Matzav

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

The first posuk in this week’s parsha states that Hashem appeared to Moshe and reminded him of how He had revealed Himself to the avos and promised them Eretz Yisroel (6:2). He told Moshe that just as He remembers His bris with the avos, so does He hear the cries of the Bnei Yisroel and will act to redeem them. Hashem instructed Moshe to tell the Jewish people that their suffering would soon end, and that He Himself would free them from the shackles of Mitzrayim.

Rashi explains that this was in direct response to Moshe’s question at the end of last week’s parsha (5:22), when he asked, “Lomahharei’osahla’amhazeh— Why have You made things worse for Your people, and why have You sent me to speak to Paroh?” Hashem’s reply reassured Moshe that His promises are unfailing, and that Moshe’s mission was part of the Divine plan to fulfill the covenant He had made with the avos.

Moshe’s mission was never random or accidental. Every step of his journey — from his hidden birth to his upbringing in Paroh’s palace, from his golus in Midyan to the moment he encountered the burning bush — was part of Hashem’s plan. Each challenge, each hardship, was preparing him to lead the Jewish people out of bondage and into freedom. As we learn the parsha, we understand that the miracles of Moshe’s life were not just extraordinary events. They were signs of the Hand of Hashgocha, guiding him, shaping him, and preparing him to fulfill the promise made to the avos.

There are times in history when the world seems poised against us, when despair feels heavier than hope, and the night stretches endlessly before the dawn. In those periods we must remember that even when life is darkest, the flame of Hashem’s Hashgocha is never extinguished. From the very first cries of our people to the promise of redemption, the story of Klal Yisroel is one of survival, resilience, and faith.

In every generation, we have faced threats that seemed insurmountable. Empires sought our destruction. Tyrants demanded our silence. Even when our backs were against the wall, our spirits flickered, small, fragile, but alive. That flicker is what Hashem sees, what He nurtures, and what He calls upon us to protect and strengthen.

And so it was at the very beginning of the story of Moshe Rabbeinu. An infant, born in the shadow of death, placed in the Nile to float between life and death, became the instrument through which Hashem would reveal to the world that no oppression is final, no darkness is eternal, and no nation, however broken, is beyond hope.

Sometimes, a single act of courage, as small as placing a child in a basket, is enough to change the course of history.

At the time that Paroh decreed that every Jewish baby boy be put to death, Moshe was born quietly, hidden from the eyes of the Mitzriyim. His mother, Yocheved, understood the danger surrounding him. Every footstep, every knock at the door, carried mortal threat. Yet, she also understood that her child was not merely another infant. He was part of Hashem’s plan. With courage and deep emunah, she placed him into a small teivah and set it upon the waters of the Nile. His sister, Miriam, watched from a distance, ready to follow the teivah wherever the currents carried it, ensuring that her brother would survive.

That basket was more than a vessel for a baby. It was a declaration of faith and courage in a world determined to snuff out hope. In the midst of cruelty, Yocheved entrusted her child to Hashem, believing that life could triumph even in the face of imminent death.

Faith – emunah and bitachon– must come before understanding.

Paroh’s daughter found the basket, heard the baby cry, and felt compassion stir in her heart. She rescued him, bringing him into the palace, where he was raised as her own. There, in the very heart of Jewish oppression, the future redeemer of Klal Yisroel grew up.

Moshe was surrounded by wealth and power, yet his soul remained tethered to his people. When he left the palace and witnessed a Mitzri striking a Jew, he intervened, refusing to remain silent. That single act forced him to flee Mitzrayim, leaving the comfort of the palace for the uncertainty of exile. He arrived in Midyan, married the daughter of Yisro, and became a shepherd, tending his father-in-law’s flocks in the vast wilderness.

From the grandeur of palaces to the stillness of desert plains, Moshe’s life seemed to have taken a bewildering turn. Yet, it was in that quiet wilderness that Hashem would reveal Himself, teaching Moshe that even the most ordinary moments can harbor extraordinary purpose.

One day, Moshe noticed a sight that captured his attention: a bush continuously burning with fire, yet not being consumed. The flames danced upon its branches, blackening them, yet the bush remained whole. Moshe did not walk by. He stopped, turned aside, and stared. He recognized that this was not an ordinary fire. Something holy was unfolding.

The Medrash teaches that just as Avrohom Avinu studied the world and concluded that it could not exist without a Creator, Moshe perceived that Hakadosh Boruch Hu was announcing His Presence. The burning bush was a message: Jewish history may be scorched, battered, and surrounded by flames, but it will never be destroyed. Even when circumstances appear hopeless, Hashem’s providence is always present, sustaining life, guiding events, and preparing redemption.

Sometimes, the smallest spark carries infinite meaning.

From that bush, Hashem spoke to Moshe and entrusted him with a mission that would shape the course of history: to return to Mitzrayim and redeem His people.

Moshe, in his humility, asked what he should tell the Jewish people when they inquired who sent him. Hashem replied, “EhkehasherEhkeh– I will be with them.” Not only at that moment, but in every suffering, every exile, and every trial that lay ahead. Hashem was telling Moshe that even when the world seems most hostile, He is present, guiding and sustaining the Jewish people.

Moshe was no longer merely a shepherd. He had become the messenger of redemption, tasked with announcing that hope exists even in the darkest of times.

One might imagine that such news would be received with overwhelming joy. A nation crushed under whips and chains would surely leap at the promise of freedom. Yet, when Moshe delivered Hashem’s message, the Torah recounts something striking: “Velo shomuel Moshe mikotzer ruach umei’avodah kasha – The people did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of spirit and crushing labor.”

They wanted to hear him. But they couldn’t. Their suffering had not only exhausted their bodies. It had crushed their souls. They were too dispirited and fragile to absorb hope. Even when salvation is imminent, the weight of despair can make it impossible to hear.

Sometimes, we must learn patience as well as hope.

This posuk teaches that suffering is not only physical. It can shrink the soul. When people are beaten down for too long, even good news sounds unreal. Even hope can feel unreachable.

This is not only history. It is the story of our time.

We live in a world of waiting. People are glued to their devices, scrolling endlessly, waiting for good news. Just over the past couple of years, we waited for the Gaza war to end. We waited for the hostages to come home. We waited for airlines to resume flights to Eretz Yisroel. We waited for a real president, for economic stability, and for interest rates to drop so we could afford homes. We waited for justice to be restored. Though at times it felt as if we were waiting in vain, our waits were answered.

And still, we wait. We wait for America to become great again. We wait for peaceful brotherhood to be restored to Eretz Yisroel. We wait for an end to the Gaza mess. We wait for a total end to the wicked leaders of Iran and the threat they represent to Israel. We wait for an end to progressive nonsense and a return to common sense. We wait for an end to the recent rash of anti-Semitic hatred.

And of course, above all, we wait for Moshiach.

We know that he will soon come and bring us what Moshe brought to the suffering people in Mitzrayim: the announcement that suffering has an end and redemption is near.

Yet, the danger of our age is not only the bad news we hear too often from within and beyond our community. The danger of our age is exhaustion. People become overwhelmed by fear, uncertainty, political instability, social hostility, and personal struggles. Instead of remaining optimistic and hopeful, too often, people become depleted mikotzer ruach. Their spiritual lungs shrink. They can no longer breathe in hope, and they cannot hear the message of redemption. Their predicament weakens them as they see no way out, no rising sun on the horizon.

Sometimes, strength must be renewed by noticing small sparks of light.

Each headline reminds us that golus is real and that safety is fragile. But even amidst fear, there are sparks of light. Even amidst darkness, Hashem’s presence is manifest.

We know that nothing happens by accident. Wars, upheavals, and economic crises are all chapters in a Divine story. The nevi’im spoke of such times, and we pray that these upheavals are the footsteps of Moshiach.

Yet, waiting is difficult when people are exhausted.

During World War I, Jewish life in Eastern Europe was decimated. Entire towns emptied. Families wandered with nothing. Yeshivos moved from place to place, surviving on crumbs. Young men were drafted into armies they would never return from.

A bochur once approached the Chofetz Chaim, broken and despairing. “Rebbe,” he cried, “ich ken nit oishalten– I can’t go on.” The Chofetz Chaim told him about Adam Harishon. On his first day in this world, when Adam saw the sun set, he thought the world was ending. He cried, believing that his sin had destroyed it all. But the next morning, he awoke and the sun rose. Adam then realized that this is how Hashem made the world. There is night, and then there is day.

The Chofetz Chaim told the boy who thought he could not hold on, that this is the way of the world. There is night, and then there is day. There is darkness, but it is always followed by light. Hold on just a little bit longer, and you will merit seeing the light.

We saw that truth after the Holocaust. Six million Jews were murdered. Communities were wiped out. Yet, from the ashes arose families, yeshivos, and flourishing Torah life. The sun rose again.

Those survivors had ruach, spirit. They believed that darkness was not the end.

The Ohr Hachaim explains that the Jews in Mitzrayim could not hear Moshe because they were not bnei Torah. Slavery had crushed them so completely that they could no longer hope or breathe freely.

We, who have been given the Torah, must not allow ourselves to become overwhelmed mikotzer ruach. When we study Torah, it connects us with Hashem and strengthens us, for we are fulfilling our purpose.

Studying Torah restores our bitachon, which allows us to widen our perspective and appreciate that the light of redemption – personal and communal – will soon shine.

That is the message of the burning bush. A Jew may be scorched, blackened, and battered, but never consumed. Within every neshomah burns a hidden flame, waiting to be ignited.

Ever since the terrible attacks of October 7th and the subsequent anti-Semitic hatred those attacks spawned, we have seen that flame awaken in Jews around the world. People who felt distant from Torah and mitzvos began feeling the pull of identity, destiny, and purpose. Pain shook something loose. Hearts opened. The fire began to burn again.

We must never give up on any Jew. And we must never give up on ourselves.

So many people suffer not only because of their difficulties, but because those difficulties erode their self-confidence. When people begin to doubt themselves, when they feel powerless against life’s trials, even small obstacles can feel insurmountable. To remain trapped in a cycle of sadness and defeatism is to prevent oneself from discovering the inner strength that Hashem has placed within every soul.

Everyone must believe in themselves – in their resilience, in their capacity to endure, and in their ability to rise above the challenges they face. A nisayon, a test or challenge, is not meant to crush us. It is meant to refine us. It calls upon us to confront adversity with courage, to grow through it, and to emerge stronger, wiser, and more faithful than before.

When we see our hardships as temporary, when we embrace them as opportunities for self-improvement and spiritual growth, we reclaim the power to shape our lives. Even the darkest moments contain sparks of potential. But if we allow despair to dominate, those sparks remain hidden and we deny ourselves the chance to overcome, to shine, and to fulfill the purpose Hashem has set before us.

Faith in oneself, combined with faith in Hashem, is what transforms challenge into triumph. It allows a person to move forward when the world feels heavy and unyielding, turning every difficulty into a steppingstone toward strength, courage, and ultimate redemption.

When despair takes hold, it can distort everything we see. We begin to view the world through a shadowed lens, noticing only failure, conflict, and loss. Every piece of news, every personal setback, and every interaction feels magnified into a threat. The economy seems hopeless, relationships appear broken, communities feel fractured, and the world itself can seem hostile and unwelcoming.

But this perspective, as powerful as it feels, is not the full truth. Even when our hearts are heavy and our minds are clouded by pessimism, there is much goodness around us. There are people willing to lend a hand, communities ready to support, and opportunities for renewal waiting to be embraced. Often, all it takes is a shift in focus, and a willingness to open our eyes and hearts, to allow that help and kindness to enter.

Despair isolates, but hope connects. It reminds us that we are not alone. Even in the depths of hardship, we can find allies, encouragement, and light. When we lift our gaze above the shadows of our own suffering, we discover that the world contains far more warmth, generosity, and potential than we could have imagined.

The moment we allow ourselves to see that truth, even a small spark of hope can grow into a flame, guiding us toward action, renewal, and the strength to rise above our challenges. It is in those moments – when faith in ourselves intersects with faith in Hashem, when hope begins to shine despite darkness – that we begin to reclaim our ruach and our capacity to change our circumstances.

Just as Moshe stood before the burning bush, unsure and humble, yet chosen to lead Klal Yisroel out of darkness into freedom, so are we called to rise above our own doubts and despair. Hashem has placed within each of us a spark, a flame of potential, a neshomah capable of strength and resilience even when the world feels overwhelming. If we embrace that spark and nurture it with emunah, bitachon, faith, courage, and action, we can overcome every nisayon, break free from every cycle of sadness, and open ourselves to the light of redemption.

Let us remember that even when the darkness feels endless, the flame of Hashem’s providence is always present. Just as Moshe was sent to bring hope to a people weighed down by suffering, each of us has the capacity to rise, to act, to believe, and to see the good that surrounds us. In doing so, we participate in the eternal story of our people, a story in which despair never has the final word and redemption always awaits.

May we be zoche to experience the ultimate redemption very soon with the coming of Moshiach.

{Matzav.com}

By Jonathan S. Tobin

The silence from the chattering classes, Hollywood elites, and university students and faculty has been deafening. The same people who have been conducting mass demonstrations and virtue-signaling about their devotion to the cause of human rights and their abhorrence of civilian casualties when it came to the war in Gaza have been largely silent about what is happening in Iran.

That isn’t because no one knows exactly what’s going on.

Despite attempts by the Islamist regime to black out the internet and halt the flow of information about events inside the country, the scale of the conflict has grown so large that it has been impossible to cover up. Some 2,500 deaths have been confirmed by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, though reports on mass killings of protesters by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have raised the potential death toll to anywhere from 12,000 to 20,000.

While the liberal mainstream media was slow to pick up the story, it can no longer downplay it. While it has had to compete with its overwraught coverage of the controversy about the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce immigration laws, the Iran protests have been the top story on The New York Times website for multiple days, and have also received extensive coverage in The Washington Post and on NPR. Even leftist human-rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been posting about it.

Apathy about Iranian victims

But the statistics about casualties and images of military forces shooting peaceful protesters in cold blood haven’t moved the audiences of these outlets in the way they normally do about another conflict in the Middle East. In fact, the same audience that turned out in the tens of thousands to protest the war in the Gaza Strip or to broadcast their identification with Palestinians has zero interest in the Iranian struggle for freedom or the many victims of the Islamist regime.

This apathy makes itself felt on a number of different levels.

No mass street protests, demonstrations or tent encampments can be found in U.S. cities or on college campuses dedicated to supporting Iranian protesters. The opinion columnists at major outlets who have been churning out articles falsely accusing Israel of “genocide” while parroting grossly inaccurate Palestinian casualty figures are mum about Iran. At the Golden Globes awards ceremony, actors and others in past years have shown off their support for the Palestinian war against Israel via lapel pins or biting words. At the event held this past weekend, the cause de jour was protests against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). Not a single person—either on stage or in the audience, as can be seen from the media coverage—was standing in solidarity with the people of Iran.

That’s not surprising.

Concern about the way the Islamist theocracy oppresses the people of Iran has never been among its priorities. Or even a subject about which they were even minimally concerned.

The question is why—given everything heard from the crowd about how terrible it is for the innocent to be killed in conflict—they have nothing to say about Tehran? They’re all very vocal about the backing of a “Free Palestine.” Not so much about a free Iran.

It’s true that not as much attention has been paid to the conflict in Iran as there has been for the two-year war in Gaza; however, a good number of Iranians have been fighting against the mullahs since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Another reason may be that the State of Israel is supported by the United States. It’s true that even when Washington was most sympathetic to Iran, and seeking to appease its government during the Barack Obama administration, and to a lesser extent, when Joe Biden was president, America didn’t formally support the government of Iran.

If anything, the fight for freedom there ought to be generating a lot more foreign support than the Palestinian cause. After all, the Palestinians have rejected compromise, peace and a two-state solution to end the Arab-Israeli conflict for nearly a century. And the recent war in Gaza wasn’t an Israeli attempt to stifle democratic protests. It was a morally justified response to a cross-border invasion by Palestinian Arabs on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in an orgy of mass murder, rape, torture, kidnapping and wanton destruction.

The main impetus for those rallies, however, wasn’t focused on ending ties between Washington and Jerusalem, though most of the protesters were surely in favor of that idea. Nor was the motivation for the protests simply a matter of backing a ceasefire in the fighting that followed the Oct. 7 massacre in Jewish communities in southern Israel. The ceasefire reached last October didn’t really dampen the ardor of the anti-Israel crowd. It was also not a matter of genuine sympathy for victims; if that were the case, they wouldn’t have been indifferent to the plight of Israeli hostages and would still be out advocating for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Rather, as the chants of the pro-Hamas mobs made clear, it was their support for the desire of the Palestinians to see Israel eradicated (“From the river to the sea”) and for violence against Jews wherever they lived (“Globalize the intifada”) that lured them to join the cause.

Despite their loud proclamations that the anti-Israel protests were rooted in concern about human rights—something that would surely cause them to speak out about Iran—that just doesn’t pass muster. Nobody who actually cares about human rights can support a cause that aims at the slaughter of an entire people, no matter where they live.

Racialist myths

The reason for this can partly be explained by simple ideology. The indoctrination of a generation in the toxic ideas of critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonialism has led many young people to believe that all conflicts are essentially about race.

As such, they have come to believe that the world is divided into two groups perpetually at war with each other: oppressed “people of color” and their “white” oppressors. In that essentially Marxist formulation, Jews are, despite their history of persecution and the persistence of antisemitism, too Western and too successful to merit sympathy, and so must be defined as “white” oppressors. That makes the Palestinians the oppressed racial minority. They believe this myth, even though Jews and Arabs are the same race, and the majority of Israelis are people of color since they trace their origins to the Middle East and North Africa.

The struggle of Iranians to end the rule of tyrannical Islamist theocrats and their terrorist henchmen is irrelevant to this framework because neither side can be identified as “white.” That makes it irrelevant at best, and at worst, a distraction from more interesting battles like the one against Israeli Jews.

It’s equally true that those influenced by these ideas also can’t identify with any struggle against a government that regards itself in conflict with the West, which the intersectional left considers to be irredeemably racist. As historian Niall Ferguson sagely pointed out in The Free Press, because the Iranian protests are an attempt at a “counterrevolution,” rather than one against a pro-Western government, they are indifferent to it. In this way, the reactionary Iranian regime—which, like Hamas, oppresses women and considers gays to be worthy of the death penalty—gets a free pass.

That’s as illogical as it is absurd since it leads people who would be hanged or thrown off rooftops in Gaza or Tehran to march with “Gays for Palestine” placards. Yet it does make sense to those who consider the West, the United States and Israel to be inherently evil, and their opponents, even when they are Islamist murderers, to be somehow sympathetic.

It’s the same reason why far larger and bloodier conflicts, such as the decade-long Syrian civil war—when hundreds of thousands died, and millions were made homeless—never motivated anyone on the left to take to the streets demanding action to stop the fighting. The same was true for what is a real genocide going on in Sudan right now.

The left and right unite in their antisemitism

Still, there’s more to it than just that stale and intellectually vapid ideological construct. The “horseshoe” effect, in which the far left and the far right unite in their antisemitism, is at play when it comes to Iran as much as it is about Gaza.

Anti-Israel extremists on both the left and right are speaking out against any help for the protest movement in Iran. The likes of journalists Max Blumenthal, Glenn Greenwald and Ali Abunimah say they oppose the protests because the demonstrators’ foreign sympathizers just want a pro-Israel government in Tehran. That misses the point. Of course, many people in the West would prefer a government that wasn’t the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. But apologists ignore the fact that one of the reasons why Iranians want to overthrow their Islamist tyrants is because the regime has squandered its country’s resources in its frenzy to build a nuclear bomb to obliterate the Jewish state. And that’s despite the fact that Israel and Iran have no real reason to be in conflict other than because of the mullahs’ antisemitic obsessions.

As seen in recent months, the obsessive hatred for Israel on the part of a certain segment of right-wing opinion also leads those who take this position to be supportive of anyone who claims to be an anti-Zionist, even if that leads them to back some of the most anti-American regimes and people in the world.

It’s no accident that former Fox News host and current podcaster Tucker Carlson has been adamant about opposing American efforts to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon or efforts on the part of the Trump administration to support anti-regime protesters. The same is true of former Trump staffer turned extremist podcaster Steve Bannon and neo-Nazi “groyper” leader Nick Fuentes.

Though these people claim to be American patriots and believers in an “America First” or “America Only” foreign policy, they oppose efforts by the Trump administration to rein in and stop a regime that has killed Americans and views the United States as the “great Satan,” regardless of its position on Israel.

The only thing that brings them into agreement with the left on Iran is the fact that the Tehran theocrats hate Israel.

There’s no way to look at this issue that doesn’t inevitably lead back to an age-old hatred.

As with other global struggles, antisemites on both ends of the political spectrum are never going to care about a conflict in which neither side is Jewish. As for Iran, its radical oppressors not only support efforts at Jewish genocide but spend enormous sums on terrorist groups and a nuclear program with which that evil objective could be accomplished—money its population never sees.

Under those circumstances, it is to be expected that the same crowd who write, rally and virtue-signal their anguish about Palestinians will be utterly indifferent to the plight of Iranian victims at the hands of Islamists. The explanation isn’t merely ideology or hypocrisy. It can be summed up on one basis: Jew-hatred.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). 

{Matzav.com}

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More than 300 official records documenting presidential pardons and sentence commutations disappeared during the Biden Administration, a lapse that is now prompting renewed questions about how one of the presidency’s most consequential authorities was administered and safeguarded, The Sun reports.

The missing materials vanished while the pardon office was overseen by Elizabeth Oyer, a senior official who later appeared before Congress, authored a New York Times opinion essay, and spoke in an interview on “60 Minutes,” all sharply criticizing the Trump Administration’s handling of clemency — the same process she had previously overseen.

Internal records obtained exclusively by the Sun describe an “internal investigation” that was “conducted into missing clemency documents, namely approximately 301 original, signed, and sealed clemency warrants (‘clemency warrants’) from the last three presidential administrations.” A source within the current administration told the Sun that although duplicate copies exist, the original signed paper warrants have never been located.

Those findings were detailed in a confidential memorandum dated November 2022, sent by Ms. Oyer to a Justice Department official, Jaclyn Paolucci. According to the memo, the probe into the vanished records “included review of pertinent emails, Teams chats, and memoranda, as well as interviews” with Department of Justice staff.

The unaccounted-for warrants precede the most controversial clemency actions of Mr. Biden’s presidency — including grants involving Hunter Biden, General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members of the House January 6 Committee — issued near the end of his term. They also predate his decision to commute the sentences of 37 inmates on federal death row convicted of murder. Republicans, along with President Trump, have closely examined Mr. Biden’s reliance on an autopen to sign those later documents.

In the memorandum, Ms. Oyer explains that “the clemency warrants are the official records of presidential grants of clemency in the form of pardons and commutations. Each is on long parchment paper, bearing an official seal in gold and the original signature of the granting president.” She cites the Constitution’s provision that the president “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States.”

The Sun also obtained a May 2023 termination notice sent to the pardon office’s Records and Information Manager, Malawi Welles, by deputy pardon attorney Kira Gillespie. Ms. Welles was dismissed after investigators concluded she was “the last person known to be in possession of the warrants” before they disappeared.

Ms. Oyer, who assumed the role of Pardon Attorney in April 2022 — a position not subject to Senate confirmation — was herself dismissed by the Trump Administration in May 2025. She has said the firing came after she declined to recommend restoring Mel Gibson’s gun rights. Since then, she has become an outspoken critic of the 47th president, telling Scott Pelley on “60 Minutes” that “all of the traditional rules and procedures pertaining to pardons have been thrown out the window. This administration appears to be working around the Justice Department rather than with the Justice Department.”

After her removal, Ms. Oyer, a longtime public defender, testified before Congress about what she described as “the ongoing corruption” within the Trump Justice Department. Mr. Gibson, whose gun rights were revoked following a domestic violence conviction later vacated, was subsequently appointed a “Hollywood Envoy” by the 47th president. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded by saying Ms. Oyer’s public statements constituted a “direct violation of her ethical duties.”

The internal report authored by Ms. Oyer states that clemency records “are secured through the use of safes, locked file cabinets, and/or restricted access to the space in which they are located.” She wrote, however, that “these instructions do not appear to have been followed by Ms. Welles, as the records do not appear to have ever been placed in the safe.” Investigators noted that Ms. Welles “effectively declined to provide information” during the inquiry and “does not recall ever seeing the records.”

The investigation also found gaps in staff training. Some employees were never instructed on “records maintenance systems, nor its procedures for handling, storing, and securing clemency warrants and other documents in the Executive Case File records system.” Instead, guidance was conveyed informally, on an “ad hoc basis,” only when staff were required to handle physical records.

Ms. Oyer concluded that “the clemency warrants appear to be missing because procedures and instructions for securing the documents were not followed by Ms. Welles.” She emphasized that Ms. Welles was “the designated custodian of the records” and had been told to place them in a safe, yet later claimed she had never seen them. Ms. Oyer acknowledged that “their current whereabouts are not known.”

One case highlighted in the report traces the disappearance of a specific warrant. On June 14, 2022, Ms. Welles received a commutation warrant signed by Mr. Biden for Brittany Krambeck, who had served more than 12 years of an 18-year sentence for “maintaining drug-involved premises” and was already on home confinement. Because Ms. Welles was “working from home,” the document was slid under the door” of her “locked office.

The following day, Ms. Welles asked a supervisor, “Where am I supposed to put this document? In the file?” She was instructed to “start her own filing system.” On June 16, she reported that she “created a file in [her] office for this warrant as well.” After that date, the trail for the Krambeck warrant — and for roughly 300 others after June 28 — disappears. Ms. Oyer reiterated that “at this stage, the clemency warrants appear to be missing because procedures and instructions for securing the documents were not followed by Ms. Welles.”

In her termination letter, Ms. Gillespie wrote that Ms. Welles was “the last person known to be in possession of the Warrants” and accused her of being “abjectly derelict in the performance of one of your most fundamental duties and that you failed to safeguard important and quintessential presidential clemency records.” The letter added that “no supervisor could conceivably have confidence in your ability.” Ms. Welles’ dismissal took effect on May 18, 2023.

After leaving government service, Ms. Oyer launched a Substack newsletter in May. Her opening post begins, “Hi everyone, I’m Liz Oyer — rhymes with lawyer, which is apt, because I’ve been a practicing lawyer for more than 20 years.” She ends by writing, “Now is the time to be brave and try new things. For me, that means speaking out and speaking up in ways I haven’t before.” She has also built a TikTok following of roughly 200,000 users.

{Matzav.com}

A violent confrontation between federal immigration agents and an illegal Venezuelan migrant escalated into a shooting Wednesday night in Minneapolis, after authorities say the suspect fled a traffic stop, attacked an officer, and was joined by others who assaulted the agent with makeshift weapons.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the incident began around 6:50 p.m. local time when federal immigration officers attempted to stop a vehicle driven by the suspect. The man allegedly tried to flee, but the attempt ended when his car slammed into a parked vehicle.

DHS said the suspect then ran from the scene and became involved in a physical struggle with an officer, during which he allegedly “violently assault[ed] the officer” as they grappled on the ground.

As the struggle continued, DHS said two additional individuals emerged from a nearby apartment and allegedly launched a brutal attack on the agent, striking him with a snow shovel and a broom handle.

Amid the chaos, authorities said the Venezuelan migrant managed to break free from the officer’s grip and allegedly began striking him as well.

DHS said the officer, “fearing for his life,” fired his weapon, striking the suspect in the leg.

Both the injured migrant and the federal agent were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. DHS said the two individuals accused of joining the attack were taken into custody.

Federal officials said the man at the center of the incident is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who entered the United States in 2022.

Earlier Wednesday evening, multiple sources told the Minnesota Star Tribune that a series of gunshots were heard during what appeared to be a car chase moving through parts of the Twin Cities.

KARE reported that federal agents converged near North Lyndale Avenue and 25th Avenue, close to a 21-acre park, shortly before 8 p.m. local time. A photographer at the scene observed at least one ambulance departing the area.

Later, a crowd of protesters gathered at the site of the shooting but was held back by police tape, which some in the crowd attempted to tear down, according to the Star Tribune.

The paper reported that law enforcement officers deployed chemical irritants to disperse the crowd, while protesters responded by throwing chunks of ice at federal agents.

The City of Minneapolis said in a post on X that it was “aware of reports” of a “shooting involving federal law enforcement” and was “working to confirm details.” The Minneapolis Police Department released a similar statement, saying it was “aware of reports of a shooting involving federal law enforcement in North Minneapolis” and was “working to confirm additional details.”

Wednesday’s shooting occurred just one week after Renee Nicole Good, 37, was fatally shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross. Authorities said Good was killed after she allegedly attempted to “weaponize” her vehicle against federal agents during a protest near her Minneapolis home.

That incident took place at 34th Avenue and Portland Avenue, a location just over six miles from the scene of Wednesday night’s confrontation.

{Matzav.com}

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of the longtime gabbai of the Gerer court, Reb Mendel Binke z”l, who was niftar at the age of 94. He passed away in Yerushalayim after a life devoted entirely to the service of the Rebbes of Ger and the Gerer kehillah.

Reb Mendel was born in the city of Kalisz, Poland, on 28 Cheshvan 5692 (1931), to his father, Reb Yehoshua Nach Binke z”l, the first gabbai of the Gerer beis medrash in Eretz Yisroel, and to his mother, Mrs. Ita Leah a”h. In 1935, while still a young child, his family immigrated to Eretz Yisroel and settled in Yerushalayim, where his lifelong bond with the Gerer court would take root and flourish.

He studied in his youth at Talmud Torah Chayei Olam, where he absorbed Torah from his rabbeim, Rav Moshe Chaim Schmerler and Rav Chaykel Militzky. Throughout his life, Reb Mendel vividly recalled the powerful and emotional days when the arrival of the Imrei Emes, the Rebbe of Ger, in Eretz Yisroel was announced, moments that left a lasting impression on him as a young talmid.

Approximately half a year before the outbreak of World War II, his father was appointed gabbai of the Gerer beis medrash in Yerushalayim, which at the time was housed within Yeshivas Sefas Emes. With the arrival of the Imrei Emes in Eretz Yisroel, the daily rhythm of the Gerer community changed dramatically, and Reb Yehoshua Nach became a central and stabilizing figure within the beis medrash.

During those years, Reb Mendel learned in Yeshivas Sefas Emes and was deeply involved in serving the needs of the Rebbe and the chassidus. He frequently entered the private room of the Imrei Emes, seeking guidance and counsel. Until his final years, he spoke with reverence and emotion about the moments he spent in the Rebbe’s presence, cherishing the Rebbe’s words, brachos, and direction.

Following the histalkus of the Imrei Emes on Shavuos 5708 (1948), and the assumption of leadership by the Beis Yisroel, Reb Mendel merited a particularly close relationship with the new Rebbe. He was shown warmth and affection and would often accompany the Rebbe during the early morning hours, receiving words of chizuk and guidance that he carried with him for the rest of his life.

In due time, Reb Mendel married Leah Skolsky, the daughter of Rav Yosef Dov Skolsky, one of the distinguished members of the kehillah. His wife, a respected mechaneches, stood at his side throughout the decades of his communal service. She passed away just last year.

For his livelihood, Reb Mendel initially worked in the welfare department and later served as a clerk in the offices of Chinuch Atzmai, all while continuing his unwavering devotion to the Gerer court.

A new chapter began in his life in 2008, following the passing of the previous gabbai, Reb Chanina Schiff, when Reb Mendel was called upon to assume the role of gabbai and meshamesh of the Gerer beis medrash. Despite his natural modesty and humility, he accepted the responsibility, standing at the helm of the beis medrash, calling mispallelim to the Torah, delivering announcements, and faithfully carrying out all the duties entrusted to him.

Reb Mendel served the current Rebbe of Gur with complete dedication and accompanied him on visits and at gatherings, remaining a trusted and familiar presence within the court.

In recent years, his strength waned, and he gradually stepped back from some of the burdens of the gabbai’s role. He endured a profound personal tragedy with the untimely passing of his beloved son-in-law, Reb Shmuel Dovid Weiss z”l, a distinguished talmid chacham who served as a rebbi at the Ner Yisroel Gerer yeshiva ketanah.

Reb Mendel leaves behind a wonderful family deeply rooted in Torah and chassidus.

Yehi zichro baruch. 

{Matzav.com}

The Tel Aviv District Traffic Magistrate Court ruled this week in a case involving gender segregation on a public bus, levying fines and awarding compensation following an incident that occurred in January 2023 on Dan Bus Line 292, which runs between Bnei Brak and Petach Tikva.

The case stemmed from an encounter in which a 76-year-old woman was instructed by a bus inspector to relocate to the back of the bus on the claim that the route operated under a “Mehadrin” arrangement. After she declined to comply, she was subjected to derogatory and discriminatory comments, with the bus driver also taking part in the exchange.

The court’s decision followed an indictment submitted by the National Prosecutions Department within the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety, in line with the ministry’s stated policy of active enforcement in such matters.

As part of the ruling, Dan Bus Company was found guilty and ordered to pay a fine of 40,000 shekels, along with personal compensation of 20,000 shekels to the affected passenger.

The bus inspector involved in the incident was fined 6,000 shekels, instructed to pay the passenger an additional 2,000 shekels in personal compensation, given a suspended driver’s license conditional on future conduct, and required to post a commitment of 50,000 shekels for a three-year period.

The bus driver, whose role was described by the court as limited, was fined 2,500 shekels and committed to refrain from similar conduct for three years, backed by a financial undertaking of 15,000 shekels.

Transport Minister Miri Regev praised the outcome, saying, “I welcome this verdict, which comes as a direct result of the clear and determined policy of the Ministry of Transport. Gender segregation and discrimination in public transportation are a red line. We will act with all the tools at our disposal, including field enforcement and legal proceedings, to ensure that every passenger receives equal, respectful, and safe service.”

The Knesset voted Wednesday to block a proposed “Who is a Jew” bill introduced by MK Avi Maoz of the Noam party, halting the initiative at its initial stage.

The legislation aimed to stipulate that registration as a Jew in Israel’s population registry would rely exclusively on conversions recognized by Israel’s rabbinic courts.

In the preliminary vote, the proposal was defeated by a margin of 60 to 15, with support coming from a limited number of lawmakers, including members of the United Torah Judaism and Shas factions.

Maoz pointed to what he described as a contradiction between the outcome of the vote and remarks made last month by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at an event in Kfar Chabad, where he said, “We need to pass the ‘Who is a Jew’ bill.” Despite that statement, the Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionist parties did not back the bill during the plenary vote.

Coalition sources placed the blame for the failure on Maoz himself, arguing that his decision to advance the bill without securing sufficient support doomed its prospects. “Maoz proposed the bill from the opposition without a majority. This move harms the bill since it’s now automatically postponed by half a year. He is trying to make political gains, but in fact, he delayed the bill,” the sources said.

The same sources added that the move ran counter to guidance from Chabad rabbis, saying they had advised moving forward only once enough votes were assured. “Who instructed to advance the bill only when there is the needed majority to pass it. Unfortunately, it would seem that Avi Maoz’s goal is to try to undermine the coalition and harm the stability of the right-wing government,” they said.

Responding to the vote, Maoz described the outcome as a “historic miss” and said the struggle over Israel’s Jewish identity would continue both publicly and in the Knesset. “Today we see who is prepared to stand behind their declarations about a Jewish state and who chooses to run away at the moment of truth,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

A bipartisan Senate effort to rein in President Donald Trump’s war powers authority collapsed after Republican leaders employed a rarely used procedural maneuver and two GOP senators reversed course, delivering a narrow victory for the White House.

Republicans invoked an obscure Senate process—previously used by Democrats in a similar circumstance—to invalidate a war powers resolution introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia that focused on Venezuela. The move followed last week’s vote in which five Republicans joined Democrats to advance the measure, setting up a confrontation that quickly drew the ire of Trump.

The president lashed out at the Republicans who had initially supported the resolution, declaring they “should never be elected to office again.”

The resolution was ultimately defeated by a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote to side with Trump.

Turning to the little-used procedural step amounted to a rebound for both the president and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota after Republicans suffered an unusual floor setback the previous week.

Thune and other GOP leaders argued that the measure did not apply to current conditions in Venezuela and therefore should not receive privileged consideration.

“We don’t have troops in Venezuela. There is no kinetic action, there are no operations,” Thune said. “There are no boots on the ground. And I think the question is whether or not there ought to be expedited consideration or privilege accorded to something that’s brought to the floor that doesn’t reflect what’s what is current reality in Venezuela.”

“And so I think it’s very fair for Republicans to question why we ought to be having this discussion right now, particularly at a time when we’re trying to do appropriations bills,” he continued.

In the days leading up to the vote, Thune, Senate Republican leadership, Trump, and senior administration officials pressed the five GOP senators who had initially helped advance the resolution to change their positions. While not all of them did, Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana provided the decisive switches that ensured the resolution’s defeat.

Hawley said his concerns centered on whether the administration planned to deploy U.S. forces to Venezuela. After multiple briefings and discussions with Trump administration officials, he concluded that additional military action was not forthcoming.

“To me, this is all about going forward,” Hawley said of his reversal. “If the president decides we need to put troops on the ground in Venezuela, then Congress will need to weigh in.”

Young declined to signal his intentions until the vote was underway. Before entering the chamber, he said assurances he received from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials persuaded him to oppose the resolution.

Those assurances included commitments that Trump would seek congressional authorization before using force in Venezuela and that Rubio would testify publicly before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the coming weeks to brief lawmakers on developments in the region.

“Those who understand how Congress works, the good and the bad and the ugly, understand that votes like this, in the end, are communications exercises,” Young said. “They’re important communications exercises, but unless you can secure sufficient votes, not only to pass the United States Senate, but to get out of the House, with which is highly questionable, right, and then to override what was an inevitable presidential veto, which is impossible. No one can tell me how we get there.”

“I had to accept that this was all a communications exercise,” he continued. “I think we use this moment to shine a bright light on Congress’ shortcomings as it relates to war powers in recent history.”

Despite the reversal by Hawley and Young, Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul of Kentucky sided with Democrats in a last-ditch attempt to keep the measure alive.

Most Republicans who received briefings on the situation argued that recent U.S. actions tied to Venezuela were justified, describing them as part of a law enforcement effort aimed at apprehending Nicolás Maduro rather than a broader military campaign.

In a letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch of Idaho, Rubio emphasized that U.S. forces are not deployed in the country.

“There are currently no U.S. Armed Forces in Venezuela,” Rubio wrote.

“Should there be any new military operations that introduce U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities, they will be undertaken consistent with the Constitution of the United States, and we will transmit written notifications consistent with section 4(a) of the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148),” he added.

Kaine, who had expressed confidence that the resolution would pass, criticized the procedural maneuver ahead of the final vote.

“If people want to just say, ‘Hey, President Trump, do whatever the hell you want,’ Let them vote that way, but don’t change the rules of the Senate in a way that might disable future Senates that do have a backbone,” Kaine told reporters.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] Commentator Candace Owens publicly dismissed evidence of protests and killings in Iran, asserting that no demonstrations are taking place and alleging that reports of unrest amount to a Jewish psyop orchestrated by Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

In remarks online, Owens claimed that there are no mass protests in Iran and denied that Iranian citizens are being killed by the regime. She went further, alleging that the narrative of an Iranian uprising is fabricated and driven by Jewish interests tied to Netanyahu, framing the situation as a coordinated deception rather than a domestic revolt.

Owens’ comments come amid extensive reporting from international media, human rights organizations, and video evidence documenting demonstrations across Iran and deadly crackdowns by Iranian security forces. Multiple independent sources have reported fatalities, arrests, and violent suppression of protesters, contradicting Owens’ assertions.

Owens’ comments about Iran represent a pattern of inflammatory rhetoric and conspiracy-driven narratives. Whatever debate may have existed about her prior intent or ideology has been settled by her willingness to deny documented killings while invoking antisemitic explanations.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offered a candid and humorous assessment of President Trump’s eating habits, saying that while the president’s food choices are the worst in the administration, his energy and endurance remain extraordinary.

Speaking in an interview released Tuesday on “The Katie Miller Podcast,” Kennedy was asked whose diet stands out as the most extreme, and he immediately pointed to the president.

“The interesting thing about the president is that he eats really bad food, which is McDonald’s, and, you know, candy and Diet Coke,” Kennedy continued. “He drinks the Diet Coke at all times.”

Despite that description, Kennedy expressed amazement at Trump’s physical resilience. “He has the constitution of a deity. I don’t know how he’s alive, but he is.”

Kennedy explained that his impression largely comes from observing Trump while traveling together, noting that the president himself has addressed the issue. According to Kennedy, Trump “says that the only time that he eats junk food is when he’s on the road.”

“He wants to eat food from big corporations because he trusts it. He doesn’t want to get sick when he’s on the road,” Kennedy said of the president, who has made similar remarks in the past. “When he’s at Mar-a-Lago or at the White House, he’s eating really good food.”

Kennedy acknowledged that constant travel can distort perceptions of the president’s daily habits. “If you travel with him, you get this idea that he’s just pumping himself full of poison all day long. And you don’t know how he’s walking around, much less being the most energetic person, you know, any of us have ever met. But, I think he actually does eat pretty good food usually,” he added.

As HHS secretary, Kennedy has made changes to American nutrition a central focus of his agenda, frequently criticizing excessive sugar consumption and ultra-processed foods.

That push was reflected last week when the White House introduced updated dietary guidelines, depicted as an upside-down pyramid that places vegetables, fruits, proteins, dairy, and healthy fats at the top, with whole grains positioned at the bottom.

Even so, Kennedy emphasized that Trump’s overall health remains exceptional. He said Trump is “in incredible health,” adding that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Mehmet Oz reviewed the president’s medical records and “said he’s got the highest testosterone levels that he’s ever seen for an individual over 70 years old.”

“I know the president will be happy that I repeat that,” Kennedy added, with a laugh.

Trump’s fondness for fast food has long been a subject of public discussion. After returning to the White House last year, the president brought back his well-known valet button on the Resolute Desk, which he uses to call staff to bring him another Diet Coke.

{Matzav.com}

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has introduced legislation aimed at stopping President Donald Trump from attaching his own name to federal buildings, following recent actions by the administration to rename prominent national institutions.

In announcements made late last month, the Trump administration said the U.S. Institute of Peace and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts would be rebranded as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace and the Trump-Kennedy Center.

Those moves prompted Sanders to act alongside Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland. Together, they submitted a bill designed to bar sitting presidents from naming federal properties after themselves and to undo Trump’s recent renaming decisions.

In a statement released with the bill, Sanders sharply criticized the president’s actions, arguing that they violate the law.

“It’s no secret that President Trump is undermining democracy and moving this country toward authoritarianism. Part of that strategy is to create the myth of the ‘Great Leader’ by naming public buildings after himself — something that dictators have done throughout history,” Sanders said. “For Trump to put his name on federal buildings is arrogant and it is illegal. We must put an end to this narcissism.”

The proposed legislation is titled the SERVE Act, short for the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego Act.

Under the bill, federal buildings, land, and other government assets could not be named for a sitting president, and federal money could not be used for that purpose.

The measure would also apply retroactively, which would remove Trump’s name from both the Kennedy Center and the Institute of Peace.

According to the press release, the proposal has also been submitted as an amendment to a government funding package currently under consideration in the Senate.

While some federal buildings bear the names of past presidents, such as the Kennedy Center, those designations have typically occurred after a president left office.

In one example, President Lyndon B. Johnson renamed the National Cultural Center in honor of John F. Kennedy two months after Kennedy was assassinated. Similarly, the Harry S. Truman Federal Building, which houses the U.S. State Department, received its name in 2000, more than four decades after Truman’s presidency ended.

A New York Times analysis found that before Trump, no federal buildings had ever been named after a sitting president.

{Matzav.com}

A senior Danish official said Wednesday that sharp differences remain with President Donald Trump over Greenland, even after closely watched meetings at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as Trump continues to press for U.S. control of the island.

While no breakthrough was reached, officials from both sides agreed to establish a joint working group aimed at managing disputes, as Trump maintains his call for a U.S. takeover of the semiautonomous territory that belongs to NATO ally Denmark.

“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters after the talks, which he attended alongside Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt. He said it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”

Trump has been publicly arguing that NATO should support U.S. acquisition of Greenland, insisting that anything short of American control is insufficient.

As Washington presses its case, Denmark announced plans to expand its military footprint in the Arctic and North Atlantic, responding to Trump’s repeated claims that China and Russia are positioning themselves to gain influence over Greenland, a region believed to hold major untapped reserves of critical minerals.

Trump did not attend Wednesday’s meeting, but shortly afterward, he reiterated his stance in remarks to reporters in the Oval Office.

“We need Greenland for national security,” Trump said. He added: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”

Ahead of the talks, Trump used social media to urge NATO to back U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland.

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has largely avoided inserting himself into the dispute, keeping distance as alliance members express unease over Trump’s confrontational posture toward Denmark.

Despite the tensions, Rasmussen and Motzfeldt said they view the discussions as a possible opening toward easing the standoff and shifting the focus toward closer cooperation with Washington.

“We have shown where our limits are and from there, I think that it will be very good to look forward,” Motzfeldt said.

In Copenhagen, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced that Denmark would step up its “military presence and exercise activity” in the Arctic and North Atlantic, acting “in close cooperation with our allies.”

Poulsen said the decision reflects growing uncertainty in the security environment. “No one can predict what will happen tomorrow,” he said.

“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen added.

He said personnel from other NATO countries are already arriving in Greenland alongside Danish forces but declined to identify the contributing nations, saying allies would make their own announcements.

So far, the publicly disclosed measures appear limited. Germany said it would deploy 13 personnel to Greenland this week “to explore the framework for potential military contributions.” Sweden announced it would send an unspecified number of troops for exercises, and Norway is dispatching two military officers to assess future cooperation, Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik told the newspaper VG.

NATO is also evaluating broader ways to strengthen its Arctic posture, according to an alliance official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said there is agreement within NATO “that security in the High North is a priority.”

Greenland’s strategic value has grown as climate change reduces ice coverage, potentially opening shorter shipping routes to Asia and making it easier to access critical minerals used in electronics and other technologies.

Trump has also linked Greenland to U.S. missile defense plans, calling the island “vital” to the Golden Dome system and arguing that American control is necessary to counter Russian and Chinese maritime activity.

“If we don’t go in, Russia is going to go in and China is going to go in,” Trump said again Wednesday. “And there’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it, but we can do everything about it.”

That claim is widely questioned by analysts and many Greenland residents, and it has become a subject of intense discussion in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, where international media crews have gathered.

“The only Chinese I see is when I go to the fast food market,” said heating engineer Lars Vintner, adding that he frequently sails and hunts and has never encountered Russian or Chinese vessels.

Others expressed skepticism that the Washington talks would change Trump’s approach.

“Trump is unpredictable,” said Geng Lastein, who moved to Greenland from the Philippines 18 years ago.

Maya Martinsen, 21, said she rejects Trump’s security arguments, believing instead that the president is motivated by Greenland’s natural resources.

She said Trump is focused on the “oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”

Greenland “has beautiful nature and lovely people,” Martinsen added. “It’s just home to me. I think the Americans just see some kind of business trade.”

Denmark has emphasized that the U.S. already maintains a military presence on Greenland and is free to expand its bases. Washington operates under a 1951 treaty that allows it to establish military facilities there with approval from Denmark and Greenland.

Later Wednesday, Rasmussen and Motzfeldt, along with Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, were scheduled to meet with senators from the Arctic Caucus. A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is also traveling to Copenhagen this week for talks with Danish and Greenlandic officials.

Despite the ongoing dispute, both Danish and Greenlandic leaders said dialogue remains essential.

“It is in everybody’s interest — even though we disagree — that we agree to try to explore whether it is doable to accommodate some of the concerns while at the same time respecting the integrity of the Danish kingdom’s territory and the self-determination of the Greenlandic people,” Løkke Rasmussen said.

{Matzav.com}

As Israel heads toward national elections scheduled for later this year, a new public opinion survey points to significant erosion in confidence in the integrity of the electoral process and in the willingness of the public and political parties to accept the results.

Findings from the Israeli Society Index published by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) show that while a majority of Israelis still express trust in the elections, a large and meaningful minority harbor doubts about both their fairness and their aftermath. The skepticism cuts across political camps and population groups.

According to the survey, about two-thirds of Israelis (65%) believe the upcoming elections will be free and fair. At the same time, 31% say they are not convinced the elections will meet those standards.

Distrust is particularly pronounced among Arab citizens of Israel. Among Arab respondents, roughly 51% said they are not convinced the elections will be fair and free, compared to 43% who expressed confidence in the process. Among Jewish respondents, 70% said they trust the fairness of the elections, while 27% said they do not.

Political affiliation plays a decisive role in attitudes toward election fairness. A clear majority of respondents identifying with the right (85%) and the center-right (78%) said they believe the elections will be conducted fairly. By contrast, an exceptionally high share of those identifying with the left — 78% — said they are not convinced the elections will be fair.

JPPI noted that this finding reflects an unusually deep level of suspicion and highlights a profound divide between political camps over the perceived legitimacy of the democratic process itself.

Beyond concerns about fairness, the survey uncovered even greater anxiety regarding the period after Election Day. While 57% of respondents said they believe the public and political parties will accept the election results, 38% — nearly four in ten Israelis — said they are not convinced this will happen. Within that group, 11% said they are “not convinced at all” that the results will be accepted.

Overall, the data indicate that nearly four in ten Israelis doubt that the election results will be broadly accepted by both the public and the political system.

Here too, differences emerged between Jewish and Arab respondents. Among Arab citizens, 45% believe there is a real risk that the election results will not be accepted. Among Jewish respondents, 59% said they believe the results will be accepted, while more than a third — 36% — expressed uncertainty.

Interestingly, unlike the sharp ideological polarization seen on the question of election fairness, skepticism about acceptance of the results appears to be widespread across the political spectrum. Comparable levels of concern were recorded among respondents identifying with the right, center, and left.

Commenting on the findings, Yedidia Stern, president of JPPI, warned that the data should be viewed as a serious warning sign.

“The findings are a warning signal for all of us,” Stern said. “Without agreed-upon and stable rules of the game, Israeli democracy will continue to erode. For some time now, there has been a significant decline in public trust in state institutions, but this survey shows that distrust is now spreading to the most basic democratic process — elections.”

He added that democracy cannot function properly if a substantial portion of the public suspects the fairness of elections or hesitates to accept their outcomes. “The survey points to the possibility of a storm that could threaten all of us after the elections, regardless of the results,” Stern said.

Stern also argued that advancing what he described as a broadly agreed-upon “lean constitution” could help ease extreme suspicion between political camps, strengthen trust in state institutions, and stabilize Israel’s political system. Such a framework, he said, is essential for safeguarding the country’s democratic resilience.

{Matzav.com}

Iran moved Wednesday to temporarily restrict its airspace, halting most flights as unrest inside the country continued and tensions with the United States remained elevated, according to flight-tracking data and official aviation notices.

Tehran issued a Notice to Air Missions shortly after 5 p.m. ET, blocking all air traffic except for international flights entering or leaving Iran with special authorization, FlightRadar24 reported.

The restriction was set to remain in effect for just over two hours, according to the notice.

At the moment the warning took effect, only five aircraft could be seen operating within Iranian airspace, the flight-tracking website showed.

The brief shutdown followed remarks from President Trump indicating that he believed the Iranian government had paused executions of anti-government demonstrators and suggesting that immediate U.S. military action against Iran was unlikely.

“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping. It’s stopped. It’s stopping, and there’s no plan for executions,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

“So I’ve been told that a good authority — we will find out about it. I’m sure if it happens, we’ll all be very upset… but that’s just gotten to me, the information that the killing has stopped, that the executions have stopped, they’re not going to have an execution.”

Trump added that he had received information from what he described as “very important sources” inside Iran indicating that the regime was easing its crackdown on protests that have spread across the country.

Around the same time Iran imposed the airspace restriction, the United Kingdom issued a separate advisory warning against “all but essential” travel to Israel, citing heightened tensions across the Middle East.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration plans to stop sending federal money to jurisdictions designated as sanctuary cities, setting up another confrontation with Democratic-led states and municipalities over immigration enforcement.

Speaking during an economic address in Detroit, Trump said the cutoff would begin at the end of the month and would also include warnings to certain states that seek reimbursement from Washington for migrant-related expenses.

Trump said his administration has issued “90-day notices” to states such as California that submit bills to the federal government to cover costs tied to housing and caring for newly arrived migrants.

“Additionally, starting February 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities,” Trump said. “They do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens, and it breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come.”

The federal government routinely sends money to states and cities to support programs ranging from health care and education to transportation and public works. It was not immediately clear which specific funding streams Trump was referring to, and a White House spokesperson declined to provide further clarification.

The remarks reflect the administration’s broader strategy of using federal funding as leverage against local governments that oppose its policies, including on immigration enforcement and diversity initiatives. The comments also come as states and cities across the country are preparing budgets for the next fiscal year.

According to the Department of Justice, the federal government currently classifies 12 states, four counties, 18 cities, and the District of Columbia as sanctuary jurisdictions.

Trump has raised similar threats in the past. In April, he called on social media for federal payments to be suspended, and during his first term, the administration pursued comparable measures that were ultimately blocked by federal courts.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responded sharply, calling the latest warning “blatantly unconstitutional and immoral.” He said the city intends to fight back in court. “We will be relentless until we restore every dollar.”

In Denver, a spokesperson for Mayor Mike Johnston dismissed the announcement as “nonsense,” arguing that the president lacks the authority to withhold money approved by Congress. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu echoed that position.

“We have already taken legal action to protect our federal funding, and we will continue to do so,” he said in an emailed statement.

The dispute is the latest episode in months of clashes between the White House and mostly Democratic state and local leaders, many of whom have pushed back against Trump’s mass deportation policies. Recently, the administration dispatched dozens of immigration officers to Minnesota, highlighting cases involving Somali immigrants accused of defrauding federal assistance programs.

During his remarks Tuesday, Trump framed deportations as a tool to ease economic pressures, arguing that fraud by immigrants was “bleeding American taxpayers absolutely dry.”

He also said he would move to “revoke the citizenship of any naturalized immigrant from Somalia or anywhere else who is convicted of defrauding our citizens.”

Democratic governors, including Minnesota’s Tim Walz and California’s Gavin Newsom, have condemned fraud where it occurs but accused the administration of targeting their states politically by threatening cuts to essential funding.

Trump’s comments came as part of a broader effort to promote his economic agenda to voters frustrated by high living costs. The president has rolled out a series of announcements in recent weeks, many of which have generated attention but have yet to be fully implemented.

Earlier, Trump said he would unveil “even more plans” soon to address affordability and reiterated his goal of pushing oil prices lower.

“I’m going to provide much more detail about our housing policies, so that every American who wants to own a home, will be able to afford one,” Trump said.

He added that a “health care affordability framework” aimed at lowering insurance premiums and prescription drug prices would be announced later this week, and said he would outline additional proposals at the World Economic Forum in Davos, including efforts to block institutional investors from buying homes and to cap credit card interest rates.

At the same time, Trump faces growing scrutiny over whether those promises will translate into concrete action. Open enrollment for Obamacare plans is set to end this week without an agreement to extend key subsidies, and the White House has not yet detailed how proposed limits on home purchases or credit card rates would be enforced. Trump also reiterated a threat to impose a 25% tariff on countries trading with Iran, claiming the policy was already in place despite a lack of explanation or implementation.

Roughly half an hour into the speech, Trump turned directly to affordability, saying prices were falling and that economic indicators were strong.

The address, delivered to an audience of about 500 people, also veered into familiar territory for the president, including complaints about the 2020 election, jabs at Joe Biden, criticism of Republicans who oppose his agenda, and comments about transgender women competing in sports.

Trump’s visit to Michigan — a battleground state he narrowly won in 2024 — followed recent trips to Pennsylvania and North Carolina and is part of a broader push by the White House ahead of the midterm elections.

Before the speech, Trump toured a factory producing Ford Motor Co. F-150 pickup trucks and highlighted previously announced plans by the company to expand manufacturing in the United States.

Michigan currently has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, though it has eased somewhat in recent months. The jobless rate stood at 5% in November, down from 5.5% in April, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That improvement was partly the result of a shrinking labor force, with more than 55,000 fewer people working or seeking work over that period.

Inflation in the Detroit metropolitan area rose in December after earlier declines. Consumer prices increased 2.1% from a year earlier, BLS data show. Researchers at the University of Michigan project inflation will climb into the 2.9% to 3% range in 2026 as tariffs begin to affect consumer costs.

{Matzav.com}

Tesla is eliminating the one-time purchase option for its Full Self-Driving feature and will require drivers to pay a monthly fee to access the system beginning February 14.

Until now, customers could either buy the software outright for $8,000 or subscribe for $99 per month, Bloomberg reported. Tesla CEO Elon Musk disclosed the change on Wednesday in a post on the social media platform X, which he owns, but offered no explanation for the shift.

Tesla’s website describes the technology by stating that “Autopilot is an advanced driver assistance system that assists your vehicle with steering, accelerating and braking for other vehicles and pedestrians within its lane.”

Bloomberg also reported that reaching 10 million active Full Self-Driving subscribers is one of the benchmarks Tesla must meet for Musk to qualify for additional stock awards under a compensation plan approved by shareholders in November.

The company says Full Self-Driving subscriptions “are currently available for eligible vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia and New Zealand.”

Automated driving systems have faced heightened attention in recent months after reports of traffic violations and crashes involving vehicles operated by Tesla as well as those from companies such as Waymo and Lyft.

In November, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Tesla’s self-driving software after a number of incidents in which “the inputs to the dynamic driving task commanded by FSD induced vehicle behavior that violated traffic safety laws.”