliver on a long list of important issues.

“I understand that there are elections and that there is tremendous anger against you within the chareidi community, perhaps justifiably so. I understand that you need to find someone to blame, to divert attention from the fact that for four years you failed to take care of the chareidi community, which today finds itself in a desperate situation: no draft arrangement, no budgets, no daycare, no affordable housing, no travel abroad, and only arrests.”

Ben-Gvir then accused the politicians of spending their time pursuing government positions and appointments rather than addressing the difficulties confronting their constituents.

“I truly understand everything, but Itamar Ben-Gvir is not to blame for the fact that for four years you focused on positions and appointments instead of dealing with the real problems of the precious community that sent you to the Knesset.”

The public confrontation follows a series of sharp attacks against Ben-Gvir by prominent figures in the chareidi community over the ongoing arrests of yeshiva bochurim classified by the military authorities as draft evaders.

On Wednesday evening, Rav Yitzchok Yosef delivered an unusually forceful criticism of Ben-Gvir during a hachnosas Sefer Torah in the Ramot neighborhood of Yerushalayim. Rav Yosef accused the national security minister of bearing responsibility for the arrests and suggested that Ben-Gvir stood to benefit politically if chareidi voters became angry with Shas.

Rav Yosef alleged that Ben-Gvir wanted unrest among yeshiva bochurim to generate resentment toward Shas and encourage voters to support Otzma Yehudit instead. He also questioned why the minister, who has demonstrated considerable political influence on other issues, could not intervene more effectively to prevent the arrests.

The criticism comes as chareidi political leaders face growing pressure over the unresolved draft issue, which has become one of the dominant concerns in the community. Arrests of yeshiva bochurim have prompted demonstrations and intensified demands for a legislative solution that would protect those engaged in full-time Torah study.

Ben-Gvir, however, rejected the contention that he was responsible for the arrests, arguing that the legal situation had been created by the very politicians now seeking to blame him.

In one of the letter’s most pointed passages, he accused the chareidi parties of making a serious strategic mistake by opposing his earlier efforts to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

“It is worth reminding you again and again: At the beginning of the term, I was the one who demanded that the attorney general be dismissed, while you, the representatives of the chareidi parties, opposed it. You explained that you ‘knew how to make deals with her.’ You thought you were smarter, and you protected her in order to obtain her approval for appointments that were important to you. And now, thanks to your great wisdom, we have all reached the current disgraceful situation, for which you bear a substantial share of responsibility.”

Ben-Gvir argued that the chareidi parties had miscalculated by maintaining a working relationship with the attorney general in the hope of securing political and administrative concessions. He maintained that their decisions had ultimately contributed to the legal difficulties now confronting the community.

“There is no point in trying to shift the blame onto others. The simple truth is that your priorities were misguided, and you yourselves bear responsibility for the situation in which your community now finds itself.”

The minister then turned to the draft controversy itself, advancing a position that has long generated debate within chareidi political and rabbinic circles: encouraging those who are not actually learning in yeshiva to enter military frameworks designed for chareidi recruits, while protecting those genuinely devoted to full-time Torah study.

“If, for example, you had explicitly called upon those who are not learning to enlist in chareidi military tracks, you would have significantly reduced the public pressure on genuine Torah learners and enabled those who truly study Torah to continue learning.”

Ben-Gvir claimed that when he raised this proposal with chareidi politicians, they admitted that their reluctance stemmed from fear of opposition by the Peleg Yerushalmi.

“When I asked you why you were not doing this, you explained to me that you were afraid of the Peleg Yerushalmi. So when it comes to Ben-Gvir, suddenly you are brave?!”

The accusation was particularly provocative because it suggested that political calculations and concerns about internal communal opposition had prevented chareidi representatives from pursuing an arrangement that Ben-Gvir believes could have eased pressure on yeshiva bochurim.

The minister then presented what he described as evidence of his own efforts to assist chareidi men seeking employment and service opportunities in frameworks compatible with their religious requirements.

“I could speak for hours about the additional mistakes you made. That is not my purpose, but here is another small example: the recruitment of chareidim into the mehadrin tracks I established in the police and the Israel Prison Service.”

According to Ben-Gvir, those programs have already recruited approximately 1,400 chareidi men, with additional recruitment planned.

“I recruited 1,400 chareidim, and there is more to come. Many members of the chareidi community who are not learning are begging to join these sought-after tracks, which include entire groups from some of the most respected chassidic communities. I helped them with all my strength. And who completely ignored them? You, the chareidi representatives.”

He also criticized the chareidi parties over their handling of legislation introduced by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech to expand opportunities for gender-separated higher education.

The proposed legislation was intended to make it easier for chareidi students to pursue advanced academic degrees while maintaining separation between men and women, including by allowing chareidi seminaries to offer graduate-level programs.

“The same applies to the separate-studies law proposed by MK Limor Son Har-Melech of Otzma Yehudit, a law intended primarily to enable the chareidi community to pursue academic degrees in separate settings. A law that would allow chareidi seminaries to teach master’s and doctoral degrees. And who boycotted the vote on the law intended for your benefit? You, the chareidi representatives.”

Ben-Gvir maintained that these examples demonstrated a broader pattern in which chareidi politicians had failed to support initiatives that could directly benefit their own constituents.

Ben-Gvir devoted another substantial portion of his letter to defending his record on chareidi issues, claiming that his ministry has repeatedly intervened on behalf of chareidi communities while their elected representatives have failed to provide comparable support.

“I do not really need to present to the chareidi community what I have done for it. Everyone knows that one of the reasons the attorney general is asking the Supreme Court to remove me is my insistence on defending the rights of the chareidi community — in Bnei Brak, Yerushalayim, Meron and everywhere else.”

He pointed specifically to his efforts to change police procedures during demonstrations, arguing that chareidi protesters had historically faced harsher treatment than participants in anti-government protests elsewhere in Israel.

“I am the first minister who came and demanded equal treatment for the Kaplan protesters and the chareidi community, because chareidi blood is no less valuable. I am the one who completely eliminated the use of skunk water because it was used only against chareidim.”

The minister was referring to the foul-smelling liquid historically deployed by police during demonstrations, which has been a particular source of controversy during protests involving chareidi communities.

Ben-Gvir also cited his decisions to expand eligibility for civilian firearm licenses in predominantly chareidi neighborhoods and communities.

“I am the one who approved chareidi neighborhoods for firearm eligibility in Yerushalayim, Beit Shemesh, Kfar Chabad, and many other places. I am the one who cares for the chareidi community with genuine love, throughout the years, and does not suddenly remember it on the eve of elections.”

The letter then took an even more confrontational turn, with Ben-Gvir suggesting that he had deliberately refrained from exploiting internal disagreements within chareidi politics, despite having access to information that could prove highly embarrassing to senior politicians.

“Believe me, I also know how to play political games. There is not a day that goes by without chareidim approaching me, angry about your internal politics, and asking me to intervene.”

As an example, he referred to the recent removal of veteran Degel HaTorah MKs Moshe Gafni and Uri Maklev from the party’s Knesset slate, a development that generated considerable controversy within the party.

“When angry chareidim called me about the manner in which Gafni and Maklev were removed, I told them that it was not my business. I called personally to strengthen and encourage them, but I did not say a word publicly.”

The removal of Gafni and Maklev in September marked a major change in Degel HaTorah’s leadership. The decision surprised associates of the two veteran politicians, who had reportedly believed until shortly before the announcement that their positions on the party list were secure.

Ben-Gvir argued that he could have taken advantage of the controversy to damage his political rivals, particularly given his own efforts to attract chareidi voters to Otzma Yehudit.

“The same applies to the internal disputes between the various rabbinic courts, which I could easily have exploited. Every time the courts of rabbonim and admorim approached me angrily about the party operatives, I could have taken advantage of it.”

He then made one of the letter’s most explosive claims, asserting that private conversations with prominent rabbonim had provided him with statements that could cause serious political embarrassment.

“I have astonishing things from my conversations with senior rabbonim about the chareidi politicians, including from just the last few days. Believe me, statements of the kind that would cause several senior chareidi politicians to shut themselves inside their homes for a long time.”

Despite that warning, Ben-Gvir insisted that he had deliberately chosen not to publicize the remarks.

“But I did not use them, and I never considered using them. I love you. I do not hate you, and I am not persecuting you.”

The minister also disclosed what he described as private understandings with senior figures in the chareidi parties regarding his election campaign.

According to Ben-Gvir, representatives of those parties had recently approached him seeking to coordinate their electoral strategies and avoid direct competition for the established voting bases of Shas and United Torah Judaism.

“Just in the last few days, I received approaches from senior figures in the chareidi parties who wanted to ‘coordinate the campaign.’ They asked me not to appeal to United Torah Judaism and Shas voters, but only to the lost chareidi votes — those who do not intend to vote and those who intend to vote for parties that will not cross the electoral threshold — in order to save the right-wing bloc.”

Ben-Gvir claimed that he had accepted the request, despite the possibility of gaining additional votes by competing more directly with the chareidi parties.

“And I agreed, because I am not out to destroy you. So this is how you thank me?!”

The disclosure is particularly significant in the context of the approaching elections. Otzma Yehudit has been seeking to expand its support among chareidi voters, including those dissatisfied with the established parties over the draft crisis and other unresolved issues.

In September, Ben-Gvir announced that chareidi activist Yossi Goldberger would be placed ninth on the Otzma Yehudit Knesset list, a move widely viewed as an effort to strengthen the party’s connections with chareidi communities.

The minister’s latest letter suggests that his electoral strategy has become a source of growing tension with Shas and United Torah Judaism, particularly as both parties seek to maintain voter loyalty amid dissatisfaction over the failure to resolve the conscription issue.

Returning to the arrests of yeshiva bochurim, Ben-Gvir rejected accusations that he possesses the authority to stop the enforcement operations but has chosen not to exercise it.

“The truth is that you know perfectly well that everything I have written here is correct. On most of these issues, you quietly agreed with me that I was right.”

He then directly addressed the claim that his position as national security minister makes him responsible for the arrests carried out by police.

“You also know perfectly well that I have absolutely no ability to influence the arrests, which actually push people further away from enlistment. I recruited chareidim to the police, Border Police and Prison Service through genuine trust and concern.”

Ben-Gvir maintained that the arrests were being carried out pursuant to legal directives originating with the attorney general and the Supreme Court, rather than decisions made by his ministry.

“You know perfectly well that this is a direct instruction from the attorney general and the Supreme Court, the very people you foolishly protected for years.”

The issue of police involvement in the arrests has become increasingly contentious. Chareidi political leaders have argued that Ben-Gvir, as the minister responsible for the police, should use his influence to prevent the detention of yeshiva bochurim wanted by military authorities.

Ben-Gvir has countered that police officers are obligated to comply with binding legal instructions and that the minister cannot simply order them to disregard court rulings or enforcement requirements.

The legal dispute intensified in September when the Supreme Court struck down legislation intended to freeze arrests of chareidi draft evaders, clearing the way for renewed enforcement proceedings. The ruling added to the pressure on chareidi politicians, who have been unable to secure a lasting legislative arrangement governing the status of yeshiva students.

Against that backdrop, Ben-Gvir accused the chareidi parties of deliberately misleading their own voters by presenting him as responsible for a crisis he says they helped create.

“When you make these claims to your own public, saying that I am to blame, you are primarily revealing how much contempt you have for them and how little you respect their intelligence.”

He continued with particularly harsh language about the way chareidi politicians were treating their constituents.

“It is sad that you treat them as though they are intellectually deficient and sell them the lowest-grade lies.”

The minister then shifted from criticizing the politicians to praising the chareidi public, arguing that voters deserved greater respect from the people they had elected to represent them.

“The truth? The chareidi public deserves more respect from you. It is an intelligent, sharp and learned community. It does not deserve to be treated like fools while you continue promoting only your own political operatives.”

Ben-Gvir concluded the letter by urging the chareidi parties to abandon their attacks against him and focus instead on the problems confronting their constituents.

“I hope these words are sufficient. I hope you will begin focusing on what truly concerns the chareidi community instead of mocking your voters behind their backs.”

He then offered the politicians what he described as advice based on his own experience.

“Listen to me, from experience: Respect your voters, work for them, and they will appreciate you many times more.”

In his final remarks, Ben-Gvir pointed to the enthusiastic receptions he says he receives during visits to chareidi neighborhoods, presenting them as evidence that his approach has resonated with members of the community.

“When you see the tremendous love for me on the chareidi street, it is only because I genuinely respect and love every Jew. You should try it too. It works.”

{Matzav.com}

Israeli military police carried out a series of overnight operations in Dimona and Bat Yam in an effort to arrest yeshiva bochurim classified as draft evaders, but were forced to withdraw without making any arrests after protesters rushed to the targeted locations in response to emergency alerts.

The attempted arrests, which unfolded between Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, triggered confrontations between demonstrators and security personnel, with crowds gathering outside the homes of the wanted bochurim. Following the departure of the military police, protesters celebrated by dancing in the streets.

The operations came amid an intensifying campaign of arrests targeting yeshiva bochurim who have not reported for military service, and just hours before major demonstrations organized by the Peleg Yerushalmi were scheduled to take place in Yerushalayim and the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

The first reported operation took place in Dimona at approximately 1 a.m., when military police arrived at a residence on Netiv HaLamed-Heh Street in an attempt to apprehend a yeshiva bochur. The operation was unsuccessful, and officers subsequently proceeded to another address on Molada Street.

At the second location, authorities sought to arrest two brothers from a Sephardic family, both of whom are yeshiva students. Their arrival prompted the activation of the “Black Color” emergency alert system, which is used to notify activists and community members when military police attempt to arrest yeshiva bochurim.

Dozens of Gerrer chassidim responded to the alert and hurried to the scene, gathering around the residence and preventing the officers from carrying out the arrests. The military police ultimately departed without taking either brother into custody.

After the officers withdrew, those gathered at the location broke into dancing, celebrating the unsuccessful arrest operation.

The overnight operations continued in Bat Yam, where military police arrived at approximately 4:30 a.m. at the home of a bochur studying in Yeshivas HaMeyasher, headed by the mekubal Rav Benayahu Shmueli.

According to reports, this was the third time authorities had attempted to arrest the same bochur. As in Dimona, the Black Color alert system was activated, bringing dozens of protesters to the scene before officers could complete the arrest.

Confrontations developed between demonstrators and the military police, with protesters attempting to prevent the officers from reaching the wanted bochur. The standoff continued for approximately an hour before the military police withdrew without making an arrest.

Following their departure, demonstrators again broke into dancing, celebrating what they viewed as another successful effort to prevent the detention of a yeshiva student.

The unsuccessful operations came amid a growing wave of arrests that has already resulted in several yeshiva bochurim being sentenced to military imprisonment.

On Wednesday, Eliyahu Davda, a talmid of Yeshivas Orchos Meir in Yerushalayim, was arrested by military police at his home in Be’er Sheva.

Following his arrest, Davda was initially transferred to a military detention facility in the IDF’s training base complex in southern Israel. He was subsequently moved to Military Prison 10, where he was tried and sentenced to 20 days of military confinement.

Another bochur, a talmid of Yeshivas Chevron Knesses Yisroel who was arrested Tuesday in Eilat, was also tried Wednesday and sentenced to 20 days in military prison.

Attorneys working with organizations that assist arrested yeshiva students are seeking to shorten the prison terms imposed on both bochurim.

The arrests have intensified tensions within the chareidi community as military authorities continue efforts to enforce draft requirements against yeshiva students who have not reported for service.

The latest developments have also prompted renewed protests and criticism of the chareidi political establishment, with activists demanding stronger action to protect yeshiva students from detention.

Against that backdrop, Rav Azriel Auerbach, leader of the Peleg Yerushalmi, instructed his followers Wednesday to organize major demonstrations on Thursday afternoon in response to the recent arrests.

The protests are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. in Yerushalayim and the Gush Dan region, with organizers expecting substantial participation and significant traffic disruptions.

In a statement announcing the demonstrations, the Committee to Save the Torah World accused military authorities of arresting yeshiva students and kollel yungeleit because of their commitment to Torah learning.

The committee declared that the demonstrations were being organized in protest against the arrests and what it described as the failure of the established chareidi leadership to defend those being detained.

According to the statement, Rav Auerbach instructed the public to take part in large-scale demonstrations to protest the mistreatment of Torah learners.

The committee further reported that Rav Auerbach had sharply criticized those who previously promised to stand with yeshiva students but, in his view, had failed to do so as arrests intensified.

He also expressed outrage over the imprisonment of yeshiva bochurim and avreichim, describing the situation as a serious affront to kavod haTorah.

Followers of Rav Tzvi Friedman have likewise been instructed to participate in Thursday’s demonstrations, broadening the expected turnout.

Organizers anticipate that the protests will be among the largest held in recent months over the draft controversy, with major roads in Yerushalayim and central Israel potentially affected.

The planned demonstrations follow additional incidents earlier this week in which crowds were summoned to interfere with military police operations, including an attempted arrest near Kiryat Gat that was reportedly abandoned after demonstrators blocked a roadway.

{Matzav.com}

Federal authorities have thwarted an alleged ISIS-inspired terrorist plot targeting the Mall of America in Minnesota, arresting an 18-year-old Somali-American man who investigators say intended to murder dozens of shoppers at the massive retail complex because he believed it was Jewish-owned.

Federal authorities identified the suspect as Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, an American-born U.S. citizen of Somali descent who lives in Richfield, Minnesota. He was arrested Tuesday, October 6, after allegedly purchasing an AK-47-style rifle and ammunition from an undercover FBI agent posing as an ISIS operative.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Mohamud had planned to carry out the attack on October 24 and discussed killing as many as 60 people. Investigators say he specifically identified Jews as targets and referred approvingly to an antisemitic attack in Australia.

The intended target, Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, is the largest shopping mall in the United States, attracting millions of visitors annually. The suspect’s belief that the property was Jewish-owned reportedly played a central role in his decision to target it, although that belief does not establish the mall’s actual ownership.

The arrest came after months of communications in which Mohamud allegedly discussed his desire to join terrorist organizations abroad before ultimately deciding to carry out an attack inside the United States.

Mohamud was taken into custody in a public park in Richfield, several miles from the shopping center, after handing an undercover agent approximately $600 for the weapon, four 30-round magazines and ammunition.

The FBI had rendered the rifle inoperable before the transaction, ensuring that it could not be used to carry out the planned attack. Investigators said Mohamud reaffirmed his intention to shoot people at the mall while completing the purchase.

According to the criminal complaint, Mohamud had communicated extensively with an FBI confidential source through TikTok, Signal and other messaging platforms, exchanging hundreds of messages about extremist ideology, weapons and possible terrorist attacks.

The investigation began in December 2024, when Mohamud expressed interest in traveling to Somalia to join al-Shabaab, the terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. He subsequently expressed support for ISIS and discussed traveling abroad to fight for the organization.

When he concluded that he lacked the money needed to travel overseas, investigators say he began focusing on carrying out a terrorist attack in Minnesota.

By July 2026, Mohamud had identified the Mall of America as his preferred target. In messages cited in the complaint, he claimed that the shopping center belonged to Jews and said that killing large numbers of visitors would frighten others away from the property.

“If I kill even 30 people, no one will go there anymore,” he allegedly wrote.

His messages also revealed a specifically antisemitic motivation. Referring to the deadly terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Australia, he allegedly declared, “I want to hurt a Jew, just as the brothers at Bondi Beach in Australia hurt Jews.”

In another exchange, Mohamud discussed using a rifle rather than an explosive device, which he considered too complicated to prepare.

“I’ll just take an assault rifle. An explosive device is too complicated. I’ll kill maybe 30–60 people, inshallah, and I’ll have 260 rounds,” he allegedly wrote.

Investigators say the teenager also expressed admiration for the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando and the ISIS-inspired vehicle attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day 2025, which killed 14 people.

The FBI’s investigation found that Mohamud wanted to carry out a similar mass-casualty attack in the name of ISIS. During the investigation, he sent extremist propaganda to the confidential source and recorded a video pledging allegiance to the terrorist organization.

By August and September, prosecutors allege, his preparations had become increasingly specific. He discussed purchasing firearms, obtaining ammunition and recruiting others to participate in the attack.

The date he selected, October 24, coincided with a scheduled Hmong Arts Celebration at the Mall of America. The event was expected to bring additional visitors to the already busy shopping center.

According to the complaint, Mohamud specifically mentioned the gathering and expressed his intention to kill non-Muslims attending the event. He used the term “kuffar,” a derogatory designation used by some extremists for nonbelievers, when discussing potential victims.

When the FBI source questioned whether he was serious about carrying out the attack, Mohamud allegedly responded, “yes i am 100% sure.”

He added, “I would have backed out by now if I wasn’t sure.”

Authorities said the messages demonstrated that the suspect had progressed beyond expressing extremist sympathies and was actively preparing to carry out an attack.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force continued monitoring his activities and eventually arranged the undercover weapons transaction that led to his arrest.

During the October 6 meeting, an FBI employee posing as an ISIS member provided Mohamud with the disabled AK-47 rifle, magazines and approximately 200 rounds of ammunition. Agents arrested him shortly afterward.

Federal officials announced the arrest Wednesday, describing the operation as a successful intervention against an imminent terrorist threat.

U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, who leads the federal prosecutor’s office in Minnesota, said the investigation had prevented what could have been a devastating attack on innocent civilians.

“This was a radicalized young man who needed to be watched,” Rosen said.

He credited the FBI with identifying the danger and intervening before the suspect could carry out his alleged plans to kill dozens of people.

Rosen also disclosed that federal agents had previously attempted to warn the suspect’s family about concerns over his radicalization.

According to the complaint, FBI agents visited Mohamud’s home in May 2025, more than a year before his arrest, after becoming concerned about his extremist communications.

His mother told agents that he had not yet returned home from school and contacted his father. The father declined to speak with investigators and said he would forward their contact information to his attorney.

Rosen used Wednesday’s announcement to emphasize the importance of families taking warnings about possible radicalization seriously.

“What I would say to parents all over Minnesota, and all over America: If you get any indication — especially if you hear from federal law enforcement — that your son or daughter is being radicalized, to the point where federal law enforcement wants to come and give you that warning, those are warnings that ought to be heeded,” he said.

FBI Director Kash Patel praised the agents responsible for the operation, saying their work had prevented a potential massacre.

“This individual allegedly obtained a weapon he hoped to use in a mass casualty attack in support of ISIS, but this FBI arrested him and put a stop to his plans,” Patel said.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said the alleged plot demonstrated the continuing danger posed by individuals inspired by ISIS propaganda and previous terrorist attacks.

“Mohamud allegedly sought to carry out a mass-casualty shooting at the Mall of America, expressing a desire to emulate some of the most horrific ISIS-inspired attacks in the United States, including the atrocities at Pulse Nightclub and 2025 New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans,” Eisenberg said.

The Mall of America, located in Bloomington, is the largest shopping mall in the United States. Its enormous size, heavy pedestrian traffic and frequent public events made it an attractive target for someone seeking to inflict mass casualties, according to investigators.

The alleged antisemitic motivation is particularly significant because Mohamud reportedly believed the mall was owned by Jews. Authorities have not established that this belief was accurate, and the complaint describes it as the suspect’s own perception.

Federal prosecutors charged Mohamud with one count of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition for the purpose of committing a federal crime of terrorism.

He appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright in federal court in St. Paul, wearing a yellow jail uniform. During the proceeding, he told the judge that he was unemployed, did not own a home or vehicle and had no money in the bank.

Mohamud was represented by federal public defender Siri Carlson McDowell. Neither his attorney nor relatives who attended the hearing offered public comments about the allegations.

He remains in federal custody, with a detention hearing scheduled for October 19.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Bloomington Police Department, with assistance from IRS Criminal Investigation. Federal prosecutors from the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota are handling the case.

The allegations against Mohamud have not yet been proven in court, and he is presumed innocent unless convicted.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed refused to say whether he considers Israel or Iran a greater threat to the United States during a television interview released Wednesday, dismissing the question as “a dumb question” while accusing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of helping push America into war with Iran.

The exchange took place during an interview with NewsNation host Leland Vittert, portions of which were made public Wednesday. El-Sayed, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Gary Peters, repeatedly shifted the discussion toward diplomacy, American military spending and the economic consequences of the ongoing conflict with Iran rather than directly comparing the threats posed by the two countries.

Vittert raised the issue after referencing an interview with one of El-Sayed’s supporters who had suggested that Israel posed a greater danger to American interests than Iran. The host asked whether the Democratic candidate shared that assessment.

Vittert asked, “One of your supporters we interviewed seemed to think that Iran was a bigger threat — Israel — seemed to think Israel was a bigger threat than Iran to the United States. Do you agree?”

Rather than provide a direct answer, El-Sayed argued that the United States should prioritize diplomatic solutions to international disputes. He then turned his attention to Netanyahu, alleging that the Israeli leader had played a significant role in persuading Washington to enter the conflict with Iran.

El-Sayed responded, “Well, look, at the end of the day, our job is to address our issues diplomatically. But, right now, we are in the war in Iran, in part, because of the advocacy of the Israeli prime minister. There’s no disagreement on that. He came to the Situation Room and advocated for the war. And we’re now paying, what? $1,600 for it. Our gas, our groceries are unaffordable. And that’s on top of the billions in tax dollars that we spend sending our money over there. Now, how we think about a threat, that’s –.”

The candidate’s comments reflected his broader criticism of American military involvement in the Middle East and U.S. financial assistance to Israel. Throughout his Senate campaign, El-Sayed has argued that Washington should redirect resources away from overseas military commitments and toward domestic priorities, including healthcare, infrastructure and reducing the cost of living.

His assertion that Netanyahu advocated for the war also placed responsibility on Israel’s leadership for influencing American decision-making. The United States and Israel have conducted military operations against Iran amid concerns about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, missile capabilities and regional military activities. El-Sayed has consistently opposed the conflict, questioning its strategic justification and economic consequences.

As El-Sayed continued discussing the financial costs of the war, Vittert interrupted and attempted to bring the conversation back to the original question about national security threats.

Vittert pressed, “You’re going to be a senator, what do you view as the biggest threat?”

El-Sayed again declined to identify either Iran or Israel as the greater danger, instead outlining his opposition to American funding for foreign military operations and his belief that international law should be applied consistently to all countries.

El-Sayed responded, “I’ve been more than extremely clear about this. I don’t want our tax dollars being used to subsidize war abroad. I don’t want our tax dollars being used to fund, unconditionally, foreign militaries. I think it’s important that we be the first among equals to enforce international law against any and every country that breaks it. So, this sort of, like, hypothetical, who’s a bigger threat is a dumb question.”

The Democratic nominee maintained that the more important issue was determining the foreign policy the United States should pursue, rather than ranking countries according to the threats they might pose.

El-Sayed added that “the big question is…what is the public policy we really want?”

The interview comes during a closely watched Senate contest in Michigan, where El-Sayed is facing Republican nominee Mike Rogers, a former congressman and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. The race has attracted national attention because of its potential implications for control of the Senate and the sharp differences between the candidates on foreign policy, economic issues and President Trump’s administration.

El-Sayed, a physician and former Detroit health director, secured the Democratic nomination after defeating Rep. Haley Stevens in a competitive primary. His campaign has received support from prominent progressive figures, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and has emphasized opposition to overseas wars and unconditional American military assistance to Israel.

The candidate has made the war with Iran a central campaign issue, arguing that military expenditures abroad have contributed to financial pressure on American households. He has repeatedly connected the conflict to rising energy costs and broader concerns about affordability, an issue that has featured prominently in Michigan’s Senate campaign.

In a separate interview with Fox News earlier this week, El-Sayed clashed with host Martha MacCallum over the justification for military operations against Iran. He questioned whether the conflict had improved American security and argued that diplomatic alternatives should have been pursued. MacCallum challenged his assessment by pointing to Iran’s nuclear activities and longstanding security threats in the region.

El-Sayed has also criticized American policy toward Israel during the war in Gaza, arguing that Washington should condition military assistance on compliance with international law. His positions have generated debate among Michigan voters, particularly within Jewish and Arab American communities that hold sharply differing views on Israel and American involvement in the Middle East.

His campaign has faced additional scrutiny over his association with left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker, who has drawn criticism for past statements about terrorism and the October 7 Hamas massacre. El-Sayed campaigned with Piker during the Democratic primary, but recent reporting indicates that he privately urged the commentator to moderate his public rhetoric as the general election approached.

During a September appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” El-Sayed was questioned about concerns among Jewish voters regarding his relationship with Piker. He rejected the focus on the commentator and argued that voters were more interested in economic issues, healthcare and the consequences of American foreign policy.

The controversy has become part of a broader debate surrounding El-Sayed’s candidacy, with critics questioning his approach to Israel and antisemitism while supporters argue that his positions reflect opposition to military intervention and a desire to prioritize domestic spending.

The Michigan Senate race has also seen significant involvement from national Democratic leaders. Former President Barack Obama is scheduled to campaign alongside El-Sayed in Detroit on October 24, an appearance intended to help consolidate Democratic support ahead of the November election. Former Vice President Kamala Harris has also campaigned on his behalf.

Rogers, meanwhile, has recently sought to distinguish his positions from certain Trump administration policies, including the ongoing tariff dispute with Canada and the war with Iran. His campaign has emphasized Michigan’s economic interests and his national security experience, while El-Sayed has accused him of changing positions for political advantage.

The candidates are scheduled to participate in televised debates on October 8 and October 21, providing additional opportunities for voters to examine their positions on foreign policy, the economy and the country’s ongoing military involvement overseas.

El-Sayed’s latest exchange with Vittert places renewed attention on his reluctance to directly compare Israel and Iran as potential threats to American national security. Although he repeatedly emphasized diplomacy and opposition to foreign military spending, he left unanswered the host’s central question about which country he considers the greater danger to the United States.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee accused Hamas on Wednesday of refusing to surrender a single weapon despite agreeing to disarm under President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace initiative, declaring that the terrorist organization has disregarded its commitments while continuing efforts to attack and kidnap Israelis.

Appearing on Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” Huckabee said Hamas was responsible for holding up progress on the American-backed agreement. He argued that Trump had established a viable diplomatic framework through his Board of Peace, but that the terrorist organization had failed to take the steps necessary to implement it.

Huckabee said, “[T]he president has put together a very, very solid plan. He’s established the Board of Peace. This could be moving forward. It could be moving forward progressively. But the only reason that there’s any slowdown is because of Hamas. They agreed that they would disarm. You know how many bullets they’ve given up? None. How many bombs? None. How many rifles, pistols? Zero. They’ve given up nothing.”

The ambassador’s criticism centered on the complete absence of weapons surrendered by Hamas, despite the organization’s participation in negotiations intended to establish a new security arrangement in Gaza. Huckabee maintained that the group’s continued military activities were undermining the very agreement it had accepted.

He continued, “They promised they would. President Trump brought them to the table, and then they have ignored every bit of it. And they continue to fight and try to kill and kidnap Israelis, even while they’re cornered in Gaza. It’s the part of the story that I hope people will fully begin to understand.”

The remarks come as the Trump administration confronts obstacles in implementing the next phase of its Gaza peace plan, nearly one year after the October 2025 ceasefire. Although the initial agreement secured the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners and increased the flow of humanitarian assistance, its provisions concerning Hamas’s disarmament, Israeli troop withdrawals and the establishment of a new governing authority remain unresolved.

On July 30, Trump announced that his Board of Peace had reached what he described as an agreement providing for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza. The announcement followed negotiations involving American officials and regional mediators seeking to resolve disagreements that had prevented the ceasefire from advancing into its next stage.

Under the proposed arrangement, Hamas would surrender its weapons through a phased process coordinated with Israeli military withdrawals. An international verification mechanism would supervise disarmament, while an International Stabilization Force and a newly trained Palestinian police force would eventually assume responsibility for maintaining security.

The agreement envisioned the transfer of Gaza’s civilian administration to a Palestinian technocratic body operating under international supervision. The new authority would replace Hamas’s governing structure, while the Board of Peace would oversee the broader transition and reconstruction effort.

However, disagreements over the sequence of implementation quickly emerged. Hamas representatives insisted that their obligations were tied to Israeli military withdrawals and other provisions of the agreement. Israeli officials expressed skepticism that Hamas would genuinely surrender its arsenal and maintained that Israeli forces could not withdraw without credible guarantees that the organization would be prevented from rebuilding its military capabilities.

The dispute has persisted despite further diplomatic efforts. Hamas has indicated a willingness to place its weapons under the authority of a proposed Palestinian administration, but has resisted demands for unconditional disarmament. Israel has argued that such proposals do not adequately guarantee the complete dismantling of Hamas’s military infrastructure.

Nearly one year after the ceasefire took effect in October 2025, Israeli forces remain deployed across substantial portions of Gaza. Hamas continues to maintain an armed presence in areas outside Israeli military positions, and the international security force intended to facilitate a transition has yet to become fully operational.

The International Stabilization Force, a central element of Trump’s plan, is intended to assist in maintaining security and training Palestinian police officers. However, the practical challenges of establishing the force and determining its responsibilities have complicated efforts to implement the agreement.

The absence of a fully functioning international force has complicated plans for Israeli withdrawals. Without an effective alternative security structure, Israeli officials have expressed concerns that relinquishing military positions could allow Hamas to reestablish control over additional territory and rebuild its operational capabilities.

The unresolved security questions have also delayed plans to reconstruct Gaza, where extensive destruction has left enormous housing and infrastructure needs. International assessments have estimated that rebuilding the territory could require tens of billions of dollars over the coming years.

The Trump administration’s broader framework links reconstruction to the establishment of a new governing authority and security arrangements intended to prevent armed groups from regaining control. The continuing disagreements over disarmament have complicated those efforts and left significant questions about how reconstruction would be administered.

The stalled process has also affected humanitarian conditions. Although aid deliveries increased following the ceasefire, relief organizations have continued warning that Gaza’s population faces serious shortages and extensive infrastructure damage. Israeli authorities have disputed some assessments of aid availability and have maintained that substantial quantities of supplies have been permitted into the territory.

Meanwhile, violence has continued despite the ceasefire. Israeli forces have carried out operations against targets they identify as Hamas operatives and military infrastructure, accusing the organization of attempting to conduct attacks and rebuild its capabilities. Hamas has disputed Israeli allegations and accused Israel of violating the agreement.

The ambassador’s comments reflect concerns within Israel and the Trump administration about whether a disarmament agreement can succeed without a mechanism capable of ensuring compliance. The central dispute remains whether Hamas will surrender its weapons before Israeli troops withdraw or whether both processes must advance simultaneously.

Huckabee has defended Israel’s right to respond to security threats while the agreement remains unimplemented, arguing that Israel cannot be expected to abandon defensive measures while Hamas retains the weapons and infrastructure used to attack Israeli civilians.

Wednesday’s comments came on the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, when terrorists invaded southern Israel, murdered approximately 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages into Gaza. The anniversary was marked with memorial ceremonies and commemorations honoring the victims.

The anniversary also renewed attention to the security demands underlying Israel’s insistence that Hamas must be disarmed. Israeli leaders have repeatedly maintained that any lasting settlement must prevent the organization from carrying out another attack resembling the October 7 massacre.

Flydubai is facing serious questions about its pilot recruitment practices following revelations that the 29-year-old Omani copilot accused of attempting to crash a passenger jet bound for Israel had joined the airline only eight months earlier, after reportedly failing to secure positions with two other carriers.

The copilot, identified as Hammam al-Hammami, allegedly attacked the aircraft’s captain with an axe during the flight to Ben Gurion Airport in an attempt to bring down the Boeing passenger jet. The incident has prompted scrutiny of how the airline evaluates prospective pilots, particularly as it has expanded its operations and workforce at a rapid pace.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, al-Hammami was hired by Flydubai in February 2026 after unsuccessful attempts to obtain employment with airlines in Oman and Morocco. The circumstances surrounding those earlier applications, including why he was not hired, have raised additional questions about the screening procedures used before he was accepted by the Dubai-based carrier.

The attempted attack has become one of the most serious crises in Flydubai’s history, threatening passenger confidence in an airline that has developed into a major international carrier and an especially important aviation connection between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

The incident has also drawn attention to the airline’s extraordinary growth in recent years. Since the coronavirus pandemic, Flydubai has nearly doubled its workforce, expanding from 3,682 employees at the end of 2021 to 6,763 by the conclusion of 2025.

Its pilot roster has undergone an even more dramatic transformation over the past decade. The company currently employs approximately 1,500 pilots, compared with just 658 ten years earlier, reflecting its aggressive expansion into new markets and the increasing size of its fleet.

To support that growth, Flydubai lowered the minimum flight-hour requirements for junior pilots earlier this year, according to the report. The company has also offered substantial compensation packages to attract experienced personnel, with captains eligible for monthly pay exceeding $18,000.

The recruitment changes have come under renewed examination following the attempted attack, with aviation industry observers questioning whether the pressure to expand quickly may have affected the airline’s ability to adequately evaluate prospective employees.

Although lowering minimum flight-hour requirements does not necessarily indicate that safety standards have been compromised, the revelations have intensified scrutiny of the airline’s hiring procedures and the background checks conducted on pilots entrusted with passenger aircraft.

The latest disclosures suggest that al-Hammami’s employment history contained warning signs more serious than unsuccessful job applications. At Oman Air, where he had previously worked, he was reportedly removed from flying duties in 2024 because of concerns about extremist views. He was subsequently assigned to a desk position before leaving the airline.

Al-Hammami also underwent a three-month theoretical training program with Royal Air Maroc in 2025 but was not selected for employment afterward. It remains unclear precisely what information about his earlier employment was available to Flydubai when it reviewed his application.

Even more troubling, investigators have reportedly learned that al-Hammami deliberately sought employment with an airline operating flights to Israel. According to accounts attributed to officials familiar with the investigation, he had considered carrying out an attack months before the September 30 incident and had specifically sought assignment to the Dubai-Tel Aviv route.

The attempted attack occurred aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, which departed Dubai for Ben Gurion Airport on September 30. During the flight, al-Hammami allegedly seized an emergency axe kept inside the cockpit and repeatedly struck the captain, identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar.

The assault caused the aircraft to enter a dangerous descent, creating a potentially catastrophic situation for the passengers and crew. Despite his injuries, the captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing others aboard the aircraft to intervene and help regain control.

The Boeing 737 subsequently made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Passengers escaped without serious injuries, although the captain required medical treatment. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have characterized the incident as an attempted terrorist attack and launched a criminal investigation.

The incident occurred on one of Flydubai’s most strategically significant routes. Since the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in 2020, the carrier has become a vital connection between the two countries, providing frequent service between Dubai and Ben Gurion Airport.

Flydubai maintained its Israel operations even during periods when many international airlines suspended flights because of security concerns. Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and the subsequent war, the company continued operating services to Israel and eventually expanded its schedule to as many as ten daily flights.

In 2025, Flydubai transported more than 800,000 passengers through Ben Gurion Airport, representing an increase of 71 percent over the previous year. Its expanding operations contributed to the United Arab Emirates becoming one of the most popular international destinations for Israeli travelers.

Approximately 1.5 million passengers traveled from Ben Gurion Airport to the UAE during 2025, making the Emirates Israel’s third-largest international destination after Greece and the United States.

Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, praised the airline’s decision to maintain its Israeli operations during periods of regional instability.

“Flydubai kept going the whole time, they didn’t stop, and that’s noteworthy,” he said.

That history has made the current crisis especially significant. The attempted attack has disrupted a commercial aviation relationship that had become an important symbol of cooperation between Israel and the UAE following the Abraham Accords.

Flydubai, established in 2008 with backing from the Dubai government, has built its business around an extensive network of destinations, including markets that many Western airlines avoid because of security risks or political instability. Among the destinations it has served are Kabul and Damascus.

The strategy has helped the airline expand rapidly and achieve substantial profitability. Flydubai reported approximately $531 million in profit for 2025, reflecting strong passenger demand and the success of its growing regional and international network.

However, the airline has also experienced serious aviation incidents in the past. In 2015, one of its aircraft was struck by gunfire while landing in Baghdad. The following year, a Flydubai passenger jet crashed in Russia, killing all 62 people aboard. Investigators attributed that disaster to errors made by the flight crew.

The latest incident differs fundamentally from those earlier events because investigators believe the aircraft was deliberately endangered by one of the pilots entrusted with operating it. That distinction has placed the airline’s employee screening procedures, internal security systems and coordination with foreign aviation authorities under particularly intense scrutiny.

Israeli officials have questioned how an Omani national who had reportedly been removed from flying duties over ideological concerns was subsequently permitted to operate flights to Israel. Oman does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Israel, making the assignment an additional focus of the investigation.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has ordered a comprehensive review of security procedures governing foreign airlines operating flights to Israel. The examination is intended to determine whether existing screening arrangements adequately protect against threats involving flight crew members.

Israel’s Transportation Ministry has also introduced additional screening procedures for foreign airline personnel. Flydubai has sought permission to resume its Tel Aviv operations, but Transportation Minister Miri Regev has reportedly withheld approval while security concerns remain unresolved.

The airline has indicated that its internal investigation is nearing completion and that several employees have already been dismissed. Israeli transportation officials have also been invited to Dubai for discussions about the security measures necessary to restore service.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has launched a separate aviation safety investigation into the incident, with participation from American and Emirati authorities. The inquiry will examine the circumstances surrounding the aircraft’s sudden descent and emergency landing, while the UAE continues its criminal investigation into the alleged attack.

The investigations are expected to examine whether information about al-Hammami’s previous employment and reported extremist views should have prevented his hiring, and whether the airline’s rapid expansion contributed to weaknesses in its recruitment and screening processes.

A Flydubai spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that the company is cooperating with investigators and emphasized that the safety and well-being of its passengers, crew members and operations remain its highest priority.

Jeff Bezos is predicting that artificial intelligence could eventually transform the American workweek, allowing some people to work just three days a week while earning enough to support their families — part of what the Amazon founder describes as a coming era of dramatically increased productivity and abundance.

Bezos laid out his vision during an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier at Blue Origin’s massive manufacturing facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where he discussed artificial intelligence, the future of work, the U.S.-China space race and his plans to establish a permanent human presence on the moon.

The billionaire entrepreneur argued that fears about AI eliminating jobs overlook the enormous increases in productivity that he expects the technology to generate. Rather than simply putting people out of work, Bezos said AI could eventually allow Americans to maintain or improve their standard of living while spending considerably less time working.

“Some people will also decide, you know what? I can support my family by working three days a week,” Bezos said.

He suggested that AI-driven productivity could also reverse one of the major economic changes of recent generations by making it possible for more households to live comfortably on a single income.

“I think we’re going to see a return to one-income families,” Bezos said. “People will be able to support a family on one income.”

Bezos described AI as part of a much larger historical pattern in which technological breakthroughs increase the amount society can produce and ultimately raise living standards. He rejected the idea that technological advancement inevitably leaves ordinary people worse off, arguing instead that major inventions have repeatedly expanded what he calls “civilizational abundance.”

His prediction comes amid an intense debate over what increasingly powerful AI systems will mean for American workers. Some technology executives and economists have warned that automation could eliminate or fundamentally reshape large numbers of jobs, particularly in white-collar professions. Others argue that the productivity gains could shorten working hours without reducing living standards.

Bezos is not alone in predicting a shorter workweek. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has said he expects workers in developed countries could eventually work approximately three and a half days per week as AI and other technologies increase productivity. Nobel Prize-winning economist Christopher Pissarides has similarly argued that generative AI could make the four-day workweek increasingly practical.

Others are more skeptical. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently questioned whether technological advancement will actually cause people to work substantially less, noting that previous waves of innovation repeatedly promised shorter workweeks without eliminating humanity’s tendency to remain busy.

Bezos said one of the most important developments will be AI systems capable of performing sophisticated engineering work. He predicted the arrival of what he described as an “artificial general engineer,” which could dramatically lower the barriers to creating new products and companies.

Under that scenario, Bezos said, a person with a good idea would no longer necessarily need a large engineering staff or substantial technical expertise to transform it into a functioning product. AI could perform much of the engineering work, potentially allowing far more people to become inventors and entrepreneurs.

Bezos acknowledged that powerful AI creates genuine risks, but argued against imposing sweeping restrictions on the technology itself. He said regulation should concentrate primarily on harmful uses rather than attempting to slow the underlying technology.

The Amazon founder’s predictions about AI formed only one part of a much broader vision he presented for the coming decades. Bezos also said the United States must beat China back to the moon and establish a sustainable American presence there rather than simply repeat the brief lunar missions of the Apollo era.

“We have to beat China to the moon, and I believe we will beat China to the moon,” Bezos said.

He expressed confidence that Americans could return to the lunar surface by 2028.

“We have to be able to land cargo routinely on the moon to support a lunar base on the moon,” Bezos said. “So there’s a lot of work to be done, but there’s every reason to believe that we can put humans on the moon in 2028.”

Bezos said Mars remains an important long-term destination, but argued that bypassing the moon would make little sense because Earth’s closest celestial neighbor offers resources and is vastly easier to reach.

“We’ll go to Mars. We’ll do all the other things. But we need to go to the moon first,” he said.

Among the possibilities Bezos envisions is manufacturing solar cells using lunar material and extracting oxygen on the moon that could eventually be used in rocket propellant. Unlike the Apollo program, which sent astronauts to the lunar surface for relatively short visits, Bezos wants infrastructure capable of supporting a continuing presence.

“It won’t just be a mission and leave,” he said. “It’ll be a real sustainable lunar base.”

His Blue Origin space company is meanwhile preparing to return its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket to flight in December after an explosion during an engine test in May. Bezos said the next mission is expected to carry Blue Ring, a spacecraft designed to move payloads between different orbits and potentially farther into space.

Blue Origin is also dramatically expanding its launch infrastructure. Bezos said the company is constructing three additional launch pads as it seeks to increase its launch cadence from roughly a dozen missions annually to as many as 50.

That, however, is only the beginning of what he has in mind.

“Our goal is to fly every day,” Bezos said. “And then once we’re flying every day, we want to fly every hour. And then once we’re flying every hour, we want to fly every minute.”

Even members of his own company question whether that final ambition is realistic.

“They think I’m crazy,” Bezos said. “But I’ve seen crazy things before come true.”

Bezos also envisions moving some of the infrastructure required for the AI revolution away from Earth. As artificial intelligence creates enormous demand for computing power and electricity, he has proposed eventually placing massive data centers in orbit, where solar energy would be continuously available and some of the environmental and energy constraints facing Earth-based facilities could be reduced.

The idea fits into Bezos’ longstanding view that heavy industry and other resource-intensive activities could gradually migrate into space while Earth becomes increasingly focused on human habitation and less environmentally disruptive economic activity.

Asked about criticism directed at billionaires and wealthy technology executives, Bezos rejected the idea that enormous financial success should itself be viewed negatively.

“Success is not villainy,” Bezos said.

For Bezos, AI and space exploration are ultimately parts of the same optimistic forecast: technology will allow humanity to produce more with fewer constraints, expand economic opportunity and eventually move beyond some of the limitations that currently shape everyday life.

If his prediction about AI proves correct, one of those limitations could be something Americans have taken for granted for generations — the five-day workweek.

{Matzav.com}

The Flydubai co-pilot accused of trying to seize an Israel-bound passenger jet and crash it into Ben Gurion Airport had allegedly planned to carry out essentially the same terrorist attack months earlier, only to abandon the July attempt because someone he cared about was among the crew, according to new details emerging from the investigation.

The disclosure adds another alarming dimension to the case of Hamam al-Hammami, the Omani national accused of attacking the captain of Flydubai Flight FZ1073 with a cockpit emergency ax on September 30 as the Boeing 737 traveled from Dubai toward Tel Aviv. Investigators now believe Hammami had been contemplating an attack on Israel well before the flight on which he ultimately acted.

According to people briefed on the investigation, Hammami has told interrogators that he nearly carried out his plan during an earlier flight in July. Some of those familiar with his account said he changed his mind because of his feelings for a crew member who would have been endangered.

Investigators have also been told that Hammami was motivated by the war in Gaza following the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates, where Hammami remains in custody, have formally characterized the September incident as a terrorist attack.

The emerging evidence suggests that Hammami may have deliberately structured his aviation career around obtaining access to flights bound for Israel. Before joining Flydubai, he reportedly searched for an airline operating routes to Israel. After being hired by the Dubai-based carrier in February, he subsequently sought assignment to the Dubai-Tel Aviv route.

Investigators are examining Hammami’s electronic devices and online history as they attempt to determine when his alleged plans began, whether anyone else knew about them and whether he had connections to extremist individuals or organizations. Authorities in several countries where Hammami lived, studied or trained are now examining his background.

Hammami’s aviation history has emerged as one of the most troubling aspects of the investigation. Before joining Flydubai, he had worked for Oman Air, where he was reportedly barred from flying after authorities became concerned about his extremist views and online activity.

According to information uncovered since the attack, Omani authorities had scrutinized Hammami’s internet habits, placed him in a deradicalization program and moved him away from flying duties to a desk position. Those concerns, however, were apparently not transmitted through channels that would prevent him from obtaining another commercial aviation job abroad.

Hammami also sought work with Royal Air Maroc. The Moroccan carrier has said that he underwent approximately three months of theoretical training with the airline but never flew its aircraft. He was ultimately not hired as a pilot.

His aviation training took him through several Western countries as well. Authorities have been examining his time in Australia and New Zealand, and reporting has also linked him to flight training in Britain. Australian and New Zealand authorities have opened inquiries into his activities and associations during the years he spent in those countries.

Despite the concerns that had surfaced in Oman, Flydubai hired Hammami earlier this year. The airline reportedly conducted a criminal-background check but did not obtain a security assessment from Omani authorities that would have revealed the concerns that had previously resulted in his removal from flying duties.

Flydubai has declined to discuss the specifics of Hammami’s hiring while the investigation remains underway.

The security questions extend beyond Flydubai. Under longstanding Israeli arrangements governing foreign airlines, pilots who are citizens of countries without diplomatic relations with Israel are not supposed to operate flights into the country. Oman does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, meaning Hammami’s nationality alone should have raised an issue before he was assigned to the Tel Aviv route.

Nevertheless, he flew to Israel repeatedly without being stopped. Reports indicate that more than 1,200 crew members from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel have entered the country aboard foreign flights this year, raising broader questions about whether the restriction was being enforced.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates had also provided Israel with the passenger and crew manifest for Flight FZ1073 before the September 30 flight, including the pilots’ names and nationalities. Hammami was not flagged.

The revelation has triggered a dispute inside Israel over which government body was responsible for identifying the threat. The Shin Bet has said that responsibility for screening information connected to foreign civil aviation rests with the Transportation Ministry, while Transportation Minister Miri Regev has argued that intelligence and security agencies are responsible for identifying terrorism threats and that her ministry was not provided with actionable warnings about Hammami.

Transportation officials have countered that their security division is not an intelligence service and lacks the capability to conduct individual intelligence investigations into every foreign pilot and passenger traveling to Israel.

“The Security Division carries out a security assessment of aviation to Israel with the airline and local authorities. We request a declaration that all pilots have undergone a security background check. We are not an intelligence agency that conducts intelligence background checks. We have 120 airlines flying here. We are not the Shin Bet, and we don’t have people abroad,” Transportation Ministry security official Tamir Uri said.

The dispute has widened amid reports that the Transportation Ministry had previously been given expanded responsibility for foreign-flight security. Questions have also been raised over funding and personnel that were intended to help the ministry handle those duties, with the ministry disputing claims that it had received resources and failed to use them.

The September 30 attack itself came perilously close to catastrophe. Hammami is accused of repeatedly attacking Capt. Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, with the emergency crash ax kept inside the cockpit. During the struggle, the aircraft entered a rapid and steep descent.

Despite suffering serious injuries, Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door. Passengers and off-duty Flydubai personnel aboard the aircraft rushed inside and overpowered Hammami before he could regain control.

Another qualified Flydubai pilot traveling on the aircraft then assumed control, and the plane was diverted for an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. There were 182 people aboard the aircraft, including passengers and crew.

Investigators believe Hammami’s intended plan went considerably beyond simply taking control of the aircraft. Israeli reports have said that he intended to eliminate or incapacitate the captain, continue flying normally toward Israel, obtain the necessary clearances to approach Ben Gurion Airport and then deliberately crash the aircraft into the airport or another major target.

The discovery that Hammami allegedly considered carrying out the attack in July suggests that the September assault was not an impulsive act arising during the flight, but part of a plan that may have been developing for months.

The case has also renewed scrutiny of Hammami’s online activity. Investigators have found a history of radical and extremist material associated with accounts linked to him, including violent rhetoric and content involving Islamist extremists. Authorities are examining whether those views developed independently or were influenced by individuals or groups with whom he had contact.

No terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the attack, and investigators have not publicly established that Hammami was acting on instructions from any organization. Israeli officials have indicated that they currently believe he may have acted alone, while Emirati investigators continue examining whether anyone assisted or encouraged him.

Flydubai has asked Israeli authorities for permission to resume service to Israel following the incident, but Regev has so far declined to approve the request while the investigation and security review continue. The airline has reportedly been conducting its own internal investigation as well.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has ordered National Security Council head Shmuel Ben-Ezra to appoint an examiner to conduct a comprehensive review of “all security aspects regarding foreign civil aviation to Israel.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his record of resolving international conflicts and saving lives warrants the Nobel Peace Prize, while predicting that the Norwegian Nobel Committee may nevertheless pass him over when it announces the 2026 winner on Friday.

Trump made the remarks in the Oval Office just two days before the prestigious award is scheduled to be announced in Oslo. The president has repeatedly argued since returning to the White House in January 2025 that his diplomatic record deserves Nobel recognition.

“I don’t know what their decision is going to be,” Trump said of the 2026 award. “They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me.”

Trump pointed in particular to his administration’s involvement in a series of international conflicts, asserting that he has helped settle eight wars since returning to office and that another breakthrough could be approaching.

During an extended discussion of the prize Wednesday, Trump said, “I settled eight wars; another one is coming; I got all the hostages back. I did things that nobody else has ever done.”

Trump insisted that he was describing his record rather than boasting about it.

“I’m not bragging; I’m just telling you the facts. No president probably has settled any wars. I settled eight wars and big ones, big ones, saved millions and millions of lives.”

The president also cited his actions against Iran’s nuclear program as part of the case for recognizing his record, saying that he had helped prevent an even more catastrophic international conflict.

“I did, I settled eight wars. And I’ve stopped maybe the total obliteration of the world because Iran will never have a nuclear weapon and that’s a positive thing, a very positive thing. And other presidents should have done it before me or somebody should have done it.”

Trump has repeatedly taken credit for helping halt or defuse conflicts involving countries including Cambodia and Thailand, India and Pakistan, and other international flashpoints. Leaders of Cambodia, Israel and Pakistan have publicly said that they nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, although the Nobel organization does not confirm or deny individual nominations until 50 years have passed.

Critics dispute the extent to which several of those conflicts can be described as permanently resolved or attribute their resolution primarily to Trump. Fighting has subsequently resumed in some areas, including along the Cambodia-Thailand border and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Russia’s war against Ukraine remains unresolved despite Trump’s repeated efforts to broker an agreement.

The ongoing conflict with Iran has also complicated the debate over Trump’s candidacy. U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran were followed by months of fighting that have disrupted global energy markets and contributed to higher fuel prices, even as Trump argues that the military campaign prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ultimately made the world safer.

Trump also returned Wednesday to an unusual chapter in Nobel history involving Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump in January while seeking continued American support for her campaign for political change in Venezuela.

“It is about that time,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “But I was very honored to receive it indirectly last time by the recipient, who said nobody in history deserves it more than President Trump.”

Trump expanded on the episode Wednesday, saying Machado had explicitly told him that she believed he deserved the honor more than she did.

“Well, last time they gave it to a young lady who’s a fabulous person and she said she didn’t deserve it, that I deserved it. And she gave it to me, and I said, wow, what an honor.”

The Nobel Peace Prize itself cannot be transferred to another person, meaning Machado remains the official 2025 laureate despite giving Trump her physical medal.

Trump also contrasted his record with that of President Barack Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, less than nine months after taking office.

“I think it would be a great discredit to them. And I’m not saying that out of scorn; I’m saying that when you settle eight wars and nobody’s ever — I’ll bet you, if you look at the Nobel Prize, look, Obama got it and he didn’t do anything, he still doesn’t know what he got it for. He got it when he got elected right at the beginning, and he had no idea why he got it.”

The 2026 competition includes 287 candidates. Under Nobel rules, the identities of nominees are officially kept secret for 50 years, although nominators themselves are permitted to disclose whom they submitted for consideration.

The five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee makes the final selection. The committee is appointed by Norway’s parliament but operates independently in choosing the laureate.

Outside experts have floated a wide range of possible recipients this year, including Pope Leo, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, humanitarian organizations operating in war zones and Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories. The International Space Station has also been discussed by some observers as a possible institutional choice representing international cooperation.

The committee has offered no indication that any of those candidates — or Trump — will be selected. Nobel officials have emphasized that a nomination by itself does not represent an endorsement by the committee.

The president acknowledged that the decision is beyond his control, but made clear that he believes his record already exceeds that of previous recipients.

“So, I don’t know what their decision is going to be. They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me. But whether I get it or not, I have done far more.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is scheduled to announce the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize at 11 a.m. local time in Oslo on Friday, October 9.

{Matzav.com}