On Monday evening, National Unity party chief Benny Gantz, made a quick stop at RSVP Steakhouse in Monsey, where he met with local philanthropists. During the informal gathering, Gantz spoke about the importance of strengthening U.S.-Israel relations and the ongoing fight against global antisemitism. Gantz, who currently heads the National Unity party and previously served as IDF Chief of Staff as well as a Defense Minister, emphasized the critical alliance between the United States and Israel—particularly in matters of security, diplomacy, and combating hate. He thanked the local Jewish community for their continued support of Israel and acknowledged the unique role diaspora communities play in maintaining strong bilateral ties. Following the dinner, Gantz traveled to New Square, where he held a private meeting with the Skvere Rebbe at his home. Gantz also had a chance encounter with world-renowned Jewish singer Yaakov Shwekey, who was dining at the restaurant. CLICK HERE SIGN UP TO THE MONSEY SCOOP WHATSAPP STATUS TO BE INFORMED OF MONSEY NEWS IN LIVE TIME (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
President Trump: “The design for the Golden Dome will integrate without existing defense capabilities and it should be fully operational by the end of my term.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Tuesday slammed the joint statement by the UK, Canada and France on Monday threatening to implement sanctions on Israel if it doesn’t stop its war in Gaza. Speaking at the 17th Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress in Jerusalem,” Sa’ar said: “The declaration from yesterday is totally connected to Macron’s initiative for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in June.” Sa’ar accused Macron of using the current reality to push for his agenda of the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state and added that, in any case, Macron already implemented sanctions on Israel when he banned Israel from participating in an arms exhibition in Paris. Sa’ar continued by saying: “What I want to tell every country, mainly those who had a colonial past. This is a proud nation, an independent nation, fighting on its existence, and we will not get any dictates from outside with regard to our national security. This should be very understood.” What Sa’ar did not mention is the fact that Amnesty International revealed last year that at the same time that Macron called for an arms embargo on Israel due to “harm to innocent people” in Gaza, France was supplying weapon systems to rebels in Sudan who have committed unspeakable war crimes and massacres amid a civil war in the African country. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
The U.S. Senate will move this week to block California from enforcing a series of vehicle emissions standards that are tougher than the federal government’s, including first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the Senate will begin to consider three House-passed resolutions that would roll back the standards. Final votes could come as soon as this week. His announcement came despite significant pushback from Democrats, questions from some Republicans and the advice of the Senate Parliamentarian, who has sided with the U.S. Government Accountability Office in saying California’s policies are not subject to the review mechanism used by the House. The resolutions would block California’s rules to phase out the gas-powered cars, along with standards to cut tailpipe emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and curb smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. Like the House, Senate Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act, a law aimed at improving congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies, to try to block the rules. The Trump administration in 2019 revoked California’s ability to enforce its own emissions standards, but Biden later restored the state’s authority. Republicans have argued that the rules effectively dictate standards for the whole country, imposing what would eventually be a nationwide electric vehicle mandate. Around a dozen states have already followed California’s lead. Thune called it an “improper expansion” of the federal Clean Air Act that would “endanger consumers, our economy and our nation’s energy supply.” California for decades has been given the authority to adopt vehicle emissions standards that are stricter than the federal government’s. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, announced plans in 2020 to ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles within 15 years as part of an aggressive effort to lower emissions from the transportation sector. Plug-in hybrids and used gas cars could still be sold. The Biden administration approved the state’s waiver to implement the standards in December, a month before President Donald Trump returned to office. The California rules are stricter than a Biden-era rule that tightens emissions standards but does not require sales of electric vehicles. Biden’s EPA said in announcing the decision that opponents of the California waivers did not meet their legal burden to show how either the EV rule or a separate measure on heavy-duty vehicles was inconsistent with the Clean Air Act. Newsom has evoked Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, who signed landmark environmental laws, as he has fought congressional Republicans and the Trump administration on the issue. “The United States Senate has a choice: cede American car-industry dominance to China and clog the lungs of our children, or follow decades of precedent and uphold the clean air policies that Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon fought so hard for,” he said in a statement after Thune’s announcement. Senate Democrats have strongly pushed back on the GOP effort. California Sen. Alex Padilla said Tuesday that he will place holds on four pending EPA nominations over the “reckless attempts” to roll back the rules. Democrats charge that the Trump administration skirted the law and submitted California’s waivers to Congress in a way that would allow majority Republicans to try and block them. “If this attempt is successful, the consequences will be far-reaching, not only for our […]
Itzik Pass, the father of the baby Shalhevet Pass, H’yd, who was murdered by an Arab in Chevron 23 years ago when she was only 10 months old, responded to Yair Golan’s outrageous lies earlier in the day by posting two photos and one sentence. He attached a picture of Shalhevet, z’l, along with a picture of himself holding her body before the levaya. He wrote: “The identifier of processes and hobbies is invited to me for a short historical lesson on the truth behind killing babies as a hobby.” During the Second Intifada, a Palestinian sniper murdered Shalhevet, H’yd while she was lying in her stroller near her home in Chevron. An investigation showed that the sniper deliberately aimed for the baby. Shalhevet’s mother grabbed her after the gunfire, only to discover that she was already dead. Minutes later, the sniper fired again, seriously wounding Itzik, who had been pushing the stroller. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
As part of the Trump administration’s push to carry out mass deportations, the agency responsible for immigration enforcement has aggressively revived and expanded a decades-old program that delegates immigration enforcement powers to state and local law enforcement agencies. Under the 287(g) program led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, police officers can interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, ICE has rapidly expanded the number of signed agreements it has with law enforcement agencies across the country. The reason is clear. Those agreements vastly beef up the number of immigration enforcement staff available to ICE, which has about 6,000 deportation officers, as they aim to meet Trump’s goal of deporting as many of the roughly 11 million people in the country illegally as they can. Here’s a look at what these agreements are and what critics say about them: What is a 287(g) agreement and what’s the benefit to ICE? These agreements are signed between a law enforcement agency and ICE and allow the law enforcement agency to perform certain types of immigration enforcement actions. There are three different types of agreements. —Under the “jail services model,” law enforcement officers can screen people detained in jails for immigration violations. —The “warrant service officer” model authorizes state and local law enforcement officers to comply with ICE warrants or requests on immigrants while they are at their agency’s jails. —The “task force model” gives local officers the ability to investigate someone’s immigration status during their routine police duties. These agreements were authorized by a 1996 law, but it wasn’t until 2002 that the federal government actually signed one of these agreements with a local agency. The first agreement was with Florida’s Department of Law Enforcement. “The benefit to ICE is that it expands the ability to enforce immigration law across multiple jurisdictions,” said John Torres, who served as acting director of ICE from 2008 to 2009. Earlier in his career, he said, he was assigned to the Los Angeles jail and would interview any foreign citizen who came through the jail to see if they were in the country illegally. But if a jail has a 287(g) agreement with ICE it frees up those agents at the jail to do something else. What’s going on with these agreements under the Trump administration? The number of signed agreements has ballooned under Trump in a matter of months. In December of last year, ICE had 135 agreements with law enforcement agencies across 21 states. By May 19, ICE had signed 588 agreements with local and state agencies across 40 states, with an additional 83 agencies pending approval. Roughly half of the pacts are in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis recently announced the arrest of more than 1,100 immigrants in an orchestrated sweep between local and federal officials. Texas, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has also allied himself with Trump on immigration, comes in second. Other states topping the list are Georgia and North Carolina. A majority of the agreements are with sheriff’s departments, a reflection of the fact that they are largely responsible for running jails in America. But other agencies have also signed the agreements including the Florida and Texas National Guard, the Florida Department of Lottery Services and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The expansion of agreements “has […]
A Hawaiian Airlines flight bound for Honolulu from San Diego International Airport was redirected off the tarmac this morning due to a reported bomb threat linked to the flight.
DRAMATIC FOOTAGE: Yoav unit officers in Israel’s Southern District apprehended an arms dealer following a high-speed motorcycle chase. An officer shot at the suspect’s tires while riding, halting the pursuit.
Special Envoy to Russia & Ukraine Keith Kellogg on the Golden Dome: “This is what he said he was going to do on the campaign trail. We’re going to protect the American people and that is what he’s doing… American technology can get there.”
A flood of donations from anti-Israel campus agitators and radical protesters — including individuals arrested during violent demonstrations — has helped bankroll the surging mayoral campaign of Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, according to a New York Post exclusive that first revealed the controversial donor base. The Post uncovered that Mamdani has received more than $48,000 from 676 donors affiliated with CUNY, NYU, and Columbia University, including professors and employees, many of whom have been involved in pro-Hamas or anti-Israel activism. Another 1,351 contributions from college students totaling $46,200 were also documented — all eligible for New York City’s generous eight-to-one public matching funds program. The revelations have triggered a wave of backlash, particularly from Jewish community leaders and alumni of the schools involved, who say Mamdani’s support from individuals linked to antisemitic rhetoric and disruptive campus occupations should alarm New Yorkers. “These are not just random students,” said Dr. Yael Halaas, a Columbia graduate and founder of the American Jewish Medical Association. “These are people who have been front and center in protests filled with Jew-hatred, and now they’re helping fund a campaign for the highest office in our city. Voters should take notice.” The Post named several high-profile individuals among Mamdani’s donors: — Johanna King Slutsky, a Columbia doctoral student and teaching assistant branded “Keffiyeh Karen” by the Post, became infamous for demanding water and aid for protesters who violently seized an academic building. She gave $25 to Mamdani’s campaign in January. — Eva-Quenby Johnson, a Barnard College employee who was among 80 masked protesters arrested for storming Columbia’s library in early May, donated $25 in March. Johnson, who calls herself a “paranormalist,” has reportedly been fired following her arrest. — Gabrielle Wimer, a Columbia medical student, was suspended and arrested after joining an aggressive protest at Barnard College in March. She donated $25 to Mamdani in January. — Naomi Schiller, an associate professor at Brooklyn College (CUNY), was arrested during a recent protest that erupted in violence and gave five separate donations totaling $128. She was also arrested last fall during a union demonstration that blocked a CUNY Board of Trustees meeting. — Jennifer Koonings, a nurse practitioner from Astoria who recently heckled Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a town hall over Gaza, contributed $50 last December. Koonings has openly referred to Israel as “the Zionist colony” and took part in last year’s Gaza Freedom Flotilla. The Post investigation underscores how deeply Mamdani’s campaign is intertwined with far-left, pro-Palestinian circles, many of which have faced growing scrutiny for veering into antisemitic territory during recent nationwide protests. Though Mamdani has not commented on the donor revelations, the financial support from controversial activists has helped push his campaign toward the city’s fundraising ceiling — with millions in public funds supplementing the grassroots contributions. Critics say the donations raise serious questions about the ideological forces backing Mamdani’s bid for City Hall. “This goes beyond politics,” Halaas said. “It’s a moral issue. The people funding Mamdani have cheered on hate, disrupted learning, and even endangered students. We can’t be silent while this becomes the new normal in our city.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
President Donald Trump has appointed Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America, to the White House Religious Liberty Commission’s new Religious Leaders Advisory Board. The appointment follows an executive order signed by the president earlier this month establishing the Religious Liberty Commission, aimed at promoting and protecting religious freedom across the United States. The commission will be supported by three advisory boards made up of religious leaders, legal scholars, and lay experts. Three other Orthodox Jews were also appointed along with Rabbi Zwiebel: Mark Gottlieb, chief education officer of the Tikvah Fund; Rabbi Yaakov Menken, executive vice president of the Coalition for Jewish Values, the largest rabbinic public policy organization in the US; and Eitan Webb, co-founder of the Chabad House of Princeton in 2002 and a chaplain at the university. Rabbi Zwiebel’s appointment places him among a select group of 11 religious leaders from across the country who will advise the administration on issues related to religious liberty, public policy, and faith-based rights. As a longtime leader of Agudath Israel, Rabbi Zwiebel brings decades of experience advocating for religious communities on issues ranging from education and civil liberties to religious accommodations in the workplace and public life. Before joining Agudath Israel in a professional capacity, Rabbi Zwiebel worked for 30 years at a private law firm. The advisory board’s formation comes at a time of renewed national focus on religious expression, with President Trump stating in his executive order that Americans must be “reacquainted with our nation’s superb experiment in religious freedom in order to preserve it against emerging threats.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
In Beverly Hills, CA, a woman wearing a hijab was detained and questioned by police after being seen making Nazi salutes alongside a truck displaying anti-Israel language, with the truck’s driver also detained for questioning.
Rubio tears into Democrat over white South African farmers in heated exchange: KAINE: “Can you have a different standard based upon the color of somebody’s skin?” RUBIO: “I’m not the one arguing that. Apparently, you are because you don’t like the fact that they’re white”
A 19-year-old hiker, overcome by heatstroke and fading in and out of consciousness, was evacuated by helicopter from the Amud River by the IDF’s elite 669 rescue unit.
Annual COVID-19 shots for healthy younger adults and children will no longer be routinely approved under a major new policy shift unveiled Tuesday by the Trump administration. Top officials for the Food and Drug Administration laid out new requirements for yearly updates to COVID shots, saying they’d continue to use a streamlined approach that would make vaccines available to adults 65 and older as well as children and younger adults with at least one health problem that puts them at higher risk. But the FDA framework urges companies conduct large, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthier people. In a framework published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, agency officials said the approach still could keep annual vaccinations available for between 100 million and 200 million adults. The upcoming changes raise questions about people who may still want a fall COVID-19 shot but don’t clearly fall into one of the categories. “Is the pharmacist going to determine if you’re in a high-risk group?” asked Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “The only thing that can come of this will make vaccines less insurable and less available.” The framework, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the culmination of a series of recent steps scrutinizing the use of COVID shots and raising major questions about the broader availability of vaccines under President Donald Trump. For years, federal health officials have told most Americans to expect annual updates to COVID-19 vaccines, similar to the annual flu shot. Just like with flu vaccines, until now the FDA has approved updated COVID shots when manufacturers provide evidence that they spark just as much immune protection as the previous year’s version. But FDA’s new guidance appears to be the end of that approach under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, who has filled the FDA and other health agencies with outspoken critics of the government’s handling of COVID shots, particularly their recommendation for young, healthy adults and children. Tuesday’s update, written by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and FDA vaccine chief Vinay Prasad, criticized the U.S.’s “one-size-fits-all” approach and states that the U.S. has been “the most aggressive” in recommending COVID boosters, when compared with European countries. “We simply don’t know whether a healthy 52-year-old woman with a normal BMI who has had Covid-19 three times and has received six previous doses of a Covid-19 vaccine will benefit from the seventh dose,” they wrote. Outside experts say there are legitimate questions about how much everyone still benefits from yearly COVID vaccination or whether they should be recommended for people at increased risk. An influential panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to debate that question next month. The FDA framework announced Tuesday appears to usurp that advisory panel’s job, Offit said. He added that CDC studies have made clear that booster doses do offer protection against mild to moderate illness for four to six months after the shot even in healthy people. (AP)
Home Depot doesn’t expect to raise prices because of tariffs, saying it has spent years diversifying the sources for the goods on its shelves. Billy Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising, said during a conference call on Tuesday that Home Depot’s suppliers have shifted sourcing across several countries and that the company doesn’t expect any single country outside of the U.S. will represent more than 10% of its purchases 12 months from now. “We don’t see broad based price increases for our customers at all going forward,” he said. Other companies, domestic and foreign, have warned customers that price hikes are on the way due to a trade war kicked off by the U.S. Walmart said last week that it has already raised prices and will have to do so again in the near future. Late Monday, Subaru of America said it would raise prices on some of its most popular models by as much as $2,000. President Donald Trump lambasted Walmart, saying on social media over the weekend that the retail giant should “eat” the additional costs created by his tariffs. As Trump has jacked up import taxes, he has tried to assure a skeptical public that foreign producers would pay for those taxes and that retailers and automakers would absorb the additional expenses. Most economists are deeply skeptical of those claims and have warned that the trade penalties would worsen inflation. During the first quarter, Home Depot’s revenue climbed as customers spent slightly more on smaller home projects. A number of U.S. companies have lowered or pulled financial guidance for investors as tariffs launched by the the Trump administration scramble world trade but on Tuesday, Home Depot stuck by earlier projections of sales growth at around 2.8%. Shares of the Atlanta company dipped slightly on Tuesday. Revenue rose to $39.86 billion from $36.42 billion a year earlier, beating the $39.3 billion that analysts polled by FactSet expected. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer’s health, edged down 0.3%. In the U.S., comparable store sales climbed 0.2%. Wall Street anticipated a 0.1% decline in same-store sales. Customer transactions rose 2.1% in the quarter. The amount shoppers spent climbed to $90.71 per average ticket from $90.68 in the prior-year period. “Our first quarter results were in line with our expectations as we saw continued customer engagement across smaller projects and in our spring events,” Home Depot Chair and CEO Ted Decker said in a statement. Home improvement retailers like Home Depot have been dealing with homeowners putting off bigger projects because of increased borrowing costs and lingering concerns about inflation. The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied homes have dropped as elevated mortgage rates and rising prices discouraged home shoppers. Existing home sales fell 5.9% in March from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million units, the National Association of Realtors said. The March sales decline was the largest monthly drop since November 2022, and marks the slowest sales pace for the month of March going back to 2009. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. “One of the central […]
