Egged, Israel’s largest public transportation company, rolled out a new mobile app this week that lets passengers digitally load and validate their travel cards — a major technological step forward for the company.
But shortly after its release, the human rights group B’Tsalmo discovered that the app refers to areas in Judea and Samaria as the “West Bank,” sparking outrage from the organization’s leadership.
Following the discovery, B’Tsalmo CEO Shai Glick sent a formal letter to Egged on Monday morning, demanding that the company immediately amend the terminology.
While expressing appreciation for Egged’s modernization efforts, Glick stressed that “the use of the term ‘West Bank’ instead of ‘Judea and Samaria’ is a fundamental error, both historically and in terms of public sentiment.” He went on to say that many Israelis regard towns such as Shiloh, Beit El, and Hebron as an inseparable part of the nation’s ancient and modern identity.
In his letter, Glick pointed out that “Judea and Samaria” is the term officially recognized in Israeli law and increasingly used in international discussions, including by U.S. officials. He also referenced a directive issued by incoming Shin Bet chief David Zini, who instructed his agency to use “Judea and Samaria” as the standard term.
Glick further emphasized that Egged has long operated in these regions and has supported their residents even during difficult times — sometimes at great cost, noting the deadly terror attack that targeted one of its buses in the city of Emanuel.
Egged has not issued a response to the complaint.
HopOn, the company that developed the app, explained: “The maps in the app are based on Google Maps services and are not created or maintained by us. The region names appear as defined in global systems. Our goal is to provide users with accurate and up-to-date for navigation and location purposes only.”
{Matzav.com}
President Donald Trump slammed China’s “unfair trade practices” during a White House briefing, accusing Beijing of exploiting past U.S. administrations and warning of a 100% tariff hike if no deal is reached by November 1.
Trump vowed to protect American industries and farmers, declaring, “We’ll thrive together — or not at all.”
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Rudy Giuliani, the onetime New York City mayor, threw his full support behind Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the city’s mayoral race, delivering a fiery endorsement that simultaneously blasted both front-runner Zohran Mamdani and independent contender Andrew Cuomo.
“Here’s my choice: 100% Curtis Sliwa,” Giuliani, 81, announced during his America’s Mayor Live podcast, where Sliwa appeared as a guest.
The program, which also streams on Newsmax2, gave Giuliani a platform to rally conservatives and law-and-order voters while taking aim at his political adversaries.
Giuliani’s endorsement comes as a potential game-changer in a tightly contested race. The nod is expected to pull right-leaning and centrist voters away from Cuomo, who has been attempting to appeal to those blocs after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, the Democratic Socialists of America assemblyman from Queens.
With Election Day set for November 4, the endorsement injected fresh energy into Sliwa’s campaign. Giuliani, who governed New York from 1994 to 2001 and later served as President Donald Trump’s attorney, described Sliwa as a “fighter for law and order” while skewering Cuomo as a leader who had failed his constituents.
“Cuomo ran a terrible campaign. He lost to a 33-year-old socialist, and let’s not forget — this is a governor who resigned in disgrace,” Giuliani said, referencing Cuomo’s 2021 resignation following harassment accusations, which Cuomo has denied.
Giuliani also reignited outrage over Cuomo’s COVID-era nursing home directive from March 2020 that required facilities to admit COVID-positive patients.
“That policy led to the deaths of many, many elderly people who were put in nursing homes and didn’t belong there,” Giuliani charged. “He’s tried to blame others, but blame it on him.”
He further criticized Cuomo for approving criminal justice reforms that he said endangered public safety.
“The guy who passed these laws is Andrew Cuomo,” Giuliani said. “He’s made this city and state less safe.”
Giuliani then turned his attention to Mamdani, unleashing his most heated rhetoric of the night. He called the Queens assemblyman an “avowed communist” and claimed that Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America “stand for everything evil.”
He accused Mamdani of showing sympathy toward “Islamic extremism” and harboring “hatred for America.”
Giuliani said Mamdani’s repeated denunciations of the NYPD as “racist” crossed a line.
“You better get on your knees and apologize for calling them racists! You bum,” Giuliani fumed. “He doesn’t belong in America — even if he’s a citizen.”
Despite urging from some Republican strategists to rally behind Cuomo as the only candidate who could stop Mamdani, Giuliani said he refused to compromise his beliefs.
“I’ve been told, ‘Support Cuomo, he’s the only one who can beat Mamdani.’ But I’m not going to betray my principles,” he said.
The endorsement gives Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder and longtime Republican activist, a much-needed boost in a city where GOP candidates face steep odds. Giuliani’s enduring influence among older and conservative voters could lend critical momentum to Sliwa’s campaign and complicate Cuomo’s attempt to court the same demographic.
Sliwa celebrated the endorsement with gratitude and admiration, calling Giuliani “New York’s greatest mayor” and promising to emulate his approach.
“Rudy built this city back from chaos,” Sliwa said. “I’m honored to have his support and to continue his mission of law, order, and common sense.”
The development further highlights the bitter divides defining this year’s race. While President Trump has not endorsed Sliwa — reportedly dismissing him as “not exactly prime time” — Giuliani’s stamp of approval gives Sliwa a powerful ally with deep roots in New York’s political landscape.
“I know this city,” Giuliani said. “Curtis Sliwa is the only candidate who will protect New Yorkers, restore safety, and bring pride back to City Hall.”
{Matzav.com}
U.S. Peace Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law, recounted an unexpected moment of connection with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya during an interview that aired Sunday night on CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”
Witkoff described how, while meeting in Egypt as part of the ongoing peace efforts, he and the Hamas figure found themselves sharing a deeply personal exchange about loss. Witkoff’s son had tragically died at 22 from an opioid overdose, while al-Hayya’s son was killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted him in Doha, Qatar.
“We expressed our condolences to him for the loss of his son. He mentioned it. And I told him that I had lost a son, and that we were both members of a really bad club, parents who have buried children,” said Witkoff.
Kushner, reflecting on that encounter, said it offered a rare glimpse of humanity in a setting otherwise defined by hostility and grief. “What I saw at that moment was very interesting. You had– we go into a room and you have the Qataris, the Turks, and the Egyptians. And then we meet the four representatives of Hamas, which is a terrorist organization. And I’m looking at these guys and I’m thinking these are hardened guys who have been through two years of war. They’ve obviously, you know — they — they green-lit an assault that raped and murdered and did some of the most barbaric things. They’ve been holding hostages while Gaza’s been, you know, bombed. And they’ve withstood all the suffering.”
“But when Steve and him spoke about their sons, it turned from a negotiation with a terrorist group to seeing two human beings kind of showing a vulnerability with each other,” Kushner added.
The conversation, though brief, underscored the rare moments of empathy that can emerge even in the midst of relentless conflict and pain.
{Matzav.com}
President Donald Trump engaged in an awkward exchange with an Australian ambassador at the White House during a meeting with the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
After a reporter asked Trump about previous comments that the ambassador had made, Trump asked if he was still working for Albanese. The Australian Prime Minister then pointed out that the ambassador was sitting at the table in the room, before Trump spoke directly to him.
“I don’t like you, either. I don’t, and I probably never will,” the president said.
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President Donald Trump issued a stern warning Monday to Hamas, saying the group must “be good” or face total destruction, as his administration works to preserve the fragile ceasefire he brokered between Israel and the terrorist organization.
“They’re violent people. Hamas has been very violent, but they don’t have the backing of Iran anymore,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“They don’t have the backing of really anybody anymore. They have to be good, and if they’re not good, they’ll be eradicated.”
Trump’s comments came as his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and senior advisor Jared Kushner continued high-level talks in Israel with regional leaders aimed at keeping the president’s 20-point peace framework intact.
Witkoff and Kushner met Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, whose government halted movement into the region the previous day after two Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza.
Following the deadly attack, Israel’s military carried out airstrikes in response, with Hamas claiming 26 people were killed.
Trump’s envoys are racing to maintain stability following the unexpected diplomatic breakthrough orchestrated by Witkoff and Kushner earlier this month, which ended weeks of bloodshed.
Vice President JD Vance is set to arrive in Israel on Tuesday to reinforce the administration’s message and bolster the momentum behind Trump’s peace initiative.
Just one week ago, Hamas released the final 20 living Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire deal, prompting Trump to visit both Israel and Egypt to mark what he called a “historic achievement.”
Since then, Washington has sought to hold the peace together—Trump through his blunt warnings to Hamas, and his envoys through quiet diplomacy and efforts to resolve accusations of ceasefire breaches.
As tensions rose over Hamas’s delay in returning the bodies of fallen hostages, U.S. officials announced a plan for Turkish disaster recovery teams to work alongside Israeli intelligence to help locate and recover remains. Speaking at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Witkoff said he was “confident” that every body would eventually be recovered.
Witkoff and Kushner have continued to portray the peace agreement as a monumental win for Israel, arguing it could dramatically expand on the Abraham Accords—Trump’s earlier diplomatic success that brought four Arab nations into normalization with the Jewish state.
Still, major questions remain unresolved, including when and how Hamas will disarm, and which entity will assume authority under a proposed interim Palestinian government.
According to U.S. officials, several nations—among them Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, and Indonesia—have volunteered troops for a potential stabilization force, with others such as Azerbaijan signaling interest in joining.
Trump has said that energy-rich Arab states are prepared to fund the reconstruction of Gaza, describing them as eager partners in rebuilding the coastal enclave of two million people.
{Matzav.com}
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed an invitation from President Donald Trump to reopen nuclear talks, flatly denying the claim that Washington has eliminated Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
In recent months, Tehran and Washington held five indirect negotiation rounds, which ultimately collapsed following a 12-day aerial offensive in June when Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear installations.
“Trump says he is a dealmaker, but if a deal is accompanied by coercion and its outcome is predetermined, it is not a deal but rather an imposition and bullying,” Khamenei declared through Iranian state outlets.
Trump had told the Knesset last week that the United States would welcome the chance to broker a “peace deal” with Tehran now that a truce between Israel and Hamas had taken hold in Gaza.
“The U.S. president proudly says they bombed and destroyed Iran’s nuclear industry. Very well, keep dreaming!” Khamenei scoffed, rejecting Washington’s claims.
He went on to question America’s involvement altogether, saying, “What does it have to do with America whether Iran has nuclear facilities or not? These interventions are inappropriate, wrong and coercive.”
Western nations continue to accuse Tehran of secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons program through uranium enrichment, while Iranian officials maintain the initiative is entirely for civilian power generation and not for building bombs.
{Matzav.com}
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana pushed back hard against what he described as a coordinated media effort to portray the recent “No Kings” demonstrations as peaceful gatherings. He accused the movement’s organizers and participants — including groups identifying as “anti-fascists” — of promoting violent rhetoric under the guise of political protest.
Johnson displayed posters featuring signs carried by demonstrators referencing former FBI Director Jim Comey’s “86 47” phrase. The term “86” — restaurant slang for “to eliminate” — has been widely interpreted as a veiled threat toward President Donald Trump, the nation’s 47th president.
At his daily shutdown press briefing, Johnson denounced what he called a dangerous escalation of language that could easily turn into action. “They’re not just protesting — what they’re doing is different – they’re trying to incite violence,” he warned, adding that federal officials are tracking potential threats linked to the rallies. “You don’t mock a president that has already had two failed assassination attempts on his life. This is not a game.”
While some argue the slogans were meant only as political criticism of Trump, Johnson’s remarks reflected a growing Republican alarm about the increasingly hostile tone of anti-Trump demonstrations — especially as the government shutdown drags on and election tensions rise. “When they go the next step and call for violence on political officials in an environment that’s already heightened threat environment, it’s dangerous stuff,” Johnson said.
He sarcastically acknowledged that the protests did not devolve into destruction, saying, “They had a right to do it. Congratulations, they didn’t burn any buildings down. That’s a big achievement for the left to have some kind of gathering where they don’t have some kind of looting, and riots, and burning a building down. But you need to look past that and look at what they’re actually advocating for openly.”
Johnson also indicated he would recall the House into session if the Senate approved a bill to restore pay for federal employees, possibly setting up a Tuesday vote.
When asked about President Trump’s Truth Social post featuring a meme that depicted protesters being airdropped with excrement, Johnson defended it as symbolic commentary rather than incitement. “He is using satire to make a point,” the Speaker explained. “He is not calling for the murder of his political opponents, and that’s what these people are doing. It’s unconscionable.”
{Matzav.com}
