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[Video below.] President Donald Trump issued a sharp warning Tuesday, saying the United States would respond with overwhelming force if Iranian authorities kill protesters or carry out assassination threats directed at him.

Speaking in an interview with NewsNation host Katie Pavlich, Trump was asked about reports alleging that Iranian officials continue to burn protesters alive, as well as about a reported assassination threat against him over the weekend.

“Well, they shouldn’t be doing it, but I’ve left notification: Anything ever happens, the whole country is going to get blown up,” Trump said.

He went on to criticize President Biden’s silence on the matter, arguing that American leadership must speak clearly when threats are made. “Biden should have said something. When they made a statement, we always said, ‘Why isn’t Biden saying anything?’ Because he didn’t. But a President has to defend a President…like if I were here and they were making that threat to somebody, even not even a President but somebody, like they did with me, I would absolutely hit them so hard. But I have very firm instructions: Anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth.”

Trump’s remarks come against the backdrop of escalating friction between Washington and Tehran, driven by Iran’s violent suppression of anti-regime demonstrations and Trump’s repeated warnings that the United States would retaliate if protesters were harmed.

At one point on Wednesday, the standoff appeared to be nearing a breaking point, with U.S. military action against Iran seemingly imminent. The situation later eased, however, after Trump said the reported killing of protesters had stopped.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump addressed the possibility of ordering a military strike in response to Iran’s actions against demonstrators.

“So with Iran, they were going to hang 837 people…and we let them know that if that happens that it will be a very bad day for them, and they decided not to do it,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future but supposedly they’ve taken that off the table,” he added. “Is the military option off the table? No.”

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Dr. Oz on Drug Prices: “They charged more because they were allowed to charge more — because no one stopped them from charging more… President Trump said, ‘no mas,’ we’re not going to do that anymore.”

Sec. Wright: “The average gasoline prices today are well below $3, but this might be the first year they average below $3 in quite some time… President Trump was elected to drive down energy prices… we’re making big progress there.”

Border Police officers arrested a Palestinian suspected explosive device manufacturer near the West Bank city of Tulkarem this week, according to Israeli security forces. Authorities identified the suspect as Fadi Bahti, described by police, the Shin Bet, and the IDF as a central explosives maker for a terrorists operating in the area. Officers raided Bahti’s […]

In a second separate airstrike in Lebanon today, the IDF says it targeted a Hezbollah terrorist in Burj al-Shemali, near the city of Tyre, a short while ago.

A Hezbollah terrorist was targeted in an Israeli airstrike near the Lebanese city of Sidon a short while ago, the military says.

President Trump is on the ground, a few hours late due to the plane change, in Davos, Switzerland.

A new Knesset seat poll published overnight shows Bibi Netanyahu’s Likud retaining its position as Israel’s largest party, while Shas has climbed to become the country’s third-largest political force.

According to the survey conducted by the Maagar Mochot research institute and broadcast on Channel 13 News, Likud would win 25 seats if elections were held today. Close behind is the newly formed “Bennett 2026” list led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett, which places second with 23 seats, down one mandate from the previous poll.

Shas, led by Aryeh Deri, ranks third with 10 seats. Three parties are tied just behind it with nine seats each: Otzma Yehudit headed by Itamar Ben Gvir, The Democrats led by Yair Golan, and Yisrael Beiteinu under Avigdor Lieberman.

The poll shows a further decline for Yesh Atid, headed by Yair Lapid, which would receive just eight seats. Yeshar, led by Gadi Eisenkot, stands at seven seats, the same number projected for United Torah Judaism.

Among Arab parties, Hadash-Ta’al is projected to win five seats, while Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas, would secure four seats. The poll also shows Balad crossing the electoral threshold for the first time in recent surveys, also with four seats.

Several parties are shown failing to enter the Knesset at all, including Blue and White led by Benny Gantz, Religious Zionism headed by Bezalel Smotrich, and The Reservists under Yoaz Hendel.

In terms of political blocs, the poll gives Netanyahu-aligned parties 51 seats, while parties opposed to Netanyahu total 56 seats. Arab parties collectively account for 13 seats.

The survey also examined public opinion regarding Gantz’s political future amid his party’s continued failure to cross the electoral threshold. According to the findings, 48 percent of respondents believe Gantz should retire from politics, while 29 percent say he should continue and run in the next election.

{Matzav.com}

A Japanese court sentenced a man who admitted assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to life imprisonment on Wednesday. The case has revealed decades of cozy ties between Japan’s governing party and a controversial South Korean church. Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, earlier admitted to killing Abe in July 2022 as the former prime minister was giving a […]

Several members of the governing board of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum are pressing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to remove Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, citing years of nonparticipation and concerns about his public statements, according to a report by JNS.

Sanders, who was appointed to the council in 2007, holds a seat on the panel of presidential and congressional appointees that convenes twice annually to guide the museum’s mission, educational initiatives, and public programming. Attendance records reviewed by board members and shared with the New York Post indicate, however, that Sanders “has missed every meeting of the board since his appointment.”

In a letter dated January 13 and signed by a dozen council members, the group told Schumer that Sanders “has rarely, if ever, attended council meetings or participated meaningfully in the work of the council since his appointment.”

The letter also raised objections to Sanders’s public rhetoric regarding “contemporary genocidal conflicts, including characterizations widely viewed as inconsistent with the principles of Holocaust remembrance and genocide prevention.”

Sanders has frequently criticized Israeli government policy and, in September, accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza, marking the first time he used that term to describe the current war.

The Vermont senator also sharply condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington last July for a meeting with President Donald Trump.

Sanders described the occasion as “a shameful day in America,” pointing to arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of “war crimes.”

Although neither Israel nor the United States recognizes the ICC as a governing authority, Sanders wrote, “Today, a war criminal under indictment from the ICC will be welcomed to the White House.”

Separately, in late July, the Senate voted down a resolution introduced by Sanders that sought to block U.S. weapons transfers to Israel.

That measure failed by a 27-70 margin, marking the third unsuccessful effort by Sanders since late 2024 to stop American arms deliveries to Israel.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump made a delayed landing in Switzerland for his speech to the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, after a minor electrical issue aboard Air Force One forced a return to Washington to switch aircraft. The White House said arriving late wouldn’t push back his scheduled address at the forum in the Swiss Alps — where his ambitions […]

House Republicans are starting a push Wednesday to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, opening the prospect of the House using one of its most powerful punishments against a former president for the first time. The contempt proceedings are an initial step toward a criminal […]

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday sharply criticized Israel over the demolition of a UNRWA compound in Yerushalayim, prompting an immediate and pointed response from Israel’s Foreign Ministry highlighting documented links between the UN agency and Hamas terrorists.

Guterres’s deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said in an official statement that the UN chief “condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli authorities’ actions to demolish the UNRWA Sheikh Jarrah compound.” Haq stressed that, as Guterres has “repeatedly and unequivocally stated, including in his letter to the Prime Minister of Israel on 8 January 2026, the Sheikh Jarrah compound remains United Nations premises, and is inviolable and immune from any form of interference.”

The statement went on to say that “The Secretary-General views as wholly unacceptable the continued escalatory actions against UNRWA, which are inconsistent with Israel’s clear obligations under international law, including under the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.”

According to Haq, Guterres also “urges the Government of Israel to immediately cease the demolition of the UNRWA Sheikh Jarrah compound, and to return and restore the compound and other UNRWA premises to the United Nations without delay.”

Israel’s response came swiftly. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein reposted the UN condemnation on social media, attaching a video showing Hamas terrorist Mohammad Marwan Abu Itiwi participating in the kidnapping of Israeli hostages during the October 7, 2023 attack. Marmorstein also included a screenshot from an UNRWA employee list identifying Itiwi as an UNRWA driver, complete with his employee number.

“Was this your UNRWA Employee of the Month?” Marmorstein wrote in his post.

The confrontation comes against the backdrop of Israeli legislation passed by the Knesset in October 2024 barring UNRWA from operating in Israel and banning Israeli officials from maintaining contact with the agency. That law was expanded last month to prohibit the supply of electricity and water to UNRWA facilities, and Israeli authorities also moved to seize the agency’s offices in eastern Yerushalayim.

Earlier this month, Guterres warned Israel that he may take the matter to the International Court of Justice if the laws targeting UNRWA are not repealed. The warning was delivered in a January 8 letter to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

In the letter, Guterres wrote that the United Nations cannot ignore “actions taken by Israel, which are in direct contravention of the obligations of Israel under international law. They must be reversed without delay.”

UNRWA has faced longstanding criticism over its cooperation with the Hamas terrorist organization, criticism that intensified after Israel presented evidence in 2024 indicating that UNRWA staff members took part in the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault.

In response to Israel’s allegations, the United Nations established an independent review group headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to examine the claims.

The group’s report acknowledged that it found “neutrality-related issues” within UNRWA, but also asserted that Israel had not yet provided evidence that a large number of UNRWA employees were members of terrorist organizations.

Separately, Emily Damari, a former Hamas hostage released after 470 days in captivity, said she had been held inside an UNRWA facility.

In April 2025, USAID disclosed that the United Nations had obstructed an American government investigation into ties between UNRWA employees in Gaza and the Hamas terrorist organization.

Despite the mounting evidence cited by Israel regarding UNRWA’s connections to Hamas, the International Court of Justice recently ruled that Israel must enable the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through UN agencies, including UNRWA. Israel and the United States both criticized that ruling.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued his starkest warning yet to Iran, vowing overwhelming retaliation if Tehran follows through on assassination threats against him. “They shouldn’t be doing it, but I’ve left notification,” Trump said in an interview with NewsNation, responding to a question about ongoing threats attributed to Iran’s leadership. “Anything ever happens, we’re […]

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Wednesday morning that he has accepted the invitation of US President Donald Trump to join the Board of Peace, which will be composed of world leaders and will oversee the administration of the Gaza Strip The decision comes against the backdrop of unusual tension between Jerusalem and Washington […]

Commuter rail service in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region was suspended Wednesday after a Barcelona commuter train crashed the night before, Spanish authorities said. At least one person died in the Barcelona-area crash, and 37 others were injured as crews worked at night to complete the rescue effort. The train hit a retaining wall that fell onto the […]

The Association of Community Rabbis (איגוד רבני קהילות) slammed the shocking remarks about harming Israel’s Chief Rabbanut made by Ayelet Hashachar Seidof, the chairwoman of the leftist “Mothers at the Front” group. Channel 14 on Tuesday evening revealed shocking remarks Seidof made about the Rabbanut in a recent Zoom conversation with members of her group. […]

A South Korean court ruled Wednesday that the ill-fated imposition of martial law by the then President Yoon Suk Yeol constituted an act of rebellion, as it sentenced his prime minister to 23 years in prison for his involvement. Ex-Prime Minister Han Duck-soo became the first Yoon administration official convicted of rebellion charges in relation to the martial law […]

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New and disturbing footage filmed inside the bus in the moments that the driver struck and killed Naftali Kramer, z’l, near Komemiyut on Tuesday raises serious questions about the background of the deadly incident. The footage from the bus camera, published by Yisrael Hayom on Wednesday morning, shows that the driver was driving erratically before […]