Matzav

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid sharply escalated his rhetoric on Monday against the chareidi public and its rabbinic leadership, accusing them of delegitimizing the Israel Defense Forces and demanding what he described as unequal treatment in the wake of the October 7 attacks.

Speaking at the opening of a faction meeting of his Yesh Atid party, Lapid addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding remarks made by Yitzchok Goldknopf, chairman of United Torah Judaism, as well as statements by chareidi rabbinic figures opposing military conscription. Lapid claimed that chareidi leaders are “not asking for an exemption from army service, but for an exemption from bereavement.”

Lapid said Goldknopf appeared before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee a day earlier and compared sanctions on draft evaders and deserters to the yellow badge imposed on Jews during the Holocaust. “My father wore a yellow badge,” Lapid said. “A 13-year-old Jewish boy sitting in the Budapest ghetto while the Nazis wanted to kill him. My grandfather was murdered in the cold and snow in a concentration camp. My grandfather never harmed a single person in his life. He was a small, overweight man, not important at all. They put a yellow badge on him and murdered him because he was a Jew.”

He went on to cite a gathering of roshei yeshiva that took place the same day, where Rav Menachem Tzvi Berlin reportedly said that the Israel Defense Forces and those who support enlistment were “no better than Hitler.” Lapid said no senior rabbinic figures present objected to the comparison. “Hitler murdered a million and a half Jewish children,” Lapid said. “And he stood there and compared him to the IDF, and no one stood up and said, ‘Sir, Jews do not speak this way.’”

Lapid delivered some of his harshest words directly at the chareidi leadership. “How dare you?” he said. “How dare you compare the Israel Defense Forces to the Nazis? If there were no IDF, we would all have been dead long ago like my grandfather. What kind of Judaism is this? What happened to ‘Its ways are ways of pleasantness’? Since when do Jews speak to one another like this?”

Addressing the broader national burden of military service, Lapid said, “At some point you’ll have to understand: we’re not trying to fight with you, we’re trying to live with you. But it’s impossible to continue when our children are dying and yours are not.” He added, “You’re not asking for an exemption from enlistment. You’re asking for an exemption from bereavement. You’re asking for an exemption from the knock on the door at four in the morning. We can’t give you that anymore. Not after October 7.”

Lapid also focused on the economic dimension of the dispute, claiming that draft evasion imposes a massive financial burden on the public. “We also can’t continue with a situation where we fund draft evasion to the tune of 60 billion shekels every year,” he said. “Every working family transfers 1,700 shekels a month to draft evaders.”

Concluding his remarks, Lapid said his party was offering an alternative vision. “What we’re proposing instead is shared lives and a shared Israeli story,” he said. “We have no problem with you being chareidi. That is your full right. But it does not exempt you from the obligations that apply to every Israeli citizen — to serve, to study, and to work. It does not exempt you from sharing the fate of this people. And stop talking about the Holocaust. It does you no honor, it does not honor the Torah, it cheapens the Holocaust, and it gives ammunition to antisemites against the Jewish people.”

{Matzav.com}

Israeli officials are increasingly wary that Tehran could misread Israel’s intentions and act first, even if Israel has no plans to strike. In recent days, Israel’s political and security leadership has convened a series of consultations focused on regional threats, with particular attention to Iran, Kan 11 News reported.

As part of efforts to lower the temperature, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin to pass messages to Iran stressing that Israel is not seeking an attack, according to the report, which cited diplomatic sources. The messages were said to have reached Tehran recently, including through direct phone conversations between Netanyahu and Putin, amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

Speaking Monday during a session of the Knesset, Netanyahu said Israel had already made its position clear to Tehran, warning that any aggression would be met forcefully. “If we are attacked, the consequences will be severe,” he said.

During the same session, Netanyahu also addressed Iran’s strategic capabilities, declaring, “[US President Donald] Trump and I will not allow Iran to restore its ballistic missile industry and nuclear program.”

He went on to add, “We identify with the struggle of the Iranian people. We may be standing at a crucial moment. If we are attacked, the consequences for Iran will be very serious.”

Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported Sunday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had begun a wide-ranging military drill that included missile launches and air defense system tests. The exercise was said to be taking place in multiple locations across the country, including Tehran and Shiraz.

Concerns about the drills were echoed earlier this month in Western and Israeli reporting. Two weeks ago, Axios correspondent Barak Ravid reported that Israeli officials had cautioned the Trump administration that an IRGC missile exercise could be a precursor to an attack on Israel.

One day before that, Iran International cited Western intelligence sources who said they had detected “unusual aerial activity” by the IRGC’s Aerospace Force, adding to regional unease over Iran’s military posture.

{Matzav.com}

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said that he sees the U.S. mission that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro as a success, openly criticizing fellow Democrats for attacking President Donald Trump over the operation.

Appearing on Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Fetterman expressed frustration that Democrats who long demanded Maduro’s removal are now condemning the Trump administration after the goal was achieved.

“I don’t know why we can’t just acknowledge it’s been a good thing what’s happened. I’ve seen the speeches from, whether it’s Leader Schumer or kinds of past tweets from President Biden,” he said, referencing recent remarks by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and earlier statements from Joe Biden when he was out of office.

“We all wanted this man gone, and now he is gone. I think we should really appreciate exactly what happened here,” Fetterman added.

Schumer, however, warned over the weekend that “launching military action without congressional authorization and without a credible plan for what comes next is reckless.”

The criticism echoed earlier attacks from Biden, who in 2020 accused Trump of posturing on Venezuela while praising strongmen abroad. In a social media post that year, Biden charged that Trump talked “tough” on the country but admired “thugs and dictators like Nicolas Maduro.”

Those past remarks, Fetterman said, only highlight the inconsistency in the current Democratic response. He questioned why the party refuses to acknowledge what he views as a clear achievement.

“I salute our military, what they’ve done,” he said on Fox News. “That was really surgical and precise and very efficient — so why we can’t celebrate these kinds of things?

Fetterman also said Maduro’s removal could mark a turning point for Venezuela itself.

“And now I’m open to the good opportunities, a better future for Venezuela after this happened,” he said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinforced that argument during a Sunday appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, noting that the U.S. government itself had previously placed a multimillion-dollar bounty on Maduro’s capture.

“In the Biden administration, they had a $25 million reward for [Maduro’s] capture,” Rubio told NBC host Kristen Welker.

“So, we have a reward for his capture, but we’re not going to enforce it?” he asked.

Rubio also responded to complaints that Congress was not notified ahead of the mission. He said secrecy was essential because the operation depended on specific conditions and any leak could have put it at risk.

“We called members of Congress immediately after. This was not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on,” Rubio told reporters during a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida.

“It was a trigger-based mission in which conditions had to be met. Night after night, we watched and monitored that for a number of days. So it’s just simply not the kind of mission you can call people and say, ‘Hey, we may do this at some point in the next 15 days,’” he said.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is accusing fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina of nudging President Donald Trump into a foreign policy move that Paul says contradicts the president’s long-held views, following the U.S. operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.

Speaking with reporters on Monday, Paul said Graham was a driving force behind the decision to deploy U.S. special operations forces to Caracas, arguing that Graham successfully pushed the president toward an action Trump had historically resisted.

According to Paul, the mission clashes with Trump’s repeated opposition to regime-change efforts and overseas nation-building, positions the president has emphasized throughout his political career.

“This is Lindsey Graham,” Paul said. “Lindsey Graham has gotten to the president.”

Paul said Trump has consistently warned that removing foreign governments rarely ends well, pointing to numerous public statements in which the president criticized such interventions.

“I saw a clip — there’s like 20 clips — of [Trump] saying he’s not for regime change, and how regime change has always gone wrong,” Paul said.

“Somehow, they’ve convinced him it’s different if it’s in our hemisphere.”

Paul warned that the episode reflects the rising sway of more interventionist Republicans within the party, singling out Graham as a leading voice shaping Trump’s approach to Venezuela and foreign policy more broadly.

Graham, meanwhile, has been open for years about his desire to see Maduro ousted from power. His frustration surfaced publicly last month after War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers during a classified briefing that removing Maduro was not being actively pursued at that time.

“I want to know what’s going to happen next,” Graham said after that briefing.

“Is it the policy to take Maduro down? It should be, if it’s not.

“If he goes, what’s going to happen next?” Graham asked. “I’d like a better answer as to what happens when Maduro goes.”

After Maduro was taken into custody over the weekend, Graham applauded the outcome and framed it as a potential turning point for leftist governments across the region.

“As I have often said, it is in America’s national security interest to deal with the drug caliphate in our backyard, the centerpiece of which is Venezuela. With Maduro’s capture, the drug caliphate is moving toward collapse,” Graham wrote in a post on X.

“Free Cuba,” Graham added.

{Matzav.com}

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President Trump said Monday that American energy companies could be active in Venezuela far sooner than many expect, predicting that operations could begin within a year and a half — and possibly even earlier.

“I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News.

According to the president, the financial burden would initially fall on the private sector. “A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue,” he said.

Trump’s comments came in the wake of a U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. Following that development, the president said the United States would maintain a role in the country “as it pertains to oil.”

He explained that before any large-scale drilling can resume, American firms would first need to overhaul Venezuela’s deteriorated oil infrastructure, which has suffered years of neglect and mismanagement.

At present, Chevron is the only major U.S. oil company still operating in Venezuela.

Other major players exited long ago. ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil pulled out nearly two decades ago after then-president Hugo Chávez nationalized foreign-owned energy assets.

Trump said the scale of investment required would be massive. “It’ll be a very substantial amount of money,” he said. “But they’ll do very well.”

“And the country will do well,” the president added.

He also argued that restoring Venezuela as a major oil producer would have broader economic benefits for the United States. “Having a Venezuela that’s an oil producer is good for the United States because it keeps the price of oil down,” Trump said, adding that expanded drilling would “reduce oil prices.”

Trump said that while his administration did not notify U.S. oil companies in advance of the military operation, discussions had been taking place in more general terms. Officials had been “talking to the concept of, ‘what if we did it?’” he said.

“The oil companies were absolutely aware that we were thinking about doing something,” Trump said. “But we didn’t tell them we were going to do it.”

Looking ahead, Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to meet later this week with executives from Exxon and ConocoPhillips to discuss Venezuelan oil, according to Bloomberg News.

NBC News, citing a White House official, reported that Wright has been assigned to lead the administration’s efforts to restore and rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure.

{Matzav.com}

All are asked to be mispallel for Rav Dovid Magid, formerly rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva of Bayonne, NJ, who is in need of rachamei Shomayim after suffering a medical episode on Motzoei Shabbos.

Rav Magid was transported for medical care following the incident, and family members have since asked that his condition be kept in mind during tefillah.

The rosh yeshiva‘s name for Tehillim is Elchonon Dovid Aryeh Leib ben Itta Faiga.

{Matzav.com}

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani moved Monday to tamp down speculation at City Hall after an executive order he signed prompted talk that New York City’s police commissioner had been sidelined.

The rumors began circulating after Mamdani’s first-day order granted his first deputy mayor, Dean Fuleihan, oversight authority over the New York City Police Department. Some observers read the move as a demotion of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, leading to widespread chatter that her standing in the administration had been reduced.

Mamdani addressed the issue publicly, insisting that the reporting structure at the top of the department remains unchanged.

“My police commissioner will continue to report directly to me,” he said while speaking to reporters at an unrelated event.

The order signed on New Year’s Day placed the New York City Police Department within the first deputy mayor’s portfolio for day-to-day administrative matters, a framework that had been common under earlier city leaders.

That structure was altered under Mayor Eric Adams, who instead created a first deputy mayor for public safety role and had the police commissioner report through that office — a position that had not existed since the 1990s.

Phil Banks, who served in that public safety role under Adams, later came under scrutiny for allegedly interfering in police operations and ultimately stepped down amid a wide-ranging federal corruption investigation.

Although Mamdani’s order largely reverted the NYPD to a previous bureaucratic arrangement, it was interpreted by some as a dramatic shakeup that could weaken the department’s independence. Additional speculation spread that Mamdani had stopped receiving daily intelligence briefings from the police commissioner.

Those concerns led the National Jewish Advocacy Center to send a sharply worded letter to the mayor, particularly in light of its earlier objections to Mamdani rescinding executive orders related to antisemitism.

Tisch has been viewed by many inside and outside City Hall as a stabilizing influence within Mamdani’s democratic socialist administration. Both she and the mayor have acknowledged disagreements on certain policy issues, including matters connected to Israel.

Pressed again about the order, Mamdani emphasized the distinction between administrative supervision and ultimate accountability.

“My police commissioner, just like my schools chancellor, will report directly to me,” he said.

“The executive order is in terms of the question of coordination. This is about the daily minutiae of coordination.”

{Matzav.com}

Federal officials moved Monday to halt more than $10 billion in social services and child care funding to several Democrat-led states, citing concerns that taxpayer dollars were improperly diverted to non-citizens, according to administration sources, the NY Post reports.

The funding freeze affects California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York, with the Department of Health and Human Services set to pause distributions from three major federal programs: the Child Care Development Fund, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and the Social Services Block Grant.

The largest portion of the freeze involves TANF, with approximately $7.35 billion slated to be withheld from the five states. An additional $2.4 billion in CCDF funding will also be blocked, along with roughly $869 million from the Social Services Block Grant program.

Administration officials said the decision would be formally communicated through letters sent Monday to each state, outlining concerns that benefits were fraudulently provided to non–U.S. citizens.

The action follows earlier scrutiny of state-administered programs. More than six years ago, the HHS Office of Inspector General determined that New York City improperly charged the federal government over $24.7 million for child care subsidies.

Minnesota has been a particular focus of federal investigations. In December, HHS sent letters to Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey questioning whether billions in taxpayer funding had unlawfully helped “fuel illegal and mass migration,” a development first reported by The Post. Those inquiries were followed by investigations launched by the Treasury Department and the House Oversight Committee into a growing fraud scandal involving nonprofits tied to the Somali community in the Twin Cities.

According to the Pew Research Center, Minnesota was home to about 130,000 illegal migrants as of 2023, up roughly 40,000 from 2019 and accounting for about 2% of the state’s population. The state’s Somali diaspora exceeds 100,000 people, most concentrated in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area.

Federal prosecutors have already obtained dozens of convictions connected to a $250 million fraud scheme involving Feeding Our Future, a Somali-linked organization accused of using stolen funds to buy luxury vehicles and real estate. First Assistant Minnesota U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson has alleged the scope of the fraud is far larger, claiming as much as $9 billion may have been skimmed.

“What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes. It’s staggering, industrial-scale fraud,” Thompson told reporters in a Dec. 18 news conference.

Public attention intensified after YouTuber Nick Shirley visited about 10 child care centers that collectively received $111 million in taxpayer funds. Subsequent reporting by the Minnesota Star Tribune found that fewer than half of those facilities appeared to be operating.

Gov. Walz addressed the issue Monday during a press conference in which he also announced he was ending his bid for a third term.

“We cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we can’t earn the public’s trust,” the Minnesota Democrat said, before criticizing President Trump and his “allies in Washington.”

“We’ll win the fight against the fraudsters, but the political gamesmanship we’re seeing from Republicans is only making that fight harder,” he added.

President Trump responded with a Truth Social post later Monday, accusing Walz and others of massive corruption.

“Minnesota’s Corrupt Governor will possibly leave office before his Term is up but, in any event, will not be running again because he was caught, REDHANDED, along with Ilhan Omar, and others of his Somali friends, stealing Tens of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars,” Trump wrote.

“I feel certain the facts will come out, and they will reveal a seriously unscrupulous, and rich, group of ‘SLIMEBALLS,’” the president added.

“Governor Walz has destroyed the State of Minnesota, but others, like Governor Gavin Newscum, JB Pritzker, and Kathy Hochul, have done, in my opinion, an even more dishonest and incompetent job. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”

Democratic lawmakers sharply criticized the funding freeze. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York denounced the move as politically motivated.

“To use the power of the government to harm the neediest Americans is immoral and indefensible,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “This has nothing to do with fraud and everything to do with political retribution that punishes poor children in need of assistance. I demand that President Trump unfreeze this funding and stop this brazen attack on our children.”

Officials in several affected states said they had not yet received formal notification. A spokesperson for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said “the state has not been officially notified of any changes to these funding sources,” adding that if accurate, “it would be awful to see the federal government targeting the most needy families and children this way.”

A representative for California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration likewise said the state had not been given guidance on funding changes, but emphasized that California is “committed to safeguarding the integrity of all child care subsidy payments and takes any potential misuse of funds seriously.”

{Matzav.com}

Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Chairman Simcha Rothman said his party would oppose a proposed military draft law if it proves to be a political façade, warning that the High Court of Justice should not interfere in legislative matters.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with journalist Yishai Cohen on the Kikar HaShabbat studio program, Rothman addressed his ongoing confrontation with Israel’s judicial system, the judicial overhaul he sought to advance, the so-called “Qatargate” affair, remarks made by former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, the controversy surrounding the draft law and the status of yeshiva students, and the possibility that the High Court could order the dismissal of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Rothman sharply rejected Barak’s recent claim that Israel is no longer a liberal democracy and is instead ruled by a single individual. According to Rothman, “The system really is being run by one person — and that person is Yitzchak Amit, who involves himself in every issue even when he has no authority to do so. But this is coming to an end. I think Yitzchak Amit knows it’s ending, and so does Aharon Barak. Their one-man rule is over, and that’s why we’re hearing these cries of alarm.”

Rothman also said he does not recognize Amit as president of the Supreme Court, stressing that Amit currently serves only as acting president under the law. “He’s sitting there as an acting president, and that’s fine — that’s what the law provides,” Rothman said. “The committee that selected him — who convened it? Was it convened by a lawfully elected chair? These are basic questions.”

Turning to the possibility that the High Court of Justice could order Ben-Gvir removed from office, Rothman urged Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to ignore such a ruling if it is issued. “Under no circumstances,” Rothman said. “If Netanyahu makes it clear from day one that he will not comply with such a delusional, exhausting, and unlawful ruling, that is what matters here. If a court says it doesn’t care about the law and the government obeys it anyway, then the responsibility lies with the government. You must not listen to an illegal ruling like that — it’s a blow to democracy.”

Rothman also launched an attack on Supreme Court justices often described as conservatives, arguing that no such category truly exists on the court. He singled out Justice Noam Sohlberg, saying that while some have labeled him conservative, Rothman always viewed him as merely “less activist.” Rothman criticized Sohlberg’s silence amid recent judicial developments, calling it “shocking” and accusing him of a lack of leadership. “With the level of leadership he is showing today,” Rothman said, “I don’t think he’s suitable to serve as president of the Supreme Court at all.”

Addressing the contentious draft legislation, Rothman emphasized that he would abide by the decision of his party faction. “I was very clear,” he said. “Support or opposition to the law — I will accept whatever decision my faction makes. As Simcha Rothman, I am not demanding anything personally. The same body that made life-and-death decisions, such as hostage releases — I said I will stand with my faction.”

He added that, on a personal level, he would favor a return to the Tal Law framework or treating chareidi yeshiva students similarly to religious women who are exempt from military service on religious grounds. Rothman concluded with a warning that if the draft law turns out to be an “Isra-bluff” — a hollow compromise — his party will not support it.

{Matzav.com}

Emotional scenes were recorded this week in Afula, when a special delegation from Hatzalah and the Gilboa regional unit visited the home of a local resident who was seriously injured in last Friday’s deadly terror attack and survived against the odds.

The visit was intended both to strengthen the survivor and to complete a powerful “closing of the circle” with the volunteers who were among the first to arrive at the scene and administer the initial, life-saving medical care.

Among those attending were Afula Mayor Avi Elkabetz, Rav Ben Tzion Kook, Gilboa regional coordinator for Hatzalah Mendy Itzkovitz, and paramedics Moshe Dachs and Yossi Farber. The two medics were among the earliest responders to reach the scene of the attack and, with exceptional presence of mind, provided rapid and professional treatment during the most critical minutes—actions credited with saving the victim’s life.

The survivor, visibly moved as he welcomed the delegation into his home, shared his reflections on the ordeal. “Only afterward did I truly understand how critical every single second was,” he said. “I thank you for being there not only at the scene, but also at the hospital and in supporting my family. I was given my life as a gift.”

Gilboa regional coordinator Mendy Itzkovitz emphasized the mission that drives the organization. “Saving lives is our calling,” he said. “I thank the mayor and the city leadership for the ongoing cooperation and assistance that allow our volunteers to drop everything and respond immediately when lives are on the line.”

Hatzalah Director-General Yaakov Yuzef added that the meeting encapsulated the essence of the organization’s work. “This encounter illustrates the ‘why’ behind everything we do,” he said. “All the logistical investment, the equipment, emergency vehicles, and wide deployment converge into moments like this. It’s not a slogan—it’s the daily reality of saving lives. The direct bond between volunteers and those they rescue is part of our DNA and reflects, in practice, the supreme value of preserving life as a daily mission.”

Mayor Avi Elkabetz concluded the moving gathering by praising the close cooperation between the city and emergency responders. “This event is living proof of how vital rapid response times are,” he said. “The combination of advanced equipment and devoted Hatzalah volunteers is what saved a life here.”

{Matzav.com}

An online entry edited within hours of the Trump administration’s dramatic operation against Venezuela took aim not at the mission’s outcome, but at its framing. A Wikipedia page devoted to Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, was quickly updated to characterize the event as an “abduction,” drawing attention for its wording almost as soon as the news broke.

President Trump publicly confirmed that U.S. forces, working alongside American law enforcement agencies, had carried out the operation that removed Maduro from power. “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

According to reporting by Breitbart News, the mission came against the backdrop of years of U.S. efforts to bring Maduro to justice. American authorities had placed a $50 million reward on information leading to his arrest or conviction, reflecting the seriousness of the charges leveled against him.

Those charges date back to a 2020 U.S. indictment accusing Maduro of playing a central role in the Cartel of the Suns, an alleged cocaine trafficking network tied to senior Venezuelan officials. Prosecutors said the organization sought to “flood” the United States with cocaine as part of a campaign to harm the country, according to Breitbart News correspondent Christian K. Caruzo.

Breitbart has also reported that Maduro retained control in Venezuela through what it described as a series of sham presidential elections, while remaining a fugitive from U.S. justice on multiple narco-terrorism counts.

The operation itself unfolded dramatically late Saturday, when explosions rocked Caracas. In the aftermath, Maduro and Flores were “captured and flown out of the country,” marking a decisive end to his rule and setting off a fresh political dispute — not only over the strike itself, but over how the episode is being described online.

{Matzav.com}

Federal health authorities announced a sweeping change Monday to the nation’s childhood immunization guidance, cutting back the list of vaccines routinely recommended for children and leaving some shots, including those for influenza, to parental discretion without explicit federal direction.

According to the New York Times, “Federal health officials on Monday announced dramatic revisions to the slate of vaccines recommended for American children, reducing the number of diseases prevented by routine shots to 11 from 17.”

Officials involved in the revision stressed that the updated schedule does not eliminate access to any vaccines and will not affect insurance coverage, emphasizing that families can still obtain all recommended immunizations if they choose.

Despite those assurances, medical professionals reacted with alarm, warning that scaling back official recommendations could discourage vaccination, lower immunization rates, and lead to the return of preventable diseases.

“The announcement is a seismic shift in federal vaccine policy, and perhaps the most significant change yet in public health practice by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, who has long sought to reduce the number of shots American children receive.”

The move follows a directive issued in December by President Donald Trump, who asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to study how other countries structure their vaccine recommendations and to explore whether the U.S. schedule should be revised to more closely mirror international approaches.

{Matzav.com}

A four-year-old jab from Joe Biden aimed at President Donald Trump suddenly returned to center stage this weekend, after Trump authorized the arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro on drug-trafficking and terrorism charges — a move that set off sharp reactions across the political spectrum.

The remark, originally posted in June 2020 in response to an Axios report, resurfaced rapidly as critics and supporters alike revisited Biden’s earlier assessment of Trump’s Venezuela policy.

“Trump talks tough on Venezuela, but admires thugs and dictators like Nicolás Maduro,” Biden wrote at the time.

“As President, I will stand with the Venezuelan people and for democracy,” Biden added.

Following the dramatic weekend operation at Miraflores, Maduro’s official residence, conservatives — joined by at least one left-leaning activist — circulated the comment as an example of what several users described as rhetoric that “aged like milk.”

“A tweet that did not age well,” Fox News host and former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany commented.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, now running for governor, reacted bluntly.

“Whoops,” Tuberville wrote.

“And now, every Democrat is denouncing an operation to execute a federal warrant while we slept,” he added.

Tuberville went further, arguing that the backlash revealed a deeper problem.

“Democrats have no principles [and] it’s about whatever way the left wind is blowing to gain power,” he said.

“Yesterday’s margaritas with Kilmar Abrego Garcia is today’s Maduro,” Tuberville continued. “They’ll support a drug-trafficking dictator because this was another Trump win. Guaranteed.”

The Trump campaign’s “Rapid Response 47” account also amplified the moment, reposting Biden’s old message alongside an image of Maduro blindfolded aboard a U.S. government aircraft after his arrest.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Aaron Bernstine, whose Butler County district includes the site of Trump’s near-assassination in 2024, added a jab of his own.

“Has anyone called to see if Joe is still sleeping?” Bernstine asked.

One user replied by posting a clip of Earl Sinclair from the 1990s ABC sitcom Dinosaurs, showing the character dropping a glass in shock.

“This aged well,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, remarked of Biden’s earlier post.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee echoed that sentiment in a separate social media post, praising Trump’s approach.

“Doesn’t just talk tough, he is tough,” Blackburn said.

“Does Joe Biden have anything to say now?” she asked, as others noted that Biden himself had previously labeled Maduro a dictator and condemned his “human rights violations and extrajudicial killings.”

Former NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro drew a broader comparison.

“Wait. You mean ‘Don’t’ diplomacy didn’t get it done?” Mauro wrote.

He was referring to Biden’s widely replayed response when asked what message he would send Iran to deter interference in Israel.

“Don’t,” Biden said before exiting the stage at an event hosted by Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.

Critics also revisited moments from the Biden administration that appeared to soften its posture toward Caracas. In 2022, climate envoy John Kerry was filmed smiling and shaking hands with Maduro at the UN climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

When questioned about the interaction, Kerry spokesman Ned Price said the Venezuelan leader had “interrupted what was an ongoing meeting at COP27,” describing the encounter as “very much an unplanned interaction.”

Others pointed out that the initial bounty on Maduro was established in 2015 under Barack Obama and later increased by the Biden administration, before being doubled to $50 million under Trump.

Ja’Mal Green, a former Chicago mayoral candidate and community activist who once aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders but now identifies as “politically independent,” argued that Biden’s posture lacked follow-through.

“Joe Biden hated Maduro just as much. He just wasn’t bold enough to get him,” Green said.

“All [Biden] did was impose sanctions and never get the money owed. Democrats have to stop.”

Green accused the Biden administration of standing by while Maduro tightened his grip on Venezuela.

“Under Biden, he watched as Maduro slaughtered and oppressed the people of Venezuela. He watched as Maduro lost the election but still declared himself the winner. He then just allowed millions of Venezuelans to come to America to claim refuge, costing us hundreds of billions of dollars,” Green said, adding that he has also criticized Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson over the city’s handling of illegal immigration.

“Under Trump, Maduro FAFO. He swooped in and took him out of the country altogether,” Green said.

He concluded by framing the arrest as a necessary break from failed engagement.

“Regardless of our disagreements, sometimes diplomacy doesn’t work, and we must use aggression to free a nation. Trump freed Venezuelans today and I hope one day they can go home to a stable country.”

Green also mocked protests against Trump, saying the most bizarre reaction was from “socialist[s] crying about Trump taking Maduro” while accusing the president of seeking regime change.

“Maduro didn’t win the election. He’s only there because he took over the country,” Green said. “I thought y’all didn’t want kings.”

{Matzav.com}

Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back sharply at CBS News host Margaret Brennan after she challenged the Trump administration’s decision to limit its Venezuela operation to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, rather than dismantling the entire regime in one sweep.

The exchange unfolded Sunday on “Face the Nation,” where Brennan questioned why other indicted figures tied to the Venezuelan government were not taken into custody during the mission. “I’m curious because you just described the regime as still in place, essentially. I’m curious why the Trump administration decided to leave it intact and only arrest Nicolás Maduro and his wife,” she said.

As Brennan ticked off names of alleged regime associates who remain in the country, she underscored her skepticism. “I’m confused. Are they still wanted by the United States? Why didn’t you arrest them if you are taking out the narco-terrorist regime?”

Rubio immediately rejected the premise of her questions. “You’re confused? I don’t know why that’s confusing to you,” he replied, after Brennan insisted that regime figures were still holding power.

He went on to argue that expanding the operation would have dramatically increased risks and international backlash. “Yeah, but you’re going to go in and suck up five people? They are already complaining about this one operation. Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there four days to capture four other people,” Rubio said.

The secretary of state stressed that the mission focused on the highest-value target. “We got the top priority. The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country that he was not, and he was arrested, along with his wife, who is also indicted. And that was a pretty sophisticated and, frankly, complicated operation.”

“It was,” Brennan acknowledged.

Rubio then described the scope and danger involved in the raid itself, citing helicopter landings at Venezuela’s largest military base, the breach of Maduro’s residence, his arrest and removal from the country, all without American casualties or lost equipment. “That’s not an easy mission, and you’re asking me why didn’t we do that at five other places at the same time? I mean, that’s absurd,” he said.

Brennan later returned to her original concern, noting that other regime members remain inside Venezuela. “I’m asking why you chose that this was the limit of the military operation,” she said, prompting Rubio to again emphasize that Maduro had falsely claimed the presidency and was the primary objective.

According to U.S. officials, the Trump administration carried out a targeted nighttime operation on Jan. 3 that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were transported to the United States, where federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against them.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani moved swiftly after taking office to nullify a broad set of executive orders signed by his predecessor, Eric Adams, a decision that had the effect of canceling directives tied to antisemitism and Israel, according to a report by the New York Times.

The mayor framed the move as a matter of administrative principle rather than policy substance. By wiping out all Adams-issued executive orders dating back to September 2024, Mamdani was able to characterize the action as routine “good governance,” the report said.

Behind the scenes, however, advisers acknowledged that the elimination of two specific orders was always the objective. Those directives had formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism and barred mayoral appointees and agency staff from participating in boycotts or divestment campaigns targeting Israel. Advisors cautioned Mamdani that openly revoking those measures could provoke backlash from Jewish organizations, particularly after he had publicly pledged to take antisemitism seriously.

Mamdani’s legal team laid out two possible approaches. One option was to individually review each Adams-era order and rescind them selectively. The other was to cancel all of the orders issued during Adams’ final period in office. Mamdani opted for a hybrid approach, rescinding every executive order Adams signed after his corruption indictment in September 2024, effectively sweeping away the antisemitism- and Israel-related directives along with the rest.

The decision drew sharp condemnation from Jewish leaders in the United States. William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations, said: “Mayor Mamdani’s decision to cancel New York’s adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, along with related presidential orders aimed at addressing antisemitic discrimination, is a troubling indicator of the direction he is leading the city, just one day after taking office.”

Daroff warned that undoing the orders would weaken the city’s ability to confront a growing problem. “Its cancellation reduces New York’s ability to identify and respond to antisemitism at a time when the number of incidents continues to rise. New York City should clearly lead in moral integrity and determination in confronting antisemitism. This decision signals the opposite direction,” he said.

Criticism also came from Israel. Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli accused Mamdani of acting out of self-interest rather than principle. “It is no coincidence that one of Mayor Mamdani’s first actions was an attempt to cancel the IHRA definition of antisemitism. He knows very well that, according to that definition, he himself falls under the category of antisemitic,” Chikli said. “Instead of confronting reality, he is trying to change the rules.”

Chikli argued that the rollback went well beyond a single definition. “It does not stop there. At the same time, he is working to lift the ban on boycotts of Israel and to erase official statements made by his predecessor, a friend of Israel, Eric Adams, regarding antisemitism in New York. This is a systematic attempt to erase the fight against antisemitism and to legitimize extremist positions under the guise of social justice. The fact that such moves are taking place in New York City, the city with the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel, is a serious warning sign,” he added.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s energy minister has ordered preparations to sever utility services to facilities operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, invoking newly passed legislation to advance the move. The directive follows Knesset approval last week of a law sponsored by MKs Yulia Malinovsky of Yisrael Beytenu and Limor Son-Har-Melech of Otzma Yehudit that authorizes the disconnection of UNRWA public buildings from infrastructure services.

Under the instruction issued Monday, the Israel Electric Corporation and Yerushalayim’s water provider, “Hagihon,” were told to initiate the disconnection process and to dispatch advance warning notices ahead of any cutoffs. The notices are to be sent to UNRWA public buildings located in the Yerushalayim neighborhoods of Ma’alot Dafna and Kafr Aqab.

Energy Minister Eli Cohen described the step as part of a broader campaign to halt UNRWA operations, which he labeled a “terror supporter.” He also directed officials to identify additional UNRWA facilities and to proceed with full implementation of the new law as further locations are confirmed.

{Matzav.com}

A fire broke out today at a Bais Medrash Govoah residential development site on Cedarview Avenue in Lakewood, NJ drawing a response from local fire crews.

The incident took place inside one of the apartment buildings currently going up as part of a housing initiative intended for yungeleit.

Authorities confirmed that no one was hurt in the blaze.

Officials did not immediately disclose what sparked the fire.

The structure involved is part of a major construction effort launched by Bais Medrash Govoah on land it acquired several years ago from Georgian Court University.

The overall plan calls for six residential buildings that will together provide roughly 600 apartments for yungeleit once the project is finished.

{Matzav.com}