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The Israeli government on Sunday backed a new bill that would delay by a year the retirement age for Israel Defense Forces reservists.

Initially on the docket of items to be voted on at the Cabinet meeting, the forum passed it on to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, which approves legislation prior to its introduction and vote in the Knesset plenum.

The bill, which is supported by the Defense Ministry, calls for reservists who are not officers to serve until 41 instead of 40, and officers until 46 instead of 45. Reservists in special units will have to serve until 50 instead of 49.

According to the bill’s explanatory note, it is a “temporary order” stemming from the “immediate need, the scope of the tasks and the lack of possibility to meet this operational need by other means—since the removal of those reservists from the order of the military forces during the fighting may cause damage to the competence and continuity of the units’ functioning, in particular in relation to the combat units.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed the move, saying, “Shame is lost. The reservists and the taxpayers collapse and Netanyahu and the extremists put the burden on them and continue to evade responsibility and smile.”

The decision comes less than a week after the Knesset approved the advancement of a bill lowering the age of exemption for Charedi Israelis, while creating small quotas for service.

The bill would lower the age of exemption from mandatory service for Charedi yeshivah students from 26 to 21, in an effort to get more Charedi men to enter the labor force.

It would also gradually increase Charedi enlistment, setting a conscription target of 35% of male students by 2036.

If the targets are not met, noncompliant yeshivas will face large fines.

Senior Likud officials, who also oppose the bill deferring reservists’ retirement age, told JNS that the draft legislation is being driven by need. The government and the army really have no choice, he said.

“We need fighters now, and even if we drafted the Charedim it would take at least eight months [for them to] be combat ready,” the officials said. “There’s just no way around it.”

{Matzav.com}

Maldives, a tiny island country in Asia southwest of Sri Lanka and India, announced earlier this month that it is banning Israeli tourists from entering the country due to Israel’s war with Hamas. However, it decided against the move after the committee formed to implement the ban realized that it would also affect millions of Israeli-Arabs. Maldives Attorney General Ahmed Usham walked back the ban in a press conference last Thursday, saying that it would affect the millions of “Palestinians” with Israeli passports and the issue needs “further consideration.” The Maldives, the smallest Muslim-majority country in the world, doesn’t seem to mind flashing its true antisemitic colors by admitting that Jews are the only people in the world who are held accountable for their government’s actions, with Arab citizens apparently not considered true Israelis. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Zurich’s prestigious Kunsthaus Zurich art museum has announced the temporary removal of five paintings from its ongoing exhibition showcasing the Emil Bührle Collection. The decision comes as the institution investigates potential links between these artworks and Nazi-era looting.

The collection, named after German-born Swiss industrialist Emil Bührle, has long faced scrutiny regarding the provenance of its holdings. Bührle amassed a vast collection of approximately 600 artworks, many of which were acquired during the war years when the Nazis systematically plundered cultural treasures across Europe.

The artworks under investigation include renowned masterpieces such as Claude Monet’s “Meules à Giverny,” Gustave Courbet’s “Portrait of the Sculptor Louis-Joseph,” Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s “Georges-Henri Manuel,” Vincent van Gogh’s “The Old Tower” and Paul Gauguin’s “La route montante.”

In a statement, the foundation board overseeing the Emil Bührle Collection expressed its commitment to “seeking a fair and equitable solution for these works with the legal successors of the former owners, following best practices.”

According to Stuart Eizenstat, the U.S. Secretary of State’s special adviser on Holocaust issues, it is estimated that over 100,000 paintings and countless other cultural objects stolen during the Nazi era have yet to be returned to their rightful owners or their heirs.

The decision to temporarily remove the paintings follows the publication of new guidelines aimed at addressing the persistent issue of unreturned cultural property stolen during the Nazi regime. These guidelines were developed by the U.S. State Department to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1998 Washington Conference Principles, which outlined a framework for the restitution of Nazi-confiscated art.

The foundation expressed willingness to offer financial compensation to the estate of Max Silberberg, a German Jewish industrialist whose extensive art collection was forcibly auctioned by the Nazis before his murder at the Auschwitz death camp.

{Matzav.com}

The U.S. surgeon general has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes. In a Monday opinion piece in the The New York Times, Dr. Vivek Murthy said that social media is a contributing factor in the mental health crisis among young people. “It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe,” Murthy said. “Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior.” Murthy said that the use of just a warning label wouldn’t make social media safe for young people, but would be a part of the steps needed. Social media use is prevalent among young people, with up to 95% of youth ages 13 to 17 saying that they use a social media platform, and more than a third saying that they use social media “almost constantly,” according to 2022 data from the Pew Research Center. Last year Murthy warned that there wasn’t enough evidence to show that social media is safe for children and teens. He said at the time that policymakers needed to address the harms of social media the same way they regulate things like car seats, baby formula, medication and other products children use. To comply with federal regulation, social media companies already ban kids under 13 from signing up for their platforms — but children have been shown to easily get around the bans, both with and without their parents’ consent. Other measures social platforms have taken to address concerns about children’s mental health can also be easily circumvented. For instance, TikTok introduced a default 60-minute time limit for users under 18. But once the limit is reached, minors can simply enter a passcode to keep watching. Murthy believes the impact of social media on young people should be a more pressing concern. “Why is it that we have failed to respond to the harms of social media when they are no less urgent or widespread than those posed by unsafe cars, planes or food? These harms are not a failure of willpower and parenting; they are the consequence of unleashing powerful technology without adequate safety measures, transparency or accountability,” he wrote. In January the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X and other social media companies went before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify as parents worry that they’re not doing enough to protect young people. The executives touted existing safety tools on their platforms and the work they’ve done with nonprofits and law enforcement to protect minors. Murthy said Monday that Congress needs to implement legislation that will protect young people from online harassment, abuse and exploitation and from exposure to extreme violence and sexual content. “The measures should prevent platforms from collecting sensitive data from children and should restrict the use of features like push notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll, which prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use,” Murthy wrote. The surgeon general is also recommending that companies be required to share all their data on health effects with independent scientists and the […]

Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, issued an interim order on Sunday instructing State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman to suspend any parts of a probe into the failings of Oct. 7 that deal with the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency.

Justice Gila Canfy-Steinitz wrote that the decision was made after reviewing classified documents submitted by security agencies.

“In view of the complex security reality, the planned scope of the investigation, which will deal, among other things, with the combat support system and core operational issues, and the preparation required to respond to it [the investigation] at the current time…I order the suspension of the investigation procedures in everything that relates to the IDF and ISA,” she stated in her ruling, according to Ynet.

The investigation has been halted until the court hears petitions against the Oct. 7 probe in July.

Englman announced the investigation in December 2023, drawing criticism from government watchdog groups who petitioned the court against the initiative, arguing that the matter falls outside his jurisdiction, could interfere with the IDF’s operational capabilities and also ignore political responsibility for the Oct. 7 massacre.

The IDF and the State Attorney’s Office also oppose the investigation.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi in January reportedly requested that Englman hold off on launching a separate probe until after Hamas is defeated, to avoid harming the IDF’s war effort.

The army chief was said to have told Englman that a public investigation by the State Comptroller’s Office would “distract commanders and harm the ability and quality of the IDF’s ongoing operational probe” and “prevent implementing the lessons necessary to achieve war goals.”

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s Cabinet secretary, Yossi Fuchs, met with Englman and likewise asked him to postpone his inquiry.

Responding to Halevi at the time, Englman insisted that “the severe failures that led to the events of Oct. 7 require a deep and fundamental examination by the State Comptroller’s Office of all echelons, political, military and civilian.

“Audit teams were instructed not to hold tours of IDF bases and meetings with IDF officials so as not to divert their attention from the war,” Englman added in a letter to Halevi.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli lawmakers are set to launch a new parliamentary caucus focused on rebuilding Israeli civilian communities in the Gaza Strip after the Hamas terrorist group is defeated, the Maariv daily reported on Monday.

The “Caucus for the Return to Settlement in the Gaza Strip,” headed by Knesset members Limor Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit Party) and Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism), will be officially launched on Tuesday in the presence of lawmakers, government and security officials, as well as representatives of Jewish communities in Yehuda and Shomron.

“Only settlement will bring security. Only when Jewish children are playing in the Strip will the Nukhba terrorists realize that they have lost,” Sukkot told Maariv, using the name of the Hamas unit that led the Oct. 7 murder of 1,200 people in the northwestern Negev.

According to Sukkot, who also heads the Knesset Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria, the re-establishment of towns uprooted in 2005 will help advance the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

“We have to act against Hamas on two levels—militarily and civilian,” he said. “On the military level, we are already operating, especially since Oct. 7. We now need to act on the civilian level and make them lose land.

“When they realize they are losing control of Gaza and losing the land of Gaza, they will be ready to release hostages without making demands that threaten the existence of the State of Israel,” he added.

Har-Melech stated, “If we do not plant deep Jewish roots in Gaza, the enemy will continue to expand the scope of his attacks and threaten us…Without settlement, not only the residents of the Gaza Envelope, but also of the north and other parts of the country will never feel safe.”

Last month, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu ruled out the plan.

“If you mean resettling Gaza…it was never in the cards, and I said so openly. And some of my constituents are not happy about it, but that’s my position,” the premier said in a May 21 interview with CNN.

The same day the interview aired, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reiterated his own plan for after the war in the Strip.

“Complete occupation of Gaza, everything is ours. Full Israeli control including Jewish settlement and voluntary encouragement of immigration. Not only in settlements that have been evacuated,” he told Kikar HaShabbat. Ben-Gvir said he would be willing to live in Gaza.

Around 53% of Jewish Israelis support the establishment of Israeli civilian communities in the coastal enclave, according to the “Peace Index” survey released by Tel Aviv University in January of this year.

In the summer of 2005, the Israeli government headed by prime minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally disengaged from Gaza, removing thousands of Israelis and transferring them to within the Green Line.

While the move was designed to bring calm to Israel’s southern border, it ushered in a victory for Hamas in the January 2006 Palestinian Authority elections. Within a year and a half, Hamas had seized total power in the Strip and evicted the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

On Oct. 7, Hamas-led terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, mainly Jewish civilians, in southern Israel in what has been described as the deadliest antisemitic attack since the Holocaust. Thousands more were wounded and roughly 250 kidnapped back to Gaza. Terrorists committed rape, sexual abuse, torture, burning and desecration of corpses.

{Matzav.com}

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea for a two-day visit starting Tuesday, both countries announced, amid international concerns about their military cooperation. Putin is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks as they deepen their alignment in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with Washington. It will be Putin’s first trip to North Korea in 24 years. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Putin will pay a state visit on Tuesday and Wednesday at Kim’s invitation. North Korean state media didn’t immediately provide details. Russia confirmed the visit in a simultaneous announcement. There are growing concerns about an arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions to fuel Putin’s war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that would enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program. Military, economic and other cooperation between North Korea and Russia have sharply increased since Kim visited the Russian Far East in September for a meeting with Putin, their first since 2019. U.S. and South Korean officials have accused the North of providing Russia with artillery, missiles and other military equipment to help prolong its fighting in Ukraine, possibly in return for key military technologies and aid. Both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied accusations about North Korean weapons transfers. Any weapons trade with North Korea would be a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions that Russia, a permanent U.N. Security Council member, previously endorsed. Andrei Lankov, an expert on North Korea at Kookmin University in Seoul, noted that in exchange for providing artillery munitions and short-range ballistic missiles, Pyongyang hopes to get higher-end weapons from Moscow. Lankov noted that while Russia could be reluctant to share its state-of-the-art military technologies with North Korea, it’s eager to receive munitions from Pyongyang. “There is never enough ammunition in a war, there is a great demand for them,” Lankov told The Associated Press. There were signs that Kim was preparing to throw a lavish celebration for Putin as he tries to boost the visibility of their relationship to his domestic audience. The North Korea-focused NK News website said Monday that its analysis of commercial satellite images suggest that the North is possibly preparing a huge parade at a square in the country’s capital, Pyongyang. Kim in recent months has made Russia his primary focus as he tries to strengthen his regional footing and expand cooperation with nations confronting the United States, embracing the idea of what he portrays as a “new Cold War. ” During telephone talks with South Korea’s vice foreign minister on Friday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell raised concern that Putin’s visit to the North would result in further military cooperation between the countries that potentially undermines stability in the region, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The list of countries willing to welcome Putin is shorter than ever, but for Kim Jong Un, this visit is a victory,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “Not only does the summit upgrade North Korea’s status among countries standing against the U.S.-led international order, it also helps bolster Kim’s domestic legitimacy. Russia cannot replace China economically, but increasing cooperation with Moscow shows that Pyongyang has options.” Putin first visited Pyongyang in […]

Israeli security forces recently arrested a resident of the country’s north on suspicion of preparing to join ISIS in Somalia, the Israel Police revealed on Monday.

The suspect, who was identified as a 17-and-a-half-year-old male from the almost entirely Muslim village of ‘Ara northeast of Hadera, was apprehended by officers of the police’s Coastal District and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

The agencies said the suspect had made extensive preparations to join ISIS, including by writing a will, collecting funds, applying for a foreign passport and maintaining contact with “hostile elements” online.

Since Hamas launched its latest war against the Jewish state on Oct. 7, Israeli authorities have thwarted numerous ISIS-linked terrorist plots.

In April, four Arabs from eastern Yerushalayim who had sworn allegiance to ISIS, two of whom planned to attack a police station near the capital’s Teddy sports stadium, were indicted in an Israeli court.

The previous month, Israeli security personnel arrested four Palestinians planning ISIS-inspired attacks against troops in Judea and Samaria.

On Jan. 22, security forces thwarted an ISIS-inspired attack that was to be carried out near the Knesset in Yerushalayim.

Earlier this year, ISIS spokesman Abu Huthaifa al-Ansari called on the group’s supporters around the world to attack Jews and avenge the killing by the Israel Defense Forces of Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

{Matzav.com}

The IDF announced today that it has successfully eliminated a key operative in the Rocket and Missile Department of Hezbollah’s Nasser Unit in southern Lebanon. Muhammad Mustafa Ayoub, a senior terrorist involved in promoting and planning attacks against Israeli civilians and communities, was struck and killed by an Israeli fighter jet in the area of Selaa. According to the IDF, Ayoub had been actively involved in terror activities over the past few months, posing a significant threat to Israeli security. His elimination is part of the IDF’s ongoing efforts to disrupt Hezbollah’s military build-up and prevent the stockpiling of weapons intended for use in terror attacks against Israeli civilians and communities. In a separate operation earlier Monday, IAF fighter jets targeted Hezbollah terror infrastructure and a military structure in the area of Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The U.S. Department of Education opened a civil rights investigation of Chapman University, a private school in Orange, Calif., for allegedly failing to take action to protect Jews on its campus.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights announces new Title VI investigations—which probe alleged violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for bias based on “shared ancestry,” including religious discrimination—weekly on Tuesdays. It hasn’t announced the investigation of Chapman, but the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which filed the complaint, confirmed the investigation to JNS.

“Antisemitism continues to run rampant on college campuses,” said Kenneth Marcus, founder and chairman of the Washington-based Brandeis Center and a former U.S. assistant secretary of education.

“Too many universities are refusing to do what’s needed to address these civil rights violations,” Marcus told JNS.

Per the complaint, Chapman has allowed “unchecked” Jew-hatred on its campus. The school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine removed a Jewish student from its group “because of his shared Jewish ancestry,” and it made “heinous death threats against a different Jewish student,” according to the Brandeis Center.

The Chapman chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine blocked a student, with what is described as a Jewish-sounding name, from attempting to join the group in October 2022, per a copy of the 24-page, Feb. 12 complaint—with nine pages of photos—that JNS viewed. The student was allegedly removed from the CSJP listserv, per the complaint.

When the student tried to join the group again after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack, he was again denied admission and entry to a teach-in event to which he tried to RSVP, per the Brandeis Center.

“This also happened with several other students who are Jewish or have Jewish-sounding names, who sought to attend the teach-in event but did not receive the confirmation needed for admission by CSJP and therefore were barred from attending,” per the Brandeis Center.

On Nov. 12, a member of the Chapman chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine allegedly sent a death threat to one of the students, who were excluded from the group.

The student responded to a social media post from a CSJP member which called for “death to all Israelis who follow Zionism.” The other student asked the CSJP member if he wanted her dead.

The CSJP member used several expletives and responded, “I want you and all Zionist trash bags dead.” The CSJP member “then allegedly sent her a barrage of harassing messages accusing her of not being a real Jew and alleging that ‘Zionism is terrorism,’” per the Brandeis Center complaint.

The student reported the threat to the school’s public safety department, which investigated the matter and concluded the CSJP member was not a threat and allowed him to move back into campus housing, per the Brandeis Center complaint. The complaint adds that the student has to live and study in fear at Chapman.

The same CSJP member kept posting anti-Israel messages on social media, per the complaint, and filmed himself on TikTok after Oct. 7 vandalizing a memorial on campus to the Israeli victims. The student also accused a Jewish student without evidence of stealing his Palestinian flag and threatened the student.

JNS sought comment from Chapman over the weekend.

The school describes itself as “not a Christian college, but a church-related school,” and “for 150 years throughout the formation of the academic institution, we have been connected with The Christian Church, and since 2011, also with The United Church of Ch***.”

“These particular churches give us a proud religious heritage, and value the dignity of all people and all religions,” it states.

There are a Hillel and a Chabad on the campus. Per Hillel, there are 550 Jewish students (7.2% of the student population) at Chapman. Fifty (2.3%) of the university’s 2,145 graduate students are Jewish, per Hillel. Chapman is also home to the Barry and Phyllis Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, which per its site is “one of only a very few centers in the United States located in and supported by a private university.”

“It is imperative that federal officials enforce the law,” Marcus told JNS. “It is about time that the federal government is finally investigating Students for Justice in Palestine’s discriminatory activities.”

{Matzav.com}

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is scheduled to sign an executive order to issue more than 175,000 pardons for marijuana convictions Monday, the governor’s office said. The administration is describing the pardons as the largest state pardon to date. The governor’s action regarding cases relating to use of paraphernalia make Maryland the first state to take such action, his office said. The pardons will forgive low-level marijuana possession charges for an estimated 100,000 people, according to The Washington Post, which first reported on the order Sunday night. Moore plans to sign the executive order Monday morning in the state Capitol in Annapolis with Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown in attendance. Recreational cannabis was legalized in Maryland in 2023 after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2022 with 67% of the vote. Maryland decriminalized possession of personal use amounts of cannabis on Jan. 1, 2023. Now, 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational cannabis. “The Moore-Miller Administration is committed to promoting social equity and ensuring the fair and equitable administration of justice,” the governor’s office said. “Because the use and possession of cannabis is no longer illegal in the state, Marylanders should not continue to face barriers to housing, employment, or educational opportunities based on convictions for conduct that is no longer illegal.” Brown, a Democrat, described the pardons as “certainly long overdue as a nation” and “a racial equity issue.” “While the pardons will extend to anyone and everyone with a misdemeanor conviction for the possession of marijuana or paraphernalia, this unequivocally, without any doubt or reservation, disproportionately impacts — in a good way — Black and Brown Marylanders,” Brown told the Post. More than 150,000 misdemeanor convictions for simple possession of cannabis will be affected by the order, which also will cover more than 18,000 misdemeanor convictions for use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia, according to a summary by the governor’s office. The pardons reflect the number of convictions. Some individuals may have had more than one conviction pardoned through the process. The pardons will not result in anyone being released from incarceration. After Moore signs the pardon, the Maryland Judiciary will ensure each individual electronic docket is updated with an entry indicating the conviction has been pardoned by the governor, a process that should take about two weeks, the governor’s office said. The governor’s order also directs the state corrections department to develop a process to indicate a pardon in an individual’s criminal record, a process expected to take about 10 months to complete. The pardons absolve people from the guilt of a criminal offense, and individuals do not need to take any action to receive the pardon. A pardon is different from expungement. Although the Judiciary will make a note on the record that the offense has been pardoned, it will still show on the record. Expungement is the process by which a criminal conviction is destroyed and removed completely from the public record, which requires an additional step. (AP)

Close to 30 Palestinian terrorists receive benefits from Israel’s National Insurance Institute, according to intelligence information uncovered by lawmaker Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beiteinu) and made public by the Israel Hayom daily on Monday afternoon.

Last month, Welfare and Social Affairs Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur confirmed that Yerushalayim transfers 7.3 million shekels ($1.96 million) to 265 people in Gaza annually, mainly in disability payments for Palestinians who worked in Israel and paid their premiums.

While Ben-Tzur claimed at the time that the government did not have any information on the basis of which it could stop the payments, a document from the Defense Ministry’s National Headquarters for Combating Economic Terrorism paints a different picture.

According to the report, which was cross-checked against databases of the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Intelligence Directorate (known in Hebrew as AMAN), almost 30 known Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza, Yehuda and Shomron receive benefits.

“The probe was carried out by cross-checking the identity documents of beneficiaries against the AMAN databases, which are based on several different sources; hence, the reliability is high,” the document reads.

“We are a self-destructing country,” Malinovsky told Israel Hayom on Monday. “What is worrying about the whole situation is that, while I was able to figure this out, there are many other things the government doesn’t tell us, or they didn’t even check for over eight months.

“The shocking notion that the tax money we all pay goes to Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists is simply incomprehensible,” she added.

On Oct. 7, Hamas and Islamic Jihad murdered some 1,200 people in southern Israel, in the deadliest antisemitic attack since the Holocaust. Thousands more were wounded and roughly 250 were abducted to Gaza. Terrorists committed rape, sexual abuse, torture, burning and desecration of corpses.

{Matzav.com}

Amos Hochstein, deputy assistant to the U.S. president and senior adviser for energy and investment, met with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at his office in Yerushalayim on Monday as the Biden administration attempts to prevent a wider war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A White House official told Reuters that Hochstein was expected to discuss averting further escalation at the Blue Line, the temporary border demarcated by the U.N. in 2000, after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

Joining Hochstein and Netanyahu for the meeting were Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the prime minister’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman, military secretary Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman and foreign policy adviser Dr. Ophir Falk, and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Israel Stephanie Hallett.

Hochstein will also meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Unity Party leader and former War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz, opposition leader Yair Lapid and President Isaac Herzog before heading to Lebanon.

It is Hochstein’s fourth visit to Israel since Hamas invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, killing, wounding and kidnapping thousands.

In 2022, he mediated a maritime border and natural gas agreement between Israel and Lebanon in a bid to reduce tensions in the north and deter Hezbollah.

The visit comes as the Iranian terrorist proxy has ratcheted up its daily attacks on evacuated Israeli communities near the Lebanese border in recent weeks.

“Hezbollah is jeopardizing the future of Lebanon so that it can be a shield for Hamas,” Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Sunday. “The one that murdered the elderly, raped women, burned children and kidnapped Jews, Muslims and Christians during their massacre on October 7.”

Hezbollah has attacked northern Israel nearly every day since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, killing more than 20 people and causing widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israelis remain internally displaced due to the violence.

Hezbollah has refused to accept a diplomatic solution to the conflict until a ceasefire has been put in place in the Gaza Strip.

“Since deciding to join the war that Hamas started on October 7, Hezbollah has fired over 5,000 rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosive UAVs from Lebanon at Israeli families, homes and communities,” Hagari said.

Hezbollah’s aggression “is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region,” he warned.

According to Hagari, because of Hezbollah’s and Lebanon’s refusal to comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701—which was adopted to end the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and bans terrorist activities south of the Litani River—Jerusalem will take “the necessary measures to protect its civilians until security along our northern border with Lebanon is restored.

“One way or another, we will ensure the safe and secure return of Israelis to their homes in northern Israel. This is not up for negotiation,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

Strong winds pushed flames through dry brush in mountains along Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles, and officials warned residents in the wildfire’s path to be prepared to leave if it explodes in size again. Los Angeles County’s first major wildfire of the year swiftly grew to nearly 23 square miles (60 square kilometers) on Sunday, one day after it forced the evacuation of at least 1,200 campers, off-roaders and hikers from the Hungry Valley recreation area. The blaze, dubbed the Post Fire, was just 2% contained Sunday evening. No injuries were reported. The cause was under investigation. Firefighters working in sweltering conditions and steep terrain raced to douse spot fires that erupted as unpredictable winds blew embers ahead of the flames, said Kenichi Haskett, a section chief for the LA County Fire Department. The gusts also hampered efforts by aircraft crews to drop water and fire retardant, he said. “When it’s windy, it just sprays the water everywhere we don’t need it. So that’s a challenge,” Haskett said. Meanwhile in Northern California, a small wildfire sparked Sunday prompted evacuation orders and warnings for a sparsely populated area near Lake Sonoma. Known as the Point Fire, it sent up a huge plume of dark smoke as it churned through brush and timber about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of San Francisco, and destroyed at least one structure. It was 15% contained. The Southern California fire erupted Saturday afternoon near I-5 in Gorman, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles. Two structures burned within the evacuated recreation area. Flames were moving toward Pyramid Lake, a popular destination for boaters that was closed as a precaution on Father’s Day. No houses were threatened Sunday, but officials warned residents of Castaic, home to about 19,000 people, that they should prepare to leave if the fire pushes further south. “If you’re in a warning area, be prepared with a ‘go bag,’ with overnight clothes and your cellphone, your medicines, your glasses. Have your car fueled up,” said Haskett. “Be ready to evacuate.” Low humidity and gusts around 50 mph (80 kph) were expected throughout the day, and winds could pick up speed after sundown, warned the National Weather Service office for Los Angeles. About 75 miles (120 kilometers) to the east, the nearly 2-square-mile (5-square-kilometer) Hesperia Fire forced road closures and prompted evacuation warnings after it broke out Saturday near mountain communities in San Bernardino County. The blaze was 20% contained Sunday evening. (AP)

The Israeli High Court of Justice has decided in favor of an appellant who sought the naturalization of his children born before his conversion to Judaism, despite his concealment of their births from authorities for several years.

On Sunday, the justices ruled on Eliezer Clement’s appeal against a 2019 decision by the Beersheba District Court. Clement, a member of the Hebrew Israelites Community of Dimona, had initially been denied the naturalization of seven of his 11 children by the lower court.

Clement’s petition was previously rejected because these seven children were born in the United States before his 2005 conversion to Judaism and his subsequent naturalization in Israel.

The Law of Return grants naturalization rights to Jews, their spouses, children, and grandchildren. Clement’s own naturalization in 2006 under this law also facilitated his wife’s naturalization. However, the status of his seven children born before 2006 remained problematic, especially since Clement and his wife had hidden the births of some of these children from the authorities for years.

Justice Ruth Ronnen, who, along with Justice Uzi Vogelman, ruled in favor of the appeal, stated that the Clements’ omission to report the home births of three of their children was not pertinent to the appeal. This point had been a factor in the lower court’s rejection of the naturalization application. Ronnen also challenged the notion that the timing of a parent’s conversion should affect their children’s eligibility under the Law of Return.

Clement and his wife originally entered Israel over two decades ago as tourists with four children, staying beyond their visa’s expiration. They subsequently had three more children in Israel without reporting their births, and five additional children whose births were reported to the authorities, although one has since passed away.

Before 2005, Eliezer Clement returned to the United States to convert to Judaism, after which he applied to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return. During this process, he falsely claimed to be unmarried and without children, according to Haaretz.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Alex Stein argued that while the children could seek naturalization through other legal means, the Law of Return did not apply to them.

“The law is the law, even when it means we’re unable to bring the human story before us to a happy ending,” he wrote.

{Matzav.com Israel}

President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is spending $50 million through the end of June, a blitz that includes its first television ad trumpeting Donald Trump’s felony conviction and signals that the Democratic incumbent is seeking to make his Republican opponent’s legal woes a bigger issue heading into November. The advertising push comes with Election Day still months away. But Biden’s campaign says it wants to more clearly define the choice between the candidates ahead of the first debate between them in Atlanta on June 27. The ad campaign includes more than $1 million geared toward media reaching Black, Hispanic and Asian American voters and a spot highlighting Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in a New York hush money case. It will air on general market television and connected TV on streaming devices and cellphones in battleground states as well as on national cable. Besides Trump’s criminal conviction, the ad, titled “Character Matters,” notes the former president also was found liable for sexual assault and financial fraud in separate proceedings. Trump also faces felony charges in three other criminal cases, none of which may go to trial before the November election. “In the courtroom, we see Donald Trump for who he is,” intones the ad’s narrator. It adds over images of a Trump mug shot and Biden high-fiving supporters, “This election is between a convicted criminal who’s only out for himself and a president who’s fighting for your family.” Biden also has frequently talked about Trump’s 34 felony convictions while decrying the former president for claiming that the case against him was politically motivated. Biden argues that “it’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.” Biden’s son Hunter last week was convicted in Delaware of three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018, when, prosecutors argued, he lied on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. The president has said he would accept the outcome of the case and “continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.” A central part of Biden’s reelection strategy is also highlighting Trump’s policy proposals for a second term and firing up disaffected Democrats and independent voters. Still, the campaign producing an ad that leans heavily into Trump’s conviction and including it in such a large advertising buy indicates a renewed effort to make Trump’s legal problems an election issue in ways Biden’s team previously resisted. “It’s a stark contrast, and it’s one that matters deeply to the American people,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Taylor said in a statement. “And it’s why we will make sure that every single day we are reminding voters about how Joe Biden is fighting for them, while Donald Trump runs a campaign focused on one man and one man only: himself.” Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has argued, without evidence, that Biden or Justice Department officials orchestrated the New York case against him for political reasons. He and his allies also have raised the prospect of prosecuting political opponents in revenge if he returns to the White House. Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that the Biden administration had “weaponized the justice system against President Trump” and that the contrast […]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday harshly criticized National Unity Party leaders Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot for their resignation from the government.

“There are those who want to change the goals, and to my understanding that is what the two who resigned wanted. They want euphemistic decisions of defeat and to leave Hamas intact – this is unacceptable to me,” Netanyahu said at the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Netanyahu also took aim at the military leadership, stating, “In order to reach the goal of eliminating the capabilities of Hamas, I made decisions that were not always acceptable to the military echelon. We have a state with an army and not an army with a state.”

The National Unity Party shot back with a statement, “Defeatism: To be afraid of letting the IDF maneuver. To fritter away the entry to Khan Yunis and Rafah. To hesitate to move the operative effort to the north. And to refuse to define the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes as part of the goals of the war. In the future, the protocols will be revealed and then the public will know who hesitated and who strived for a real victory.”

Likud quickly issued a counter-statement, asserting, “Those who fled the war will not preach morality to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is leading the campaign and is not willing to compromise on anything less than complete victory.”

“Certainly not Benny Gantz who ran away from making difficult decisions, who succumbed to all international pressure, who agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state and who declared on every stage that he is ready to end the war before the return of all our hostages and the completion of all our goals,” Likud stated.

National Unity responded, “The Prime Minister’s statement generator is hysterical, and rightly so. Gantz and Eisenkot were the first to call for the start of the maneuver and aggressive action in Gaza and its extension to Khan Yunis and Rafah.”

“Thanks to Gantz’s brave international connections, Israel received an air defense agreement that halted the Iranian attack, prevented damage and saved many lives. He never agreed to the end of the war nor to the establishment of a Palestinian state, did not give the ‘Bar-Ilan speech’ or hand over territories to Arafat, as Netanyahu did.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

Hot and cold extremes are expected this week in the U.S. Officials warned residents from coast to coast to take precautions as a heat wave moved east, while heavy rains and flooding could drench the Gulf states and snow threatens parts of the Rockies and Northwest. Extreme heat spread across Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Texas, Colorado and Kansas as severe weather swept across many parts of the U.S. on Sunday. There was unseasonable cold in the Pacific Northwest, snow headed to the northern Rocky Mountains and heavy rainfall forecast from the northern Plains to the Upper Midwest. The National Weather Service estimated more than 63 million people were under heat advisories on Sunday, stretching from the Southwest northward up through Denver and into Chicago. Much of the Midwest and Northeast were under heat warnings or watches on Monday. Temperatures in Phoenix, which hit 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 Celsius) on Saturday, eased slightly on Sunday to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius). Weather service forecasters say the first two weeks of June in Phoenix already have been an average of 5.6 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than normal, making it the hottest start to June on record. “We have already seen some pretty significantly high temperatures in our area,” said Ted Whittock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix. “We are recommending that everyone reduce their time outdoors between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., stay hydrated and wear light, looser fitting clothing.” The heat in metro Phoenix will ease a bit Monday through Wednesday, with the highs pushing back up as the week progresses, likely prompting another excessive heat warning, Whittock said. The heat has been especially dangerous in recent years in metro Phoenix, where 645 people died from heat-related causes in 2023, which was a record. The city and Maricopa County have adopted additional measures this year in hopes of keeping people safer, including two new overnight cooling centers where people can rest in air conditioning after the sun goes down. There are more than 100 other cooling centers that have been open since May 1 where people can get cold water and sit in a cool space during daytime hours. In neighboring New Mexico, a heat advisory was in effect over the weekend for the Chavez County plains including Roswell, where the high was forecast to hit 107 degrees F (41.6 degrees C) on Monday. The high for Albuquerque reached 99 degrees F (37 C) on Sunday and is forecast to cool slightly to 98 degrees F (36 C) on Monday. The high Sunday was 104 F (40 C) in El Paso, Texas, which opened five cooling centers. Temperatures in Colorado ranged from near 90 degrees F (32.2 C) in areas of metropolitan Denver Sunday to 100 degrees F (37.7 C) in the southern city of Pueblo, with temperatures expected to surpass 100 degrees F Monday in the southern reaches of the state. The heat wave was moving eastward Sunday into the Plains and the Great Lakes area and was expected to arrive in the Northeast by Tuesday. The threat of thunderstorms with potential high winds and heavy rainfall increased in the Chicago area, even as heat indices were forecast to reach near 100 degrees F (37.7 C) through the middle of the week. As the heat wave […]

By Avi Shiff

[Full video replay below.] Sunday night, Wells Fargo Center was host to the third Adirei HaTorah asifa in support of the yungeleit of Lakewood’s Bais Medrash Govoah.

25,000+ people came out strong, united, and with one goal: to proclaim the glory of our nation’s yungeleit, the Adirei HaTorah.

Buses and cars pulled up from across the tri-state area, transporting thousands to the event at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. People came from around the country and beyond.

This year, the event began earlier than the past two years, with attendees arriving from 4 p.m. and on. Guests took in the scene of a sports arena normally bedecked in sports-related signs and slogans, instead bearing statements and mottos expressing Klal Yisroel’s admiration for their yungeleit. “Three Years of Celebrating Our Most Cherished Treasure – Our Yungerman,” “The Yungerman. Our Greatest Treasure,” “For the Yungerman of Today and Tomorrow,” and “A Legacy of Torah, from Father to Son,” were emblazoned across the various electronic screens in the arena.

Upon entering the building, sandwiches, snacks and drinks were served. In the arena itself, immediately grabbing the attention of participants and crowning the room was the massive and regal looking dais, with seating for approximately 800 roshei yeshiva and rabbonim and roshei chaburah.

Beautiful music filled the arena, orchestrated by keyboardist Meir Adler from Eretz Yisroel. The silky smooth voices of singers Yanky Daskal, Bentzi Stein, and Meilech Braunstein melded beautifully, setting the tone.

Following Mincha, which was led by Rav Elchonon Berenbaum, brief remarks were delivered via video by Rav Yosef Mermelstein, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Novominsk.

Tehillim followed for acheinu Bnei Yisroel, led by Rav Chaim Ginsburg, senior rosh chaburah at Bais Medrash Govoah.

After a brief musical interlude, virtually every seat in the arena, including every balcony and concourse, in addition to thousands of additional seats on the floor, was occupied

Fittingly, the seats on the floor of the arena couldn’t be purchased. They were reserved for yungeleit who have been learning at Bais Medrash Govoah for many years. Appropriately, the best seats in the house were given to those who were being feted this evening, the lomdei Torah who hold up our world.

Immediately thereafter, the music began, and the crowd sang and danced for several minutes. The building practically shook as the roshei yeshiva, who accompanied the special guest, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Slabodka in Bnei Brak, were warmly and enthusiastically welcomed in an awesome display of kavod haTorah to those upon whose shoulders the entire yeshiva stands.

During his opening statements, Bais Medrash Govoah CEO R’ Yosef Heinemann reflected on the past three years since the inauguration of the Adirei Hatorah campaign, which has raised tens of millions of dollars in support of Klal Yisroel’s yungeleit who devote their lives to limud haTorah.

R’ Heinemann introduced the rosh yeshiva, Rav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, and the crowd broke out into singing Yomim Al Yemei Melech Tosif in his honor.

During his remarks, Rav Kotler paid tribute to the devoted askanim who have spearheaded the unprecedented Adirei Hatorah campaign.

Following Rav Kotler’s remarks, several niggunim, including the Ribnitzer’s teniah, “Abaye v’Rava,” were sung.

A moving multi-part video was then shown, depicting the transmission of Torah throughout the last two centuries. The video, which was interspersed with various niggunim, described the growth of yeshivos throughout Europe, until Churban Europa, a time when some people thought that the Torah world had been decimated for good. The video then showed the growth of Torah in America, from Lakewood, NJ, the home of Bais Medrash Govoah, to mekomos haTorah throughout the world.

Highlights of the video presentation included audio of Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro zt”l singing and powerful remarks from Rav Mordechai Gifter zt”l.

A video was then shown of Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah of South Fallsburg.

Following additional singing, the special guest from Eretz Yisroel, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, was introduced, and the crowd erupted in song. Even after the music stopped, the singing continued, the massive crowd expressing boundless respect for the rosh yeshiva.

And just as quickly, the arena grew completely silent as Rav Hirsch addressed the crowd, speaking in English.

Toward the end of his message, Rav Moshe Hillel spoke of the “tremendous fights” of the leftists in Israel against anything related to Torah.

The crowd then erupted in sheer joy as the arrival of Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, rosh yeshiva of Philadelphia Yeshiva, was announced. As Rav Shmuel approached the dais, the singing grew louder and stronger, an incredible feeling permeating the arena.

A video tribute to the late mashgiach of Bais Medrash Govoah, Rav Matisyahu Salomon zt”l, was then shown.

Following several heartfelt niggunim, a Siyum Hashas on Talmud Bavli and Talmud Yerushalmi, learned b’iyun by the yungeleit of Bais Medrash Govoah, was made, with the Hadran being recited by Rav Yisroel Neuman, rosh yeshiva of Bais Medrash Govoah. As Rav Neuman approached the podium, the crowd broke out into song, singing Yomim in his honor. Rav Yisroel recited the Hadran slowly, growing emotional and crying with each timeless word, imparting such a profound message with each krechtz and each carefully enunciated phrase.

The Kaddish for the siyum was then recited by Rav Moshe Salomon, son of Rav Matisyahu Salomon. The building shook with the Amein Yeish Shmei Rabbah, displaying the intensity and feelings of the entire crowd.

With the answer of the final amein and a cry of “Mazel tov!” the crowd erupted with pure joy and simchas haTorah, dancing with a fervor reserved for times like Simchas Torah.

The maamad then featured an address from Rav Ephraim Wachsman, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Meor Yitzchok of Monsey, who thanked the Adirei Hatorah – the yungeleit – for being “mekayeim kol ha’olam kulo,” for being the source of parnassah, health and all goodness that we merit, as Chazal tell us.

Following Kabbolas Ohl Malchus Shomayim, which was led by Rav Yeruchem Olshin, and Maariv, which was led by Rav Dovid Schustal, the thousands made their way to the exits while music filled the arena, the feeling one of kavod and reverence for the yungeleit. They devote their every day and lovingly sacrifice so much to make the study of Torah their life, not just uplifting themselves, but enriching their communities and the wider world with the unparalleled power of Torah.

It was an evening no one could forget, forever etched into the hearts of the young and old, inspired, uplifted, and charged to keep this remarkable mission going.

FULL VIDEO REPLAY:

PHOTOS:

{Matzav.com}