Matzav

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a newly published interview that although he appreciates President Donald Trump’s opinion regarding a possible pardon for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, the ultimate decision will rest solely on what serves Israel’s national interest. He stressed that Israel’s sovereignty and its legal institutions—not external pressure—will determine the outcome.

“Everybody understands that any pre-emptive pardon has to be considered on the merits,” Herzog told Politico, pledging to “deal with it with utter seriousness.” He added that he holds Trump’s advocacy in high regard, noting the repeated appeals from the president to grant Netanyahu clemency. “I respect President Trump’s friendship and his opinion,” he said.

Herzog underscored why Trump’s views matter to him personally. “Why? Because as I tell many Israelis, it is the same President Trump we begged and asked to bring back our hostages and who led bravely an enormous step to bring back our hostages and get the UN Security Council resolution through. But Israel, naturally, is a sovereign country, and we fully respect the Israeli legal system and its requirements.”

After Netanyahu submitted a formal pardon request last Sunday—without admitting guilt—Herzog reiterated that his focus remains on the country’s welfare. “The well-being of the Israeli people is my first, second and third priority,” he told the outlet.

Netanyahu currently faces one bribery charge and three counts each of fraud and breach of trust across several corruption cases. Prosecutors allege he manipulated media coverage and received unlawful gifts in exchange for political favors. He has rejected the claims entirely, arguing the indictments were engineered by elements within the police and state prosecution attempting a political coup.

Herzog’s interview comes just ahead of his trip to New York, where political tensions have escalated following the election of socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor. Mamdani has unsettled Jewish and pro-Israel communities with a series of radical stances. He initially refused to denounce chants like “globalize the intifada” or call for Hamas to disarm, positions he later softened only under significant backlash—stating he would “discourage” the slogan and that Hamas should lay down its weapons. While he now says he supports Israel’s right to exist, he has refused to affirm its identity as a Jewish state, opposing what he calls a “hierarchy of citizenship.”

Adding to the uproar, Mamdani has vowed to instruct police to arrest Netanyahu should he visit New York, citing an International Criminal Court warrant—despite U.S. law making such an arrest impossible. The warrant accuses Netanyahu of war crimes in Gaza, allegations Israel rejects in full.

“I’m extremely bothered by the statements of Mayor-elect Mamdani,” Herzog told Politico. “The rights of Jews, of the Jewish people, for self-determination and for independence, do not depend on Zohran Mamdani.”

Herzog contrasted Mamdani’s rhetoric with his own family’s history. He noted that his father, as Israel’s ambassador to the UN, famously tore up a now-revoked resolution branding Zionism as racism. “He also spoke about people throughout the ages, leaders who negated the Jewish people’s rights, and they’ve all disappeared, and their views disappeared,” Herzog said.

When asked if he would extend an invitation for Mamdani to visit Israel, Herzog replied that the mayor-elect should first better understand the very city he is about to lead. “I think Mayor-elect Mamdani should understand that in his own city, there are so many people who have Israel minted in their DNA, in their love of both America and Israel. He should study better and understand better their viewpoints and not show such disgust and hate.”

Herzog also expressed concern over the growing wave of anti-Israel sentiment in the United States, which he blamed partly on social media. He argued that the hostility “comes from TikTok, from a very shallow discourse of the current situation, pictures or viewpoints, and doesn’t judge from the big picture.”

While acknowledging the legitimacy of debate about Israel’s military actions, Herzog pleaded for honesty and context. “I respect the debate,” he said, “but all I’m asking is for fair reporting, not fake reporting, and not something superficial. You cannot just buy a TikTok message, which you know immediately blames Israel, without understanding what’s behind it. We are operating in self-defense according to international law and we are trying to defend our citizens.”

He ended with a stark warning about the scale of the misinformation campaign Israel faces. “There are billions and tens of billions of dollars poured into this brainwashing machine which doesn’t want to tell the real truth,” Herzog said. “And we may be all alone, but we will keep on saying the truth: We did not seek this war. We did not want this war.”

{Matzav.com}

Sen. John Kennedy tore into the massive COVID-era fraud case uncovered in Minnesota’s “Feeding Our Future” scandal, blasting it as one of the most staggering abuses of federal aid ever exposed. The Louisiana Republican didn’t hold back on the Senate floor, calling the situation “a clown world on steroids” and “deeply disgusting.”

Speaking about the scheme, Kennedy highlighted what federal prosecutors have described as an unprecedented theft of taxpayer funds. “For the last five years, there has been massive welfare fraud in the great state of Minnesota. Over one billion dollars of American taxpayer dollars has been stolen — just stolen. They can call it fraud, but a better term would be stealing. And this fraud has been centered in the Somali community in Minnesota,” he said, adding that learning how taxpayer dollars were misused makes him “angry.”
“It makes me want to knee someone in the groin,” Kennedy said, directing his fury at state officials and insisting on full accountability. “It just makes me furious and I think the American taxpayers feel the same way.”

Kennedy emphasized that his criticism was not aimed at every member of Minnesota’s Somali population. He noted that he does not wish to “criticize the 80,000 members of the Somali community” living in the state, while also stressing, “it is a fact that this one billion dollars in welfare fraud occurred almost exclusively in the Somali community.”

Reporting from the New York Times was the first to outline how the scheme proliferated within segments of Minnesota’s Somali community, with various individuals setting up entities that billed state agencies for social services that were never delivered. Some of those involved were connected to Feeding Our Future, a fraudulent nonprofit that claimed to provide meals to needy children and received $250 million through the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

According to the Times’ earlier reporting, “Federal prosecutors say that 59 people have been convicted in those schemes so far, and that more than $1 billion in taxpayers’ money has been stolen in three plots they are investigating. That is more than Minnesota spends annually to run its Department of Corrections.”

Peter Schweizer, head of the Government Accountability Institute, said the evidence makes the fraud unmistakable. “Hundreds of millions of dollars were diverted again by several dozen Somali nationals, who took the money they were supposed to be using to feed children. And in fact, we’re pocketing for criminal instances,” he said. “It was 125 million meals that this charity claimed that they were providing to children that were not provided at all.”

The White House has described the scandal as involving “a massive, complex network of nonprofits and affiliates” that purported to aid thousands of underprivileged children, serve the homeless, and offer therapy for autistic Somali youth. In reality, “Kickbacks were paid, lavish lifestyles were funded, and money was sent overseas — some of it even allegedly funneled to a terror group,” the administration said.

President Donald Trump weighed in sharply on the revelations, denouncing Minnesota as “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and announcing he was ending Temporary Protected Status for Somali nationals in the state. He also made clear he opposed allowing additional Somali immigrants to remain in the U.S. “We can go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country,” he said, arguing that the state had become a “hellhole” because of the community. “Somalians should be out of here,” he told reporters. “They’ve destroyed our country.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz fired back, condemning Trump’s remarks as inflammatory and beyond the bounds of any past presidential rhetoric. He said Trump had slurred an entire community — the largest Somali population in America — and insulted the state as a whole. “We’ve got little children going to school today who their president called them garbage,” Walz said, calling the comments “unprecedented for a United States president.”

Republican legislative leaders, while not embracing Walz’s rebuke of Trump, countered that the outrage now engulfing the state could have been avoided if the governor had acted sooner and more forcefully to prevent fraud within Minnesota’s welfare programs.

{Matzav.com}

Governor Kathy Hochul made clear on Thursday that New York City’s incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has no legal power to detain Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, directly contradicting Mamdani’s repeated claims that he would attempt to do so if Netanyahu sets foot in the city.

The governor’s comments came as she sought to distance herself from several of Mamdani’s hard-line positions on Israel ahead of his January 1 inauguration. While Hochul has consistently aligned herself with Israel, Mamdani has long been identified with anti-Israel activism and has drawn widespread concern from Jewish communities. Despite her differences with him on these matters, Hochul endorsed Mamdani during his campaign.

Speaking to reporters, Hochul addressed the mayor-elect’s declaration directly. According to Politico, when asked about Mamdani’s vow to arrest Netanyahu, she rejected the notion outright and added, “The New York City mayor does not have the power to do that.”

Mamdani has pointed to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant as justification for his threat, but the argument does not stand on firm legal ground. The ICC has no jurisdiction inside the United States, and federal law expressly forbids state or municipal authorities from cooperating with the court. Additionally, another federal statute protects foreign officials — including sitting heads of state — from detention or interference.

Legal specialists have echoed this assessment, noting that Mamdani’s threat carries no legal weight whatsoever.

Netanyahu, for his part, brushed aside the mayor-elect’s remarks, announcing Wednesday that he still intends to travel to New York. The prime minister traditionally visits the city each fall to address the United Nations General Assembly.

The controversy over the ICC warrant has intensified in recent weeks. The Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutor Karim Khan accelerated the issuance of the warrant for Netanyahu without carrying out a planned investigation, doing so after a subordinate accused him of misconduct. The report added that Khan then leveraged the warrants in an effort to pressure that accuser into abandoning the allegations.

{Matzav.com}

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came under sharp questioning today over whether he intends to follow through on President Donald Trump’s public assurance that the full video of the controversial double-tap airstrike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean will be released.

Hegseth appeared at the Reagan National Defense Forum, where Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson raised the issue directly during a Q&A. Referring to recent briefings that Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley delivered on Capitol Hill, Tomlinson asked, “After Admiral [Frank ‘Mitch’] Bradley’s meetings from Capitol Hill with joint chiefs, President Trump said he would have no problem if the full video of the strike is released. When can we see that video? When will you release it?”

Hegseth avoided making any commitment, saying only that the Pentagon is considering the implications. “We are reviewing it right now to make sure sources, methods — I mean, it’s an ongoing operation right now, TTPs,” he said. “We have operators out there doing this now. Whatever we decide, we have to be responsible and we are reviewing it.”

Tomlinson then referenced a Washington Post report alleging that Hegseth had instructed forces to kill everyone on the vessel, even survivors. The secretary immediately shot down the claim. “Is anybody here from The Washington Post? I don’t know where you get your sources, but they suck.”

He went on to reject the report entirely. “Of course not! Anybody that has been in this situation room, or has been in the war room there, the secretary’s office, know you don’t walk in and say, ‘Kill them all —’ It’s patently ridiculous. It’s meant to create a cartoon of me.”

Hegseth then offered a broader defense of the operation and the professionals carrying it out. “What people think is cavalier or cowboy about it is the opposite. These are the most professional Americans going through specific processes about what they can and cannot do, understanding all the authorities, all the laws of war, all the capabilities, and applying it to deter our adversaries.”

He intensified his argument by detailing the operational goals behind the missions. “And by the way, there are not many people getting in boats right now running drugs, which is the whole point. We want to stop the poisoning of the American people. The catch and release program of the ‘pat them on the head and release them so they can go back to the fight’ did not work in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it’s not gonna work in the Caribbean. So, we’re putting them at the bottom of the Caribbean, which forces them to change the way they operate, and hopefully it makes the American people safer — not hopefully, it will make the American people safer in the process.”

Tomlinson pressed again: “So, Mr. Secretary, you will be releasing that full video?”

Hegseth repeated his earlier line. “We are reviewing it right now.”

The reporter pushed for clarity: “Is that a yes or no?”

The secretary again declined to give a definitive response. “That is — We’re — The most important thing to me are the ongoing operations in the Caribbean with our folks that use bespoke capabilities, techniques, procedures in the process. I’m way more interested in protecting that than anything else. So, we’re reviewing the process and we’ll see.”
{Matzav.com}

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that once he enters office in January, the city will halt all future clearings of homeless encampments — a dramatic reversal of one of the Adams administration’s defining enforcement strategies.

Speaking to reporters at an unrelated Manhattan press event, Mamdani dismissed the current policy as ineffective and fundamentally misguided. Pointing to the failure to place displaced individuals into long-term living situations, he argued, “If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success.”

He said the city must pivot toward a strategy centered entirely on securing stable places to live for those on the streets. “We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting those New Yorkers to housing,” Mamdani said.

The incoming mayor emphasized that all forms of housing should be on the table — supportive units, rental apartments, and other available options — while faulting the belief that homelessness is simply an unavoidable urban condition. “Whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is, because what we have seen is the treatment of homelessness as if it is a natural part of living in this city, when in fact, it’s more often a reflection of a political choice being made.”

Despite the sweeping shift he promised, Mamdani did not provide any concrete plan for how to resolve the sprawling encampment-related complaints that flood the city’s system. Between January and November 2025 alone, more than 45,000 311 calls were filed concerning makeshift camps.

Mayor Eric Adams made encampment removal a central policy goal early in his term, unveiling the push in March 2022 with a blunt declaration: “We cannot tolerate these makeshift, unsafe houses on the side of highways, in trees, in front of schools, in parks. This is just not acceptable, and it’s something I’m just not going to allow to happen.”

But the results were grim. A subsequent audit revealed that roughly 95% of the individuals displaced in these clearances ended up back on the streets soon after their shelters were dismantled.

City Hall rejected the comptroller’s findings, defending the policy as far more successful than critics claimed. In a separate statement Thursday, spokesperson Fabien Levy said, “Cherry-picking numbers and sharing them out of context paint a disingenuous picture as these cleanups have actually connected more than 500 New Yorkers to safe, stable housing.”

Levy also stressed the city’s broader achievements, adding, “New York City continues to have the lowest rate of unsheltered homelessness of any major city in the nation.”

{Matzav.com}

Israeli officials have informed mediators that members of Islamic Jihad possess direct knowledge of the whereabouts of Yasam officer Ran Gvili, who was seized amid the fighting in Gaza. According to the same message, Hamas is also believed to have the ability to access him.

Channel 12 News reported that Israel supplied mediators with intelligence pointing to Gvili’s potential location and is insisting on swift, forceful diplomatic engagement to secure his return. Israel has emphasized that any delay is unacceptable and expects concrete movement immediately.

An Israeli official told reporters, “The mediators are signaling that Hamas is showing interest in honoring the hostages-and-missing agreement and wants to move to the next stage, which includes disarmament and demilitarization of the Strip.”

The official added that Hamas is aware of its narrowing options. “Hamas already understands they have no choice but to move toward disarmament and demilitarization. Either they agree to it, or we will dismantle their weapons ourselves. We will not leave in Gaza a threat to the State of Israel.”

{Matzav.com}

Canada revealed Friday that it is taking Syria and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham off its roster of designated terrorist entities, marking a major shift in its approach to groups now tied to the interim authorities governing Syria following the fall of the Assad regime. The organization, once under the leadership of Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa, is now formally linked to the transitional government attempting to rebuild the country.

In a statement laying out the policy change, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand emphasized that the move parallels steps made by key Western allies. She explained that the decision “is consistent with policy taken by Canada’s partners – the United States and the United Kingdom – and is part of a broader effort to promote stability in the Middle East and to combat global terrorist threats.”

Anand stressed that Canada has not softened its stance toward global jihadist networks, underscoring that Ottawa maintains a strict posture toward organizations such as al-Qaida and ISIS. She said Canada remains fully committed to countering these threats, even as it recognizes “positive steps taken by the interim government in Syria.” She added, “We stand with the Syrian people in their struggle for a future of stability and prosperity.”

Canada’s engagement with Syria over the past decade has included significant humanitarian investment. From 2016 to 2025, Ottawa allocated $4.7 billion to support relief efforts in Syria and in countries absorbing displaced Syrians. During the same period, more than 100,000 refugees fleeing the civil war were resettled in Canada as part of its national admissions program.

{Matzav.com}

A major gathering at Ancient Shiloh on Friday turned sharply political when Dr. Mike Evans, a prominent Evangelical figure and onetime adviser to President Donald Trump, publicly challenged remarks made by US Vice President JD Vance regarding Israel’s authority over Judea and Samaria.

The event, organized by Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz, brought roughly 1,000 Evangelical leaders to the Binyamin region. From the podium, Dr. Evans confronted Vance’s recent comments head-on. “You said something, Mr. Vice President, that is not accurate. You said, ‘The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy.’”

Evans stressed his admiration for America and for Vance personally, but insisted that biblical history and divine promise override political talking points. “Mr. Vice President- we love you. We love you and we love America. But there’s something you have to understand. The policy of the G-d who birthed America and the policy of the God who gave these people this land is, in fact that Judea and Samaria is Bible land.”

He invoked the deep historical roots of the area, emphasizing how central it is to Jewish identity. “Eighty percent of the Bible stories come out of Judea and Samaria, Mr. Vice President. And here in Shiloh was the spot. This was the capital of Israel. This is where the Samuel was and the Tabernacle was. It was all right here.”

Evans concluded with a pointed admonition to Washington to avoid pressuring Israel on territorial concessions. “We’re grateful that America is getting the illegals out of America. We’re supporting that. But don’t pressure Israel to give illegal, radical, Islam, Jew haters: Judea and Samaria.”

Israeli forces blocked what could have been a devastating assault in the Chevron region this evening, when IDF paratroopers stopped two attackers who tried to ram their vehicle into Israelis at a police checkpoint. One Israeli sustained only minor injuries in the incident.

According to the IDF, “a short while ago, two terrorists accelerated their vehicle toward IDF soldiers during an operational activity at a security checkpoint in Chevron.” Troops immediately opened fire, bringing the threat to an abrupt end. “The soldiers fired at the terrorists and eliminated them,” the statement added.

Following the clash, the IDF reported that an uninvolved Palestinian Authority Arab was also killed amid the gunfire exchange, noting that the circumstances are under review.

Volodymyr Zelensky said he held a “constructive” conversation with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, describing it as a focused effort to explore how to bring an “end to the bloodshed.” The call coincided with the third consecutive day of American and Ukrainian delegations convening in Miami for another round of discussions aimed at halting the conflict.

After the call, Zelensky wrote on X that “we covered many aspects and went through key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the threat of a new Russian full scale invasion, as well as the risk of Russia failing to honour its promises, as has happened repeatedly in the past.” He added that “we agreed on the next steps and formats for talks with the United States.”

Kyiv’s security leadership — including national security adviser Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, chief of staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces — is slated to brief Zelensky upon returning home, he noted. Their report is expected to outline what, if anything, the latest exchanges with Washington might yield.

The diplomatic track unfolded against the backdrop of one of Russia’s most punishing overnight assaults in months. Ukraine’s air force reported that Moscow launched 653 drones and 51 missiles in a sweeping overnight strike that hammered the country’s already fragile energy network and set off air raid sirens nationwide.

Local authorities said at least eight people were injured, with three hurt in the Kyiv region. Substations and power-generation facilities took significant hits, and one of the two power lines feeding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was knocked offline, causing the facility to lose external electricity yet again — the eleventh such outage since the start of Moscow’s invasion, officials said. The head of Ukraine’s state grid operator characterized the destruction as “quite severe,” according to the Kyiv Independent.

Zelensky condemned the barrage on Telegram, calling it “a meaningless strike from a military point of view.” He stressed that “the main targets of these strikes are once again energy infrastructure. The goal of the Russians is to hurt millions of Ukrainians, and they have already fallen so low that they launch missiles at peaceful cities on St. Nicholas Day.”

Poland’s air force revealed that its fighter jets were scrambled as the hours-long attack on western Ukraine approached its borders, prompting Warsaw to reinforce its airspace defenses.

These latest developments follow an earlier, extended sit-down in Moscow between Vladimir Putin, Witkoff, and Kushner — a meeting that culminated in the Kremlin declaring parts of the peace framework “unacceptable.”

After the follow-up talks in Miami, which began Thursday, the U.S. delegation acknowledged the challenges ahead. In a statement on Friday, Witkoff wrote: “Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings.”

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s government has officially approved the 2026 state budget following a brief cabinet meeting held Friday. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened the session by stating that the budget would pass that same day and praised the ministers and the finance minister for what he described as a focused and constructive approach.

Netanyahu told the cabinet that the budget brings meaningful benefits to the country, including tax reductions, support for active-duty and reserve IDF soldiers, and accelerated development for northern and southern communities affected during the war. He stressed that the government is stable and has no intention of heading to early elections, declaring: “This government will serve out its full term.”

The Finance Ministry and Defense Ministry reached an agreement setting the defense budget at 112 billion shekels — approximately 30 billion shekels less than what the Defense Ministry originally demanded at the start of negotiations.

Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich welcomed the compromise, saying the government is committing massive resources to strengthen the army while still ensuring that Israel’s economy remains on a path toward growth and relief for citizens.

Ministers also approved Smotrich’s dairy reform plan during the meeting. The prime minister and most cabinet members supported the reform, with Agriculture and Food Security Minister Avi Dichter casting the sole opposing vote. The proposal will now move to the Knesset for legislation.

Netanyahu noted that the budget includes several major initiatives: tax cuts — including reductions to income tax — decreased regulation, streamlined government systems, and significant investment in communities in the north and south that suffered during the conflict. He said the budget also expands assistance, grants, and benefits for IDF soldiers in both regular service and reserves, along with increased support for their families.

Shortly after the meeting ended, the Prime Minister’s Office released a confirmation statement announcing that the government had approved the 2026 budget.

{Matzav.com}

Derek Chauvin is again attempting to overturn his conviction, filing a new appeal that asks a Minnesota court to throw out the verdict in the death of George Floyd and allow him to be retried. The request, submitted last month in Hennepin County District Court, argues that significant legal and evidentiary problems undermined the fairness of his 2020 trial.

Central to the filing is Chauvin’s argument that the medical testimony used against him was fundamentally flawed. His attorneys assert that the four physicians who evaluated the medical examiner’s findings relied excessively on video footage that captured officers restraining Floyd — including the widely seen recording in which Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe and bystanders pleaded with officers to stop. According to the appeal, “This led to many errors throughout, as improperly qualified experts opined on events in the various videos in this case. This served to deprive Chauvin of his right to due process.”

Chauvin contends that he has now brought in outside medical experts from the Forensic Panel who are prepared to testify that the physicians used during the trial relied on methodology that “is not generally accepted in the scientific community,” as reported by Fox News.

The appeal also takes aim at testimony offered by Minneapolis police supervisors who said that the knee-to-neck restraint was outside department policy. Chauvin’s lawyers counter that dozens of officers dispute that claim. As Fox News summarized, “Chauvin also disputed testimony from three Minneapolis police supervisors, who swore the tactic of placing a knee on a suspect’s neck as a restraint was inconsistent with city police policy,” adding that the filing includes statements from “34 current and former Minneapolis police officers” asserting that the maneuver was part of their training.

This is not Chauvin’s first effort to revisit the outcome of his trial. A previous appeal seeking a new proceeding was rejected in 2023. He is currently serving both a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a separate 22½-year sentence for second-degree murder, housed at a low-security facility in Big Spring, Texas.

Prosecutors, in their closing arguments at trial, maintained that Chauvin betrayed the ethics and responsibility of his position during the incident, asserting that he chose “pride over policing” while restraining Floyd for those nine minutes.

A sweeping series of border-enforcement announcements this week signaled an intensified effort by federal authorities to deter illegal entry on every front. At the center of the rollout is a newly declared $5,000 fee that will be imposed on anyone 14 or older who entered the country without inspection, accompanied by a renewed crackdown on sea routes and a celebration by federal officials of seven consecutive months without Border Patrol releases into the U.S. interior.

In outlining the new financial penalty, Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks stressed that the rule is grounded in 8 U.S.C. §1815 and applies across the board — to those who crossed unlawfully days ago or decades ago, and whether or not they are currently tied up in immigration court. He noted that additional charges may apply under 8 U.S.C. §§2339 and 1324, signaling an expansive enforcement net.

As part of the same enforcement push, CBP’s Air and Marine Operations division issued an unambiguous warning aimed at people considering illegal maritime crossings. Their message was stark: “If you cross the border illegally, you will be caught, deported, and banned from ever returning to the United States. Don’t take to the sea!” Officials pointed to a steep rise in smuggling operations using ocean routes and vowed to block unlawful entry from the water just as aggressively as on land.

The Department of Homeland Security added to the week’s developments with a pointed declaration highlighting President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem’s record: seven months running without a single Border Patrol release into the nation’s interior. DHS touted the milestone as evidence of a fortified enforcement strategy, describing this period as the “most secure border in history.” The agency credited interdepartmental coordination for achieving what it characterized as unprecedented control of migrant flows.

Even with that record in hand, the administration is pushing further. Banks revealed that construction of additional border barriers has resumed in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, marking a new round of wall expansion in an area long overwhelmed by illegal crossings. The move underscores that physical infrastructure remains a centerpiece of the administration’s strategy.

The combination of the new penalty, fresh maritime enforcement messaging, and DHS’s border-security declaration reflects a coordinated signal: illegal entry will meet firm consequences, and border controls are tightening at every point of access. That theme was echoed again when Banks described the fast-rising wall sections in Texas. “Solid steel wall panels are now standing tall in Harlingen, TX — marking the beginning of 17.4 miles of unyielding progress,” he said. “Impedance and denial aren’t just the goals — they’re the MISSION. THE BORDER IS STILL CLOSED.”

{Matzav.com}

The last defendant in a widely publicized hate-fueled attack in Times Square has now received his punishment, bringing an end to a case that drew national attention. Manhattan prosecutors announced that Salem Seleiman, 30, will spend two years behind bars for his role in the brutal assault on Joey Borgen.

The confrontation unfolded in 2021 as tensions surrounding the Israel–Gaza conflict spilled into the streets. Borgen had been on his way to a pro-Israel demonstration when a group of six men surrounded him near an anti-Israel rally and set upon him in an attack that was recorded and quickly circulated online.

Authorities say Seleiman was the final member of the group to face sentencing. He acknowledged his involvement earlier this year, entering guilty pleas to second-degree assault and to third-degree assault as a hate crime.

In a statement addressing the outcome, District Attorney Alvin Bragg condemned Seleiman’s conduct. “Salem Seleiman took part in the repugnant and bias-motivated assault of a Jewish man who was peacefully attending a rally,” Bragg said. “The victim was targeted based on his religion and did nothing to warrant physical violence.”

Investigators described a horrifying scene in which Borgen was forced to the pavement and repeatedly punched, kicked, sprayed with chemicals, and struck with a crutch, all while the assailants hurled slurs, calling him a “filthy Jew” and “dirty Jew.”

Borgen has since relocated to Israel, leaving New York not long after the criminal proceedings began. Seleiman, meanwhile, fled the state following the attack. Detectives tracked him down in Florida, where he was arrested in May before being extradited back to Manhattan to face charges.

Officials continue to warn that anti-Jewish hate crimes remain disproportionately high in New York City, underscoring persistent concerns about the safety of the Jewish community.

{Matzav.com}

A sweeping shift in national vaccine guidance for infants set off intense debate on Friday, as the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to push back the first hepatitis B shot for babies whose mothers test negative for the virus. For more than three decades, federal guidance has emphasized administering the vaccine within the first 24 hours of life. Now, with an 8–2 vote, the committee endorsed delaying that dose until two months of age for infants born to mothers confirmed negative.

The vote also endorsed a second change: Instead of automatically giving a newborn the hepatitis B shot, the new language advises “individual decision-making in consultation with a health care provider” for babies whose mothers have tested negative. The shift has stunned a wide range of medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, which argue that easing the universal birth recommendation erodes vital protections for infants and undermines decades of solid data demonstrating safety and effectiveness.

These decisions landed on the second day of ACIP’s December convening — a meeting marked by confusion, procedural hiccups, and unusually sharp disagreements. Thursday’s scheduled vote had to be postponed after committee members said they couldn’t clearly see the latest draft of the ballot language and were unsure how many questions they were supposed to address. Technical failures added to the disorder, prompting concerns about transparency and accuracy.

When the panel reconvened Friday, the deliberations grew more charged. Members — all appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — opened with a reading of the proposed text. One of the strongest objections came from Restef Levi, a mathematician with no medical background, who declared that experts had “never tested (the vaccines) appropriately” and insisted that the committee should refrain from recommending any timeline at all. His remarks quickly prompted pushback from longtime vaccine specialists.

Among the most vocal critics was Dr. Cody Meissner, a respected pediatrics expert who previously served on the FDA’s vaccine advisory panel. He and ACIP member Dr. Joseph Hibbeln repeatedly warned colleagues that the committee had been handed four versions of the proposal in less than a week. Hibbeln argued that “no rational science has been presented” to justify altering a schedule that has protected millions of infants for more than three decades. As Meissner cast his vote against revising the guidance, he offered a pointed reminder: “We’ve heard ‘do no harm’ as a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording.”

Hepatitis B poses life-altering risk to young children, leading to liver disease, cancer, and early death. Universal newborn vaccination has been recommended since 1991, leading to a 99% drop in pediatric infections. Experts warn that weakening the first-dose recommendations removes a crucial safety net in cases where prenatal testing is missed — a problem the CDC estimates affects roughly 16% of pregnant women each year.

Soon after the main vote, ACIP took up another contentious proposal: whether parents should test their children after the first dose to see if it provided a sufficient antibody response. The panel narrowly endorsed encouraging such discussions between families and physicians, though even supporters acknowledged the data remain thin and some wording was unclear.

If approved by the CDC director, these measures could influence not only clinical advice but also insurance coverage. ACIP recommendations often set the benchmark for what private insurers must cover. A shift in timing or structure could therefore have financial implications for families.

Friday’s debate followed a tumultuous Thursday session in which several members criticized the limited or contradictory data presented on vaccine safety. Meissner took particular issue with one presentation that suggested safety information on the birth dose was sparse — a claim contradicted by decades of published research documenting no increase in infant death, fever, sepsis, autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis, or other serious reactions.

Frustration spilled into the public comments as well. Dr. Jason Goldman, representing the American College of Physicians, condemned the approach taken during the proceedings, calling the meeting “completely inappropriate” and accusing ACIP of “wasting taxpayer dollars by not having scientific, rigorous discussion on issues that truly matter.” He reminded the panel that the hepatitis B birth dose has never been mandated nationwide and that families already retain the right to make individualized decisions with their doctors.

This is not the first time ACIP has confronted procedural turmoil. At its September meeting, confusion over ballot wording led members to vote down funding for a combined measles-mumps-rubella-chickenpox vaccine for toddlers, reverse themselves minutes later, and then shift course again the following day.

The public health stakes remain stark. Newborns who contract hepatitis B at or around birth face a 90% chance of developing chronic infection, often culminating in cirrhosis, liver cancer, or premature death. Past research has shown that limiting early vaccination only to babies whose mothers test positive results in missed cases — with devastating consequences.

For years, critics of vaccination have targeted the hepatitis B birth dose, including Kennedy, who inaccurately alleged in a June podcast that the shot was a “likely culprit” in autism. Extensive research has disproven such claims, consistently showing that the vaccine has one of the strongest safety records in modern medicine. Numerous studies confirm that delaying the dose offers no measurable safety benefit.

The American Academy of Pediatrics reiterated this point in strong terms. Dr. Sean O’Leary emphasized that the vaccine administered at birth is “one of the most well established safety records of any vaccine,” adding that early protection is essential to preventing chronic illness and liver cancer. “We’ve been using it for a long time. It’s one of our best tools to protect babies from chronic illness and liver cancer.” He warned that even a single missed infection can have lifelong consequences: “This is a situation where one missed case is too many.”

{Matzav.com}

A Brazilian scholar who admitted to firing an air rifle outside a Brookline synagogue on Yom Kippur is now leaving the United States after being taken into custody by federal immigration authorities earlier this week.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that Carlos Portugal Gouvea, 43, agreed to return to Brazil rather than proceed through deportation proceedings. “It is a privilege to work and study in the United States, not a right,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, adding, “There is no room in the United States for brazen, violent acts of anti-Semitism like this. They are an affront to our core principals [sic] as a country and an unacceptable threat against law-abiding American citizens.”

Gouvea had pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to one misdemeanor count tied to the Oct. 2 episode outside Temple Beth Zion, admitting to the unlawful use of the air rifle. During the encounter, which unfolded on the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, he told police he had been “hunting rats.”

Authorities said he had fired twice before being approached by the synagogue’s private security team, who engaged him in what the police report described as a “brief physical struggle.” He then retreated into his nearby home, according to details reported by Brookline.News.

When officers questioned him afterward, he continued to insist that his purpose had been to target vermin, although investigators determined that one of the shots had struck and broken a car window.

Prior to the incident, Gouvea had been serving as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School under a J-1 visa. That visa was revoked by the State Department shortly after the shooting, and Harvard subsequently placed him on administrative leave. The school did not announce any further disciplinary steps.

Under the plea arrangement, additional accusations—including disorderly conduct, vandalism, and disturbing the peace—were dismissed.

The clash outside the synagogue occurred just days after President Trump said that Harvard had tentatively resolved a dispute with his administration regarding $2.4 billion in frozen federal research funds, a standoff that grew out of controversies connected to antisemitism and the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.

A Beis Din ruling in Bnei Brak has handed a decisive victory to Satmar in a high-profile dispute with guesthouse owners in Meron, determining that lodging contracts for a major Shabbos gathering will remain unchanged and that concealing the identity of the renters to prevent price-gouging was entirely legitimate, Matzav.com has learned.

The financial saga began ahead of a massive Shabbos Hisachdus in Meron, where the Satmar Rebbe of Kiryas Yoel, Rav Aharon Teitelbaum, was scheduled to spend Shabbos together with thousands of chassidim who had arrived in Israel. Demand for accommodations in the area surged, prompting Satmar organizers to secure dozens of guesthouses and rental units near the kever of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai.

To prevent extreme price inflation, Satmar enlisted an outside production company and instructed it to quietly reserve every available unit in the Meron region without disclosing that the Rebbe and thousands of followers would be arriving. Organizers feared that revealing this information would trigger massive price hikes from property owners.

After the reservations were finalized, however, one guesthouse owner discovered who the tenants really were and claimed that he could have charged far more had he known. He sought to cancel the agreement entirely. Several additional landlords joined him, filing a formal claim against both Satmar and the production company, alleging that essential information had been withheld during the booking process.

The case was brought before the Beis Din Tzedek of Bnei Brak, founded by Rav Nissim Karelitz zt”l and widely regarded as one of the most respected monetary botei din in the chareidi world. The panel consisted of Dayanim Rav Shalom Mordechai HaLevi Segal, Rav Binyomin Yechiel Posen, and Rav Mordechai Silman, highly experienced arbitrators in financial disputes. The ruling attracted unusual public interest due to the scale of the rentals involved, which included dozens of apartments and lodging complexes.

In their clear and unequivocal ruling, the dayanim upheld the original contracts in full, determining that the guesthouse owners had no basis to void the agreements. The fact that demand later proved higher than anticipated, they ruled, does not constitute any form of “mistaken transaction” and does not justify canceling a freely signed agreement. They emphasized that fluctuating market conditions are not grounds for retroactively altering a deal.

The ruling stated that “there is no flaw whatsoever in the conduct of the community and of the defendants,” adding that renters are not obligated to disclose information that might encourage unfair price gouging. The dayanim further wrote that “they are entitled to act wisely in order to obtain lodging services at reasonable prices.”

As a result, all rental agreements remain binding, leaving the disappointed Meron property owners required to honor the original rates.

{Matzav.com}

A tense exchange of messages and public statements followed a startling moment at a Manhattan charity gala, prompting NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to send a personal apology to the incoming mayor’s team — an apology Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani acknowledged on Thursday while signaling he intends to move forward without dwelling on the episode.

During his Cocoa Chat community event, Mamdani addressed the controversy directly, noting that Tisch had reached out after her brother publicly referred to him as an “enemy” of the Jewish people. “The commissioner apologized to my team for those remarks, and I look forward to being a mayor for each and every New Yorker, including Jewish New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani underscored that the friction created by the comment would not derail his professional relationship with Tisch, whom he has decided to retain as head of the NYPD despite their policy differences. He reiterated that he does not intend to let the distraction impede his administration’s priorities.

“My focus in my conversations with Commissioner Tisch is on delivering public safety and doing so in tandem with justice for New Yorkers across the five boroughs,” he said. “The apology was one that she conveyed to the team. I appreciated it, and my focus is back on delivering.”

The NYPD also issued a statement through spokesperson Brad Weekes, amplifying Tisch’s reassurance to the public. “I understand the fear in the Jewish community. My sincere belief is that the mayor-elect will live up to the commitment he’s made to be a mayor for all New Yorkers, including the Jewish community.”

The apology was prompted by comments made the previous night by Benjamin Tisch, billionaire CEO of Loews Corporation, during the Met Council’s annual gala at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Attendees told the New York Daily News that Tisch’s decision to brand Mamdani an “enemy” stunned the room, especially given that Commissioner Tisch had recently agreed to continue serving under the incoming administration.

One witness described the crowd’s reaction succinctly: “It was just like, ‘wow, he’s actually going to go there.’” Benjamin Tisch has offered no public explanation or follow-up since the event.

Mamdani — a democratic socialist and outspoken critic of Israel’s policies — has repeatedly denied accusations that his political positions amount to antisemitism, even as he has faced sustained attacks from groups aligned against him. The Tisch family as a whole invested heavily in efforts to defeat him during the 2025 mayoral race, donating over a million dollars to super PACs supporting Andrew Cuomo, according to the Daily News. Commissioner Tisch did not participate in those donations.

In an earlier interview with the outlet, Mamdani said of their policy disagreements: “The two of us will not shy away from the fact that we hold disagreements on certain issues… but I also believe that these disagreements are not only reconcilable, but they are the sign of a healthy partnership to come.”

The uproar arrives at a pivotal moment for the incoming administration, with Mamdani set to take office on January 1 — just weeks away from the start of his term and his effort to set a steady tone amid early political turbulence.

{Matzav.com}

Leading Israeli rabbonim have issued a strongly worded public letter condemning a new employment trend in which chareidi women have begun working in a particular field. The letter, titled “And He Shall See No Unseemly Thing in You, and Turn Away From You,” warns that such work is inappropriate and violates long-standing standards of tznius.

The rabbonim expressed alarm over reports from Tzefas that chareidi women have recently begun working as drivers in public transportation. “With great concern we have heard about a new phenomenon taking place here in our holy city of Tzefas, where chareidi women are serving as drivers in public transportation,” the letter begins.

They stressed that, historically, “many of the great leaders of Israel have prohibited women from driving vehicles altogether and viewed it as a serious breach in the boundaries of modesty.”

The letter then intensifies its tone, arguing that becoming public-transportation drivers represents a further decline. “It never occurred to us that they would descend even more steps backward, to serve as drivers in public transportation. In truth, this is not fitting even for non-Jewish women, and even the more refined among them would not degrade themselves with such a lowly job — and all the more so, infinitely more so, for chareidi women,” the rabbonim wrote.

They added that several severe halachic and modesty concerns are intertwined with this type of work, saying some individuals “do not feel the seriousness of the prohibitions involved. This contradicts entirely the Torah’s guidelines for modesty.”

The letter also warns of spiritual consequences, stating: “Woe to us on the Day of Judgment, woe to us on the Day of Rebuke, if we do not erect a wall around this matter, so that it should not be seen or found among the daughters of Israel, lest judgment befall us because of it.”

In their concluding appeal, the rabbonim urge immediate withdrawal from the profession. “We hereby call upon those who have already been tempted into this degrading job to abandon this improper path immediately and seek other forms of employment in accordance with modesty and halacha. We ask that all who are able do everything within their power to stop this destructive development from spreading among the Jewish people.”

The letter is signed “in pain and fear for the suffering of the holy Shechinah.”

{Matzav.com}

Singer Meidad Tasa—once one of the most iconic child performers in the golden era of Jewish music—celebrated his 32nd birthday on the program “Ba Ba’Arba,” where he sat down for a candid conversation with host Kobi Brummer. The two spoke openly about Tasa’s personal growth, his musical aspirations, his struggle with stage fright, and the emotional legacy left behind by his late brother.

Brummer opened the interview by admitting he struggled to believe Tasa had reached age 32. Tasa laughed and replied, “People always said I look young, but I’ve learned a lot about life. I’m at the age of ‘lev’—thirty-two… I feel like my heart has become stronger.” He said that although he has matured personally and professionally, “I still feel like the same kid—just with more experience and stability.”

During the discussion, Tasa revealed the classic song he dreams of reviving. “‘Adon Olam,’ the greatest of them all… a song people loved that somehow disappeared,” he said. He hinted that he will soon release a special rendition of another piece but declined to reveal which one.

The singer also offered advice to anyone facing stage fright. According to him, fear comes from uncertainty. “We’re afraid of the unknown. The first step is to acknowledge the fear. When you ignore it, you stay stuck,” he explained.

In one of the most emotional moments of the interview, Tasa spoke about his brother Aviel, who tragically passed away in a mikvah in Bnei Brak. “He was a true tzaddik. He immersed in the mikvah every day, he learned in the Beis Shmaya yeshiva, he ran a charity fund, and he used to strengthen students without anyone knowing,” Tasa said. He shared that he often bought his brother new tzitzis, and that Aviel left him with a lasting message: treat every person with dignity. “At big concerts, I would stop and listen to a child asking for something. That came from him. That’s my only real possession—the way you treat another human being.”

As the interview wrapped up, Tasa was asked about the musical figures who shaped his style. “I took something from everyone,” he said. “From Avraham Fried, I learned vocal control and stage presence. From Chaim Yisrael, the old-style Mizrachi trills.”

What would he have done if he hadn’t become a singer? Tasa answered without hesitation: “I would want to be a pianist. To play, play, play—and forget about the world.” Torah study in kollel, he said, is his life’s anchor, but music—especially the piano—gives him a space for creativity, expression, and emotional breath.

{Matzav.com}