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Significant progress was reported Thursday in negotiations between Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisroel over the makeup of their joint electoral slate for Israel’s 26th Knesset, with the two Chareidi factions moving closer to an agreement that would alter the division of several key positions on the United Torah Judaism list.

Under the arrangement currently taking shape, Degel HaTorah would effectively secure the seventh position without being required to share the seat with Agudas Yisroel through a rotation agreement if the joint party wins seven mandates.

Should United Torah Judaism receive eight seats, Agudas Yisroel would likewise not be required to rotate into the ninth position, which would remain with Degel HaTorah.

Another significant component of the emerging deal concerns the tenth position on the slate. That slot, which had been expected to belong to Agudas Yisroel, would instead be transferred to Degel HaTorah under the proposed arrangement.

The developing agreement would represent a meaningful change in the balance between the two factions and, in particular, would guarantee Degel HaTorah control of the seventh seat if United Torah Judaism wins seven mandates. Degel would therefore avoid having to surrender the position for part of the Knesset term as part of a rotation with Agudas Yisroel.

With the major issues reportedly nearing resolution, negotiations are now said to be focused primarily on final technical details. The two sides are working to complete an agreement ahead of next week’s deadline for submitting the electoral lists.

The dispute over the seventh seat became particularly consequential during the previous Knesset. After United Torah Judaism left the coalition, the faction’s seven mandates ultimately left Degel HaTorah with only three Knesset members compared with four representing Agudas Yisroel, amid disagreements surrounding implementation of the rotation agreement for the seventh position.

The emerging formula is intended to prevent a repeat of that situation. If Degel HaTorah receives the seventh position following the upcoming election, the seat would remain entirely in Degel’s hands rather than being divided with Agudas Yisroel through a rotation arrangement.

{Matzav.com}

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump welcomed a delegation of rabbonim to the White House on Thursday for a historic pre-Rosh Hashanah gathering that brought some prominent figures in the American Torah world into the Oval Office.

The gathering, which had been organized over the course of several months, was described by those involved as an opportunity for the president and senior administration officials to meet directly with representatives of major Chassidishe and yeshiva communities, exchange New Year greetings, and hear concerns affecting the Orthodox Jewish community. Reports ahead of the meeting described an Oval Office gathering of this particular composition as exceedingly rare.

The delegation represented a small cross-section of the frum community. Participants included Rav Malkiel Kotler, the only Litvishe Rosh Yeshiva invited; the Satmar Rebbe, Rav Zalman Leib Teitelbaum of Williamsburg; his brother, the Satmar Rebbe, Rav Aharon Teitelbaum of Kiryas Yoel; the Bobover Rebbe; the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey; and Rav Aharon Mendel Twersky, son of the Skverer Rebbe, who attended on his father’s behalf. The Skverer Rebbe had initially been invited personally but ultimately did not make the trip.

In the Oval Office seating arrangement, Rav Malkiel was seated first, followed by the Satmar Rebbe Rav Zalman Leib and then his brother, the Satmar Rebbe Rav Aharon.

One of the most unique moments of the day occurred when the two Satmar Rebbes arrived. The brothers, who lead the two branches of Satmar and have been estranged for decades, greeted one another warmly and exchanged brachos. Rav Aharon also wished Rav Zalman Leib mazel tov on the engagement of a grandchild that had been finalized the previous night.

President Trump, apparently intrigued by the resemblance between the brothers, asked, “Are you twins?” They explained that they are brothers.

The gathering had been spearheaded by White House Jewish liaison Martin Marks, who personally contacted the rabbinic leaders and spent months working on the arrangements. The stated purpose was to provide an opportunity ahead of Rosh Hashanah to convey appreciation for the administration’s support of Orthodox Jewish institutions and to allow Trump to extend New Year greetings to major segments of the frum community.

Before meeting with Trump, members of the delegation gathered with senior administration officials. Marks opened the session, followed by remarks from White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf. Earlier reports had indicated that the delegation would first meet administration officials in the Roosevelt Room before proceeding to the Oval Office.

During the discussion, several communal representatives raised issues of particular concern to the frum community. Yoeli Rosenfeld of Bobov, Reb Gedalya Segedin of Satmar, New Square Mayor Yisroel Moshe Spitzer and others participated in presenting those concerns.

Among the matters receiving significant attention was the situation of Jewish inmates in federal and state correctional facilities around the country. The participants discussed religious and other difficulties confronting frum prisoners and efforts to ensure that their needs and rights are properly accommodated.

The independence of yeshivos and mosdos in New York was another significant concern surrounding the gathering. In recent years, the state’s attempts to impose educational requirements on private religious schools have generated a sustained battle over the ability of yeshivos to maintain their traditional derech halimud and educational structure without government interference. Reports ahead of Thursday’s meeting indicated that protecting the autonomy of Chareidi education was expected to be among the issues raised with the administration.

The inclusion of Satmar in the delegation had generated criticism in some strongly pro-Israel circles before Thursday’s meeting because of Satmar’s longstanding anti-Zionist ideology. Some Trump supporters publicly objected to giving the Satmar leadership access to the president.

Vice President JD Vance joined the gathering midway through the proceedings and personally greeted those seated around the table. Vance spoke warmly about the Orthodox community’s emphasis on family and education, saying that both subjects were particularly close to him.

The vice president also displayed curiosity about some of the differences in Chassidishe dress. At one point, Vance asked why the Rebbes were wearing different-colored bekitches. Mr. Yossi Gestetner jokingly responded that “it depends on their bank account balance,” drawing laughter from those gathered in the room.

Rep. Mike Lawler of New York was also present for the historic visit, as was Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. Lawler had been seen arriving at the White House ahead of the delegation, and reports before the meeting said he had been involved in efforts surrounding the gathering.

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey arrived somewhat later than the other participants and consequently was not present for the official White House group photograph.

The day also included a more private encounter between President Trump and Rav Aharon Teitelbaum. The Satmar Rebbe met privately with the president for approximately 10 minutes together with Kushner before the remaining rabbonim were brought into the Oval Office.

During the encounter, Rav Aharon gave President Trump a bracha, which Reb Gedalya Segedin translated into English for the president.

Thursday’s gathering followed a morning of complicated travel arrangements for some of the participants. Several of the Rebbes traveled to Washington aboard private aircraft, with delays affecting some of the flights. Rav Malkiel Kotler arrived at the White House while other members of the delegation were still making their way to Washington. Contemporary reports and photographs documented the arrival of Rav Malkiel and the various Chassidishe delegations at the White House throughout the afternoon.

The Skverer Rebbe, who did not attend personally, sent his son Rav Aharon Mendel Twersky in his place. The Rebbe also entrusted his son with a letter for President Trump expressing appreciation for actions taken by the administration on behalf of the Jewish community, along with a personal New Year brocha.

{Matzav.com}

The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court on Thursday in an urgent effort to revive new restrictions on mail ballots, asking the justices to overturn a federal judge’s order blocking the rules just as states prepare to begin sending ballots for November’s midterm elections.

The emergency appeal was filed Thursday afternoon, one day before North Carolina was scheduled to begin mailing ballots to voters, marking the start of a wave of states launching their mail-voting operations. The Supreme Court filing was the latest development in a rapidly unfolding series of legal battles over President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing new requirements on ballots sent through the U.S. Postal Service.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority previously permitted the administration’s plan to proceed temporarily, although the justices have yet to decide the broader question of whether the restrictions themselves are lawful.

Trump’s executive order would allow the Postal Service to decline to deliver mail ballots from states that fail to comply with standardized envelope requirements and provide lists of eligible mail voters through a federal online portal. As of Thursday, however, questions remained about whether that portal was actually operational.

During a hearing in Boston on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani repeatedly pressed Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik about whether the Postal Service was prepared to carry out the administration’s plan. The online portal is a central component of the system and would potentially be used to track tens of millions of ballots. States would have to upload lists of voters receiving mail ballots, and ballots could be withheld from delivery if information on their envelopes did not correspond with data in the system.

“I don’t even have a declaration from the Postal Service: ‘This is how it will work.’ I don’t have it. I have nothing,” Talwani said, adding later that it felt like the government was running an “experiment” to see if the system would work in the upcoming election.

“As you sit here today, you can’t tell me the government has a program ready to go?” Talwani asked.

Velchik maintained that the Postal Service would “fully implement the rule” it issued last month, while arguing that the central legal question was whether Talwani had the authority to prevent the agency from doing so.

“The $64,000 question is, is this authorized by the statute?” Velchik said.

Talwani was weighing whether to keep in place through Sept. 10 her temporary order preventing the Postal Service from requiring states to use the new system. The timing has become particularly significant because North Carolina was scheduled to begin sending all requested mail ballots Friday, with additional states expected to follow soon afterward.

The dispute was not Talwani’s first encounter with Trump’s mail-voting order. In June, she barred the administration from implementing the executive order for November’s elections, concluding that the federal government was attempting to impose significant changes too close to the start of voting.

Late last month, however, the Supreme Court concluded that Talwani had acted prematurely because the Postal Service had not yet issued regulations detailing how Trump’s directive would be implemented. The agency subsequently published those regulations, leading Democrats and voting-rights organizations to quickly renew their legal challenges.

Opponents of the administration’s policy argue that Trump lacks constitutional authority to impose election requirements of this kind. They contend that responsibility for establishing election procedures belongs primarily to the states, with Congress also possessing authority in certain circumstances.

The challengers initially prevailed when Talwani issued a 14-day restraining order against the new requirements. Administration attorneys appealed that decision to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston before taking the additional step Thursday of asking the Supreme Court to intervene quickly as election deadlines approach.

Trump has long been a critic of widespread voting by mail and has repeatedly challenged the way mail ballots are handled. He has also personally cast ballots using mail voting.

State and local election officials have warned that complying with the new Postal Service requirements at this stage could force them to substantially restructure procedures that are already underway. Before delivering a state’s mail ballots, the Postal Service would have to approve the envelopes being used and require the state to upload information about recipients into the new online system.

Some mail ballots were already in circulation by Thursday. Several Wisconsin municipalities began sending ballots earlier in the week, while North Carolina’s statewide mailing on Friday was expected to represent the first major launch of mail voting ahead of the November election.

The administration has argued that the requirements constitute relatively modest changes that fall within the Postal Service’s existing legal powers.

“While the States have primary authority to regulate the manner of elections, they cannot choose to use the federal mails to carry out their elections but then insist that their election-related mail is somehow exempt from the Postal Service’s rulemaking authority, conferred by Congress, to regulate envelope design and addressee information,” Trump’s solicitor general, John Sauer, wrote in the appeal.

Much of Thursday’s hearing before Talwani centered on whether the plan could actually be implemented in time. The online portal had apparently not yet become operational, while election officials around the country had already printed large quantities of ballots and envelopes.

Velchik told the court that states could voluntarily opt into the new system. The Postal Service, however, had not identified any state that had chosen to do so. Even the 12 states that intervened in the case in support of the administration’s authority to establish the program had not announced plans to voluntarily participate.

Talwani challenged Missouri Solicitor General Lou Capozzi over his state’s support for the administration’s plan.

“You want the voters in your states to be disenfranchised,” Talwani said. “I don’t understand the interest.”

Capozzi rejected that characterization.

“There is no risk that people would be disenfranchised.”

Adding to the controversy, a whistleblower report released this week warned that the Postal Service requirements could result in millions of mail ballots never reaching voters. Under the new rule, batches of ballots would have to be physically delivered to post offices before being mailed. According to the report, if the barcode on even a single ballot produces an error, an entire batch potentially containing tens of thousands of otherwise valid ballots could be rejected.