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Last Wednesday, Agudath Israel of America led a New York delegation of advocates from across the state to Washington, D.C. for a full day of high-level federal advocacy. The delegation spent the day meeting with more than a dozen members of Congress to advance issues of critical importance to the Jewish community.

Throughout the day, delegates highlighted key federal priorities, ranging from the new Federal tax Credit Scholarship (FSTC) to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), as well as other issues affecting Jewish families, schools, and institutions.

At the top of the agenda was the issue of rising antisemitism. Just last week a synagogue in Mississippi was destroyed by arson, and in New York protestors gathered in front of a shul and Jewish school, leading antisemitic chants such as, “We support Hamas” and “Intifada revolution.” Delegates thanked the members for speaking out about these incidents and discussed additional steps to better protect Jewish institutions and communities.

As part of its comprehensive approach to communal safety, Agudath Israel emphasized the importance of both the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) and the Pray Safe Act.

The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides critical federal support to nonprofits facing elevated security risks, helping them obtain the equipment needed to protect their facilities. With shuls, schools, and Jewish organizations in New York relying heavily on this program, Agudath Israel emphasized to lawmakers the need for reliable access and increased funding.

The delegation also discussed the Pray Safe Act, legislation sponsored by Representative Grace Meng, that would direct federal agencies to collect – and help faith-based organizations and houses of worship access – information on best practices, federal grants, and training programs to better safeguard and secure their religious facilities.

On the education front, the group talked about the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC). Starting in 2027, the FSTC allows individual taxpayers to contribute to a nonprofit scholarship granting organization (SGO) and receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit worth up to $1700. The SGO then pools the funds and distributes scholarships to eligible students for a wide range of K-12 educational expenses including private school tuition However, in order for SGOs to be approved, the state in which they are located must opt in to the tax credit and include them on a list sent to Treasury. Treasury and the IRS recently requested public input on key issues necessary for implementation. The group urged legislators to do what they can to ensure that New Yorkers can fully benefit from the law and expand educational opportunities for families across the state.

The delegation met with Representatives Yvette Clarke (D-NY-09), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY-02), Laura Gillen (D-NY-04), Dan Goldman (D-NY-10), Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY-01), Nick Langworthy (R-NY-23), George Latimer (D-NY-16), Mike Lawler (R-NY-17), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11), Grace Meng (D-NY-06), Josh Riley (D-NY-19), Pat Ryan (D-NY-18), Tom Suozzi (D-NY-03), and Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15), as well as staff of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY-24).

{Matzav.com}

Several members of Israel’s security cabinet have privately placed blame on Jared Kushner for the controversial composition of the Executive Board of the Gaza Board of Peace, which includes representatives from Turkey and Qatar — countries Israel strongly opposes having any role in Gaza’s future governance. According to remarks made during a closed cabinet discussion […]

  Three Wedding Invitations – One Overwhelmed Father. In a small, old 40-square-meter apartment in Yerushalayim, lives R’ Yosef Kornblit – a true Yirei Shamayim, a father of 15 children, raising each one with love, simplicity, and deep Emunah.   Eight are already married.   Now – three more children got engaged, one after the other.   […]

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that any attack on Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would be considered a declaration of war against the entire country. “An attack on the great leader of our country is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation,” Pezeshkian wrote in a post on X. The statement came […]

TV presenter and journalist Piers Morgan is recovering in a London hospital after suffering an injury caused by a fall at a hotel restaurant, where he stumbled over a small step.

The 60-year-old host of the YouTube program Piers Morgan Uncensored disclosed that the accident left him with a fractured femur, an injury that required hip replacement surgery. He remains hospitalized and said he expects to rely on crutches for roughly six weeks as he recuperates.

Morgan announced the incident in a lighthearted post on social media, writing: “New Year off to a cracking start! I blame Donald Trump.”

The remark was in keeping with Morgan’s long-running habit of poking fun at Donald Trump, whom he has frequently targeted with jokes and satirical takes, including parodies related to Trump’s presidential campaigns and tariff policies.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s government has moved closer to opening its roads to app-based ride-hailing services after the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill that would legalize companies such as Uber and Lyft and introduce new competition into the transportation market.

The proposed law, submitted by Blue and White MK Eitan Ginsburg together with Likud MK Moshe Passal, would allow shared ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Lyft to operate nationwide by linking private drivers and passengers through mobile apps. The legislation is slated to reach the Knesset floor for a preliminary vote as early as next week.

The initiative follows months of efforts by Transportation Minister Miri Regev to bring Uber into Israel, potentially within the current year. In addition to passenger rides, the company is known internationally for services that include food delivery, logistics, and other on-demand transportation options.

The Transportation Ministry said the bill is designed to establish clear rules for ride-hailing services, addressing passenger safety, vetting of drivers, insurance coverage, and vehicle inspections, while also providing a structured support and compensation framework for Israel’s taxi drivers as new competitors enter the market.

“This reform is about propelling Israel into a new age of smart, convenient, and affordable transportation,” Regev said. “Passing this bill marks a landmark moment that will break long-standing monopolies, ease congestion on our roads, create thousands of jobs, and bring real competition that will help lower the cost of living.”

{Matzav.com}

Guatemalan security forces worked to regain control of three prisons after rioting inmates took at least 46 people hostage in an incident authorities attributed to gang members demanding greater privileges.

Indonesian authorities located the wreckage of a fisheries surveillance plane that went missing in South Sulawesi province on the slope of a fog-covered mountain and recovered the body of one of 10 people on board.

Three additional F-35I “Adir” fighter jets touched down earlier today at Nevatim Airbase, the military announced. The aircraft will be assigned to the 166th and 140th Squadrons, increasing the Israeli Air Force’s F-35 fleet to 48 jets. The newly delivered fighters are part of Israel’s original purchase of 50 F-35 aircraft. An additional order for […]

Governments across the globe responded cautiously over the weekend to U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to create a new international “Board of Peace,” with many officials questioning whether the initiative could sideline or erode existing United Nations structures, according to Reuters.

Diplomatic sources said invitations were sent to approximately 60 countries, reaching European capitals beginning yesterday. Hungary emerged as the only nation to openly and firmly embrace the proposal, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban describing the offer as an “honourable invitation.” Orban is widely viewed as one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe.

Elsewhere, governments largely avoided formal public reactions. However, several officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, voiced unease that the proposed body could diminish the authority of the United Nations. A draft charter and accompanying letter reviewed by Reuters indicate that Trump would serve as chairman of the board for life. The document states that the board would initially concentrate on the Gaza conflict, with the option of later expanding its focus to other international crises.

Under the proposal, participating countries would serve three-year terms unless they commit $1 billion each, a contribution that would secure permanent membership. The White House defended this framework, arguing that permanent seats would be limited to countries showing a deep and lasting commitment to global peace and security.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said during a visit to South Korea that Italy was ready to “do our part,” though she did not specify whether she was referring directly to Gaza or to the broader initiative. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada had agreed in principle to take part in a Board of Peace centered on Gaza, subject to further clarification of its structure and mandate.

European concerns reportedly deepened after invitations included a formal charter, prompting some diplomats to warn that the board could operate as a parallel international institution. One diplomat characterized the concept as a “Trump United Nations” that ignores the foundational principles of the UN Charter.

A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres responded by saying that member states are free to form alternative groupings, while stressing that the United Nations will continue to carry out its established responsibilities.

President Trump said the board would convene soon, describing it as an unprecedented initiative unlike any previous international body. He told Reuters earlier in the week that the effort would start with Gaza and later turn to other conflicts as they arise.

The White House has identified several figures expected to serve on the board, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Additional appointments are expected to be announced in the weeks ahead.

{Matzav.com}

Left-wing activists in New York City are organizing a large-scale effort aimed at disrupting anticipated federal immigration enforcement, with plans to mobilize more than 4,000 volunteers in what they describe as “rapid response” teams targeting ICE activity across the city.

Details of the initiative were laid out Thursday by allies of Mayor Mamdani within the Democratic Socialists of America during a meeting of the group’s Immigrant Justice Working Group. The gathering took place at the People’s Forum, a Midtown venue linked to the Chinese Communist Party and adorned with images of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

“As we’ve seen in other cities, we still do anticipate a big wave of federal immigration enforcement,” a DSA leader who identified herself only as Marina told the crowd of more than 100 attendees.

“It can be confusing, it can be scary, it can be kind of uncertain what’s happening in New York right now. . . . But we want to be on our front foot if and when it does.”

According to organizers, the NYC chapter plans to train roughly 2,000 DSA members and an additional 2,000 non-members, while also deploying 50 trainers to support the effort.

The group is also expanding staffing for its ICE hotline, with the goal of operating it around the clock.

“If you speak Pular, if you speak Creole, if you speak Fulani – come find us,” urged one leader. “We really want you on the team.”

Organizers did not disclose the cost of the initiative, but fundraising was a recurring theme throughout the nearly two-hour meeting. At one point, a leader passed around a red beanie to collect cash donations from attendees.

Many in the audience—largely white Gen Z activists—said they were attending for the first time, motivated by the recent death of Renee Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother who was fatally shot by an ICE agent during a confrontation earlier this month.

Good had been involved with an anti-ICE group trained to “resist” immigration enforcement, a model organizers said they hope to replicate in New York.

“ICE is a violent organization and has been emboldened to respond to a lot of the work that many of you participated in,” a leader told the group.

“The immigrant crisis is part of the US imperialist project, and yet we treat immigrants to the experience of ICE,” said Landry, a Crown Heights tenant organizer and DSA member.

Plans discussed by the NYC DSA include mass mobilization to verify ICE sightings and confront agents directly.

“This has been in the past in New York specifically enough to deter ICE detentions,” said Marina, a Queens-based musician who performs under the name “Marina F” as part of the synth-pop duo The Observation Room and describes her sound as “sleazy, neon and queer.”

She explained that one tactic, known as “form a crowd, stay loud,” involves the coordinated use of rape whistles.

“If you’re interested in doing this kind of work, we can hook you up with whistles,” she said.

“We do have a lot of whistles,” added Leemah Nasrati, another organizer who works as a pro bono refugee attorney and leads the Q&A sessions at the DSA’s monthly “Know Your Rights” trainings, which are designed to explain “what the deal is with ICE.”

Members were told that different whistle patterns would be used to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity.

“The whistles carry far and wide,” Marina said.

Organizers said they have already been canvassing and patrolling immigrant neighborhoods including Chinatown, Bushwick, and Jackson Heights to recruit participants.

“There are more of us than them,” Nasrati said, directing attendees to join a private Signal chat that requires additional vetting before members can participate in the group’s “rapid response” actions.

The organizing push comes as ICE has more than doubled its staffing over the past year, with agents carrying out large-scale operations in major cities to arrest migrants living in the United States illegally or convicted of crimes. Following the Minnesota incident, a senior White House source said that “California and New York are next,” according to WIRED.

ICE said in December that a nationwide enforcement operation resulted in the arrest of criminal illegal migrants convicted of offenses including forcible rape, aggravated assault of a child, and strangulation.

“ICE law enforcement officers are sending criminal illegal aliens where they should have been all along – HOME for the holidays,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said at the time.

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to open a new ICE detention facility in Chester, about an hour north of New York City, with capacity to hold 1,500 illegal migrants.

The facility would more than double detention space in the region, which currently includes a single 1,000-bed ICE center in Newark that was reopened by the Trump administration last year.

Officials expect the expanded detention capacity to coincide with increased ICE enforcement activity throughout the New York City area.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu accused former prime ministers Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett of seeking to form a government with the Islamist United Arab List after the next election.

“The cat is out of the bag: proof that Lapid and Bennett will form a government with the Muslim Brotherhood,” Netanyahu tweeted, sharing an interview with United Arab List leader Mansour Abbas.

“Even if I’m the 61st [Knesset vote], yes, we will form a government. That’s my opinion,” Abbas, whose party is also known its Hebrew acronym, Ra’am, tells Israel’s Channel 12 News broadcaster in the interview.

Abbas, whose party served as a coalition partner in the Lapid-Bennett government that unseated Netanyahu between June 2021 and December 2022, said he hoped the former prime ministers would achieve a majority of 61 seats in the general election set to take place by Oct. 27.

“But if not, if we have a reality where we are going to elections again, and again have a government that won’t meet the needs of Arab citizens, I need to act so that a good government is formed,” the Arab politician concluded.

Abbas announced on Dec. 6 that he would cut ties to the Shura Council, a body linked to the Muslim Brotherhood-inspired Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, which has traditionally guided his decisions.

The announcement came a month after Netanyahu announced that he intends to ban the Muslim Brotherhood. The premier’s declaration followed a similar announcement by President Donald Trump.

Israeli opposition parties largely remained silent regarding the separation from the Shura Council. Right-wing politicians were more vocal, dismissing it outright, with Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling Abbas a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who is seeking to “deceive the Israeli public.”

Asked in 2024 about his views of Hamas, Abbas said that the terrorists are “part of the Palestinian people.” He has also urged ending the recent war, claiming the Israel Defense Forces “murdered” 50,000 Gaza civilians.

Also in 2024, a probe by the Israeli Justice Ministry found evidence that entities controlled by the United Arab List “transferred funds or cooperated with organizations outside of Israel that were declared as terrorist groups.”

According to an investigation published in February 2024, Igatha 48 (“Aid 48”) transferred large sums to and carried out joint activities with a Turkish organization called Khir Ummah, which serves as a Hamas front group.

Igatha 48 serves as a fundraising arm of the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement.

Between 2020 and 2023, Igatha 48 transferred more than $120,000 to Khir Ummah, and the two organizations hosted pro-terror summer camps for children in Turkey, the HaKol HaYehudi outlet reported.

The Tel Aviv District Court on April 8, 2024, rejected a request by Igatha 48 to unfreeze its accounts held at Israel’s Bank Leumi. During the court proceedings, lawyers for the Jewish state’s largest bank said the red flags surrounding the charity were “shocking.” The group acknowledged in court that 10 banks had refused to open accounts for it in the past.

In related news, Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz, who served as a defense minister under Lapid and Bennett, told Kan Reshet Bet on Sunday that he would be willing to join a Netanyahu government.

“I do not like Netanyahu and am not Netanyahu’s friend,” Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff, told the radio station. “I am a soldier of the State of Israel; if I am willing to die for the country, can I not sit [in a government] with Netanyahu?

“I am not willing to abandon the country to extremists or rely on the Arab parties,” added Gantz, who served as a member of Netanyahu’s War Cabinet following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks. JNS

{Matzav.com}

The United States “has no better friend than the State of Israel,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in Yerushalayim on Sunday.

In a post on X, the American lawmaker said the sit-down with the leader of the Jewish state was “great” and came “at one of the most consequential moments in recent memory.”

Graham arrived in Israel on Jan. 16 for a trip focused on building “upon the momentum created by President Trump’s bold and unprecedented leadership in Iran, where he picked the people over the ayatollah.

“I just landed in Israel, the one and only Jewish State, and America’s strongest ally and friend since its founding,” the senator tweeted on Thursday, adding, “I look forward to meeting with our Israeli allies.

“The Trump-Netanyahu alliance has thus far been one of the strongest partnerships in the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and I am hopeful it will pay dividends in the near future,” Graham said.

Also on Sunday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hosted the American at his office “for a fascinating discussion on regional and global challenges,” the minister said.

“Senator Graham is a true friend of Israel, with a unique contribution to the strengthening of the alliance between our countries. We’ll keep strengthening it!” tweeted Sa’ar following the meeting.

JNS

Jacqui Heinrich: If the E.U. Sanctions American firms like banks or tech firms, what kind of an impact could that have on the U.S. Economy? Hassett: The president is the person who wrote “The art of the deal” because he’s so good at deal making…

The IDF has revealed new details about a covert operation in the Gaza Strip carried out about a year ago, during which the body of fallen soldier Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul HY”D was recovered. Shaul was killed and abducted by Hamas during the 2014 Gaza War. His remains were returned to Israel on January 19, […]

Rick Scott: I grew up in a family that didn’t have health care. I remember when my mom couldn’t get health care for my little brother who had a disease. I want people to get health care. Let people buy their own health care.

Three avalanches across Austria killed eight skiers, authorities said. A female skier was fatally buried by an avalanche in the Bad Hofgastein area in western Austria, at an altitude of about 2,200 meters (7,200 feet), around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the Pongau mountain rescue service. Roughly 90 minutes later, an avalanche in nearby Gastein […]

Prime Minister Netanyahu met today in Jerusalem with Paul Atkins, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The meeting focused on the possibility of advancing a mutual recognition framework for securities registration, similar to the U.S. Multi-Jurisdictional Disclosure System (MJDS). The proposed move is aimed at easing the process for Israeli companies listed on […]

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian: Any aggression against our country’s Supreme Leader is equivalent to an all-out war against the Iranian nation.