Israel’s government has officially approved the 2026 state budget following a brief cabinet meeting held Friday. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened the session by stating that the budget would pass that same day and praised the ministers and the finance minister for what he described as a focused and constructive approach.
Netanyahu told the cabinet that the budget brings meaningful benefits to the country, including tax reductions, support for active-duty and reserve IDF soldiers, and accelerated development for northern and southern communities affected during the war. He stressed that the government is stable and has no intention of heading to early elections, declaring: “This government will serve out its full term.”
The Finance Ministry and Defense Ministry reached an agreement setting the defense budget at 112 billion shekels — approximately 30 billion shekels less than what the Defense Ministry originally demanded at the start of negotiations.
Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich welcomed the compromise, saying the government is committing massive resources to strengthen the army while still ensuring that Israel’s economy remains on a path toward growth and relief for citizens.
Ministers also approved Smotrich’s dairy reform plan during the meeting. The prime minister and most cabinet members supported the reform, with Agriculture and Food Security Minister Avi Dichter casting the sole opposing vote. The proposal will now move to the Knesset for legislation.
Netanyahu noted that the budget includes several major initiatives: tax cuts — including reductions to income tax — decreased regulation, streamlined government systems, and significant investment in communities in the north and south that suffered during the conflict. He said the budget also expands assistance, grants, and benefits for IDF soldiers in both regular service and reserves, along with increased support for their families.
Shortly after the meeting ended, the Prime Minister’s Office released a confirmation statement announcing that the government had approved the 2026 budget.
{Matzav.com}
Derek Chauvin is again attempting to overturn his conviction, filing a new appeal that asks a Minnesota court to throw out the verdict in the death of George Floyd and allow him to be retried. The request, submitted last month in Hennepin County District Court, argues that significant legal and evidentiary problems undermined the fairness of his 2020 trial.
Central to the filing is Chauvin’s argument that the medical testimony used against him was fundamentally flawed. His attorneys assert that the four physicians who evaluated the medical examiner’s findings relied excessively on video footage that captured officers restraining Floyd — including the widely seen recording in which Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe and bystanders pleaded with officers to stop. According to the appeal, “This led to many errors throughout, as improperly qualified experts opined on events in the various videos in this case. This served to deprive Chauvin of his right to due process.”
Chauvin contends that he has now brought in outside medical experts from the Forensic Panel who are prepared to testify that the physicians used during the trial relied on methodology that “is not generally accepted in the scientific community,” as reported by Fox News.
The appeal also takes aim at testimony offered by Minneapolis police supervisors who said that the knee-to-neck restraint was outside department policy. Chauvin’s lawyers counter that dozens of officers dispute that claim. As Fox News summarized, “Chauvin also disputed testimony from three Minneapolis police supervisors, who swore the tactic of placing a knee on a suspect’s neck as a restraint was inconsistent with city police policy,” adding that the filing includes statements from “34 current and former Minneapolis police officers” asserting that the maneuver was part of their training.
This is not Chauvin’s first effort to revisit the outcome of his trial. A previous appeal seeking a new proceeding was rejected in 2023. He is currently serving both a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a separate 22½-year sentence for second-degree murder, housed at a low-security facility in Big Spring, Texas.
Prosecutors, in their closing arguments at trial, maintained that Chauvin betrayed the ethics and responsibility of his position during the incident, asserting that he chose “pride over policing” while restraining Floyd for those nine minutes.
{Matzav.com}A sweeping series of border-enforcement announcements this week signaled an intensified effort by federal authorities to deter illegal entry on every front. At the center of the rollout is a newly declared $5,000 fee that will be imposed on anyone 14 or older who entered the country without inspection, accompanied by a renewed crackdown on sea routes and a celebration by federal officials of seven consecutive months without Border Patrol releases into the U.S. interior.
In outlining the new financial penalty, Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks stressed that the rule is grounded in 8 U.S.C. §1815 and applies across the board — to those who crossed unlawfully days ago or decades ago, and whether or not they are currently tied up in immigration court. He noted that additional charges may apply under 8 U.S.C. §§2339 and 1324, signaling an expansive enforcement net.
As part of the same enforcement push, CBP’s Air and Marine Operations division issued an unambiguous warning aimed at people considering illegal maritime crossings. Their message was stark: “If you cross the border illegally, you will be caught, deported, and banned from ever returning to the United States. Don’t take to the sea!” Officials pointed to a steep rise in smuggling operations using ocean routes and vowed to block unlawful entry from the water just as aggressively as on land.
The Department of Homeland Security added to the week’s developments with a pointed declaration highlighting President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem’s record: seven months running without a single Border Patrol release into the nation’s interior. DHS touted the milestone as evidence of a fortified enforcement strategy, describing this period as the “most secure border in history.” The agency credited interdepartmental coordination for achieving what it characterized as unprecedented control of migrant flows.
Even with that record in hand, the administration is pushing further. Banks revealed that construction of additional border barriers has resumed in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, marking a new round of wall expansion in an area long overwhelmed by illegal crossings. The move underscores that physical infrastructure remains a centerpiece of the administration’s strategy.
The combination of the new penalty, fresh maritime enforcement messaging, and DHS’s border-security declaration reflects a coordinated signal: illegal entry will meet firm consequences, and border controls are tightening at every point of access. That theme was echoed again when Banks described the fast-rising wall sections in Texas. “Solid steel wall panels are now standing tall in Harlingen, TX — marking the beginning of 17.4 miles of unyielding progress,” he said. “Impedance and denial aren’t just the goals — they’re the MISSION. THE BORDER IS STILL CLOSED.”
{Matzav.com}
