Matzav

The Binyamin Regional Council confirmed Tuesday night that reserve soldier Yonah Ephraim (Efi) Feldbaum was killed during a confrontation with Hamas terrorists inside the Gaza Strip. Feldbaum, a 37-year-old resident of Zayit Raanan-Neria, leaves behind his wife, Shulamit, and their five children.

“With deep sorrow, we announce the death in battle of Yonah Ephraim (Efi) Feldbaum, a resident of Zayit Raanan-Neria in Binyamin. Efi, 37, a father of five, lived in the community and worked as a contractor in the area. During the war, he dedicated his skills to meaningful reserve service in the Gaza Strip. Efi is the 59th fallen soldier from the Binyamin Regional Council,” the council’s statement read.

Feldbaum was remembered by neighbors and friends as a man whose devotion to his people and his land defined every part of his life. “Efi was well known and deeply loved throughout the region. He was heavily involved in developing young communities. Efi was deeply connected to the land of Israel and fell while defending it,” members of his community shared, describing him as both a builder in life and a defender in battle.

Yisroel Gantz, who heads the Binyamin Regional Council and serves as chairman of the Yesha Council, offered a moving tribute. “Efi fought on the front lines of the war in Gaza and continued even after the ceasefire was declared – despite repeated violations by Hamas terrorists. On behalf of all Binyamin residents, I extend my condolences to his wife Shulamit, his children, and the entire family. Thanks to Efi’s bravery and sacrifice, the people of Israel will prevail.”

Military officials said Feldbaum was part of an IDF engineering team operating in Rafah when terrorists ambushed their unit. The attackers reportedly emerged from a tunnel system in the Jenina neighborhood and began firing, including RPG rounds, directly at the soldiers.

{Matzav.com}

On the eve of President Donald Trump’s arrival in South Korea, North Korea launched a salvo of sea-to-surface cruise missiles from its western coastline, reigniting tensions across the region. State media confirmed the launch took place Tuesday morning, adding that the missiles were fired from the Yellow Sea and remained in flight for more than two hours.

The country’s KCNA news agency reported that top military figure Pak Jong Chon supervised the operation, hailing “important successes” in the regime’s efforts to strengthen its “nuclear forces” for deterrence. The statement underscored Pyongyang’s ongoing determination to advance its weapons program even as diplomatic efforts remain frozen.

Observers noted the conspicuous absence of Kim Jong Un, who did not attend the test. KCNA made no reference to the North Korean leader in its reports—just as it omitted his name during coverage of last week’s hypersonic missile launch—an unusual move that has sparked speculation about his whereabouts and level of involvement.

Trump, who is expected in Seoul on Wednesday, has said he would “love to meet” Kim Jong Un during his visit. The two leaders met three times during Trump’s first presidency—first in Singapore, then in Hanoi, and later at the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. While their encounters made headlines around the world, they ultimately failed to produce a lasting agreement on denuclearization.

So far, Pyongyang has offered no official reaction to Trump’s overture for a possible meeting. Analysts note that the timing of the latest missile test may be a calculated message to Washington and Seoul as Trump’s trip approaches.

Over the past year, North Korea has dramatically ramped up its missile activity. In early November, the regime fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea, following an announcement that it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile—a move that drew sharp condemnation from South Korea, the United States, and Japan.

Despite the diplomatic overtures of years past, Kim Jong Un’s rhetoric has grown increasingly hostile since the end of Trump’s first term. Still, last month, he struck a rare personal tone, remarking that he has “good memories” of Trump—but firmly reiterated that his nation will “never lay down our nuclear weapons.”

{Matzav.com}

Hamas’s military arm announced on Tuesday that it had supposedly uncovered the bodies of two Israeli hostages, Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch, somewhere inside the Gaza Strip. The terror group released the statement hours after a new wave of confusion surrounding its ongoing manipulation of hostage information.

Just hours earlier, Hamas had reneged on its pledge to return the body of an Israeli hostage. The group claimed the decision was in response to an IDF airstrike that followed an incident in Rafah, where Hamas gunmen opened fire on Israeli soldiers engaged in engineering work near the border area.

On Tuesday morning, Israeli authorities confirmed that the body transferred by Hamas the previous night was not that of a newly identified hostage at all. Instead, the remains were determined to belong to Ofir Sarfati, a hostage who had already been retrieved and laid to rest nearly two years ago, exposing yet another act of deceit by the terror organization.

Following a thorough forensic investigation at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine, Israeli experts confirmed that the remains indeed matched those of Sarfati, closing the loop on what officials described as another cruel Hamas fabrication meant to sow confusion and pain.

{Matzav.com}

A senior Agudas Yisroel party official sharply criticized the newly revealed draft of the government’s proposed conscription law on Tuesday night, deriding it as “Atias’s nonsense.”

Speaking to B’Chadrei Chareidim, the senior figure said, “This isn’t a draft law — it’s nonsense. Atias wrote a draft for Bismuth just to create the illusion that there’s progress, but in practice, it’s an extremely problematic proposal we can’t possibly accept.”

He accused the move of being politically motivated: “The goal of publishing this draft is to bring Shas back into the government. The law imposes sanctions on yeshiva students and sets unrealistic enlistment targets. It doesn’t even have the attorney general’s approval and will end up being canceled within three years. So what will we have accomplished? They want us to lend our support to a bad law, only for an even worse one to replace it in a few years. Netanyahu must fulfill his commitment and present the version he promised us.”

Criticism of the bill was not limited to the chareidi parties. Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, a former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, quipped: “When I look at this law, I realize those who dismissed me were right — I don’t have the talent to invent a draft-dodging scam in the middle of a war for our survival while our reservists are collapsing.”

Likud MK Dan Illouz also blasted the proposal: “This isn’t a Likud law — it’s a Shas law. It won’t draft chareidim, it will alienate the serving public that votes for us, and it will hurt Likud heading into the next elections. The only law we should be promoting is simple: whoever serves gets benefits from the state; whoever doesn’t — doesn’t. Across all sectors, from day one, for life. Period. I still hope Bismuth will present a true Likud law on Monday, not one that caves to chareidi politicians.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid was even harsher: “This isn’t a draft law — it’s a disgraceful draft-dodging law in full. If this draft moves forward, not one chareidi will enlist. It’s a slap in the face to soldiers, families, the wounded, and the fallen. If they continue pushing this through, in the next government every chareidi who doesn’t show up at the induction center won’t get a single shekel from the state.”

The draft law, prepared by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth (Likud), includes a system of personal and gradual sanctions for those who receive a draft order and fail to report. Under the proposal, those who evade service would immediately lose state benefits, be barred from obtaining a driver’s license until age 23, and be prohibited from leaving the country. They would also lose eligibility for academic scholarships, government employment, housing subsidies, and other benefits if annual enlistment targets are not met.

The committee’s legal adviser, Attorney Miri Frenkel-Shor, sent Bismuth initial feedback, including a recommendation to raise the first-year enlistment target from 4,800 to 5,760 recruits, arguing that the previous target was outdated.

The draft outlines increasing recruitment benchmarks — 5,760 in the second year, 6,840 in the third, 7,920 in the fourth, and ultimately half of each chareidi age cohort after five years.

While the clause setting quotas for combat roles was removed, the bill expands recognition of “civil-security national service,” such as volunteering with rescue organizations, as part of the annual service targets.

The definition of “chareidi” was also narrowed: anyone who studied in a yeshiva for at least two years would be counted within the chareidi population under the law — a move intended to include dropouts still associated with the community.

Restrictions such as the driving license ban would apply only to new draft evaders, not retroactively. Travel restrictions abroad would also end at age 26, to address legal objections to a broader ban.

The public debate on the law was postponed to next week — officially at the request of Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu, who asked for more time to review the draft, but also due to a request from the chareidi parties not to hold the discussion alongside the massive “Million Man Rally” scheduled for Thursday in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the IDF is expected to establish a special committee to oversee implementation of the new draft law, composed of a retired rabbinical court judge, a former IDF Chief Rabbi, and several senior army officers. The committee will review whether the army is meeting its obligations to create appropriate service tracks for chareidim and to reach the targets established in the law.

The law specifies that biometric fingerprint enforcement will not be used.

{Matzav.com}

In a rare gesture, President Donald Trump sent a personal letter of bracha to the Rebbe of Bobov-45 in honor of the inauguration of the Chassidus’s massive new bais medrash in Boro Park, which was dedicated just before the Yamim Noraim.

The letter, which reached the Rebbe during Chol Hamoed but was only revealed publicly this week, was delivered through Rabbi Dovid Katz, a close associate of the president.

In his message, President Trump extended warm congratulations to the Rebbe and his chassidim upon the milestone inauguration, noting that the new bais medrash stands as a continuation of the legacy of the Rebbe’s illustrious grandfather, Rav Shlomo of Bobov zt”l. The president praised the enduring impact of Rav Shlomo’s efforts in rebuilding chareidi Judaism in America after the devastation of the Holocaust.

{Matzav.com}

While recounting his harrowing months in Hamas captivity, released hostage Bar Kuperstein revealed a chilling yet extraordinary exchange between his mother and one of his captors, an encounter that left the terrorist speechless.

Kuperstein held up a bracelet his mother had worn throughout his imprisonment — engraved with the words, “My son is always in the hands of the Creator.” He explained that during his captivity, “one of the terrorists called my mother and told her she was not doing enough to free me and that if she wanted to see me again she needed to go out, file complaints at The Hague and really fight.”

The militant’s attempt to terrify her failed completely. “He tried to frighten her with psychological warfare and expected her to answer stammering or in fear,” Kuperstein said. “And she simply told him the following sentence: ‘My son is not in your hands but always in the hands of the Creator – and you are also in the hands of the Creator.’”

According to Kuperstein, the Hamas member was caught off guard. “There was a moment of silence because the terrorist did not know what to answer and then he replied, ‘Well done, madam.’ Since then that has been the slogan that accompanies us.”

{Matzav.com}

A broadcast debate turned explosive after the Israel Police released a controversial video likening rowdy soccer fans to Palestinian rioters, igniting sharp reactions and a fiery exchange between journalist Josh Breiner and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Breiner accused the police of intentionally inflaming tensions with the video, calling it “provocative.” His remarks quickly drew a direct and angry response from Ben-Gvir, who joined the live discussion to defend his policies and blast what he viewed as distorted reporting.

Tensions escalated when Breiner cited comments made by released hostages who had said, “We were beaten because of Minister Ben-Gvir.” Ben-Gvir immediately fired back, charging that “Josh isn’t the only one adopting the Hamas narrative,” before shouting, “I’m not willing to let Hamas spokesmen go on air.” Moments later, the live segment was abruptly cut off.

Defending his approach to managing security prisoners, Ben-Gvir scoffed at the suggestion that his policies had hardened Hamas’s stance. “There’s a narrative that because of me Hamas became tougher. Really? Without me, they’d be giving the hostages manicures and pedicures, and the terrorists would be swimming in a swimming pool all day. Give me a break.” He added emphatically, “Terrorists were treated in prisons like it was a five-star hotel – I changed the rules.”

When the discussion turned to racist chants at soccer matches, the minister brushed off the criticism. “I’ve heard Beitar Jerusalem fans chant against Ahmad Tibi – and they’re right. What’s racist about that? Ahmad Tibi – it’s good that fans shout against him. I’m not saying to attack anyone, but if they shout ‘This is Eretz Yisrael’ at Ahmad Tibi, there’s no problem. That’s not racism.”

Outraged panelists accused him of fueling division and incitement, but Ben-Gvir refused to back down. “Absolutely not. I stand by what I said. Ayman Odeh supports terror – period. I would expect the Attorney General to indict them, and personally, I’d send them to Syria.”

Addressing the uproar over the police video that started the controversy, Ben-Gvir claimed ignorance of its content but defended the force. “I haven’t seen the video. Don’t hate the police – they work day and night for you, for me, for all our children. The police are allowed to release a video against those who throw flares and fireworks at them.”

As the debate wound down, Ben-Gvir offered a message aimed at unity — albeit on his own terms. “Come to the soccer games, come enjoy yourselves. In the end, we are all brothers – religious, secular, right-wing, left-wing – we’re all brothers. Ayman Odeh is not my brother; he’s a terror supporter, I’m sorry.”

{Matzav.com}

A draft version of MK Boaz Bismuth’s proposed Chok HaGiyus (Conscription Law) has been revealed, unveiling sweeping revisions to earlier proposals. The bill, backed by Shas and Degel HaTorah, formally enshrines the status of yeshiva students and significantly eases both recruitment expectations and punitive measures.

Bismuth, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, was slated to present the bill this week but postponed the hearing after Prime Minister Netanyahu requested additional time to review the draft. According to the leaked document, the new version diverges sharply from the version submitted by ousted committee chairman MK Yoav “Yuli” Edelstein.

The committee’s legal adviser, Miri Frenkel-Shor, is reportedly opposed to several of the bill’s clauses and is expected to present her objections in the coming days.

Formal Recognition of Yeshiva Students

The opening clause of the bill represents a major ideological shift. While Edelstein’s version emphasized equality in military service, Bismuth’s explicitly recognizes Torah study as a vital national value. The law’s stated purpose is “to establish arrangements that will regulate the status of yeshiva students whose Torah is their profession, in recognition of the importance of Torah study.”

Alternative Service Options

The proposed legislation allows chareidi men to fulfill their national duty through security-oriented national service rather than exclusively through the IDF. However, such service will count for only 10% of the overall recruitment targets, ensuring that most quotas are still tied to the army.

Terminology Change: “Yeshiva Students” Deleted

Where Edelstein’s draft spoke of recruiting “yeshiva students,” Bismuth’s bill replaces this with “graduates of chareidi educational institutions.” The clause now reads: “The government shall act to recruit those designated for military service from among graduates of chareidi educational institutions, for regular military service or security-related civilian service.”

Reduced Sanctions

Unlike Edelstein’s version, which imposed sweeping sanctions even when recruitment goals were met, Bismuth’s draft applies financial penalties—namely, cuts to yeshiva budgets—only if the community fails to meet targets after one year. The law would therefore protect funding for compliant institutions.

Combat Quotas Removed

Edelstein’s proposal required that 35% of recruits from the chareidi sector serve in combat or combat-support roles. Bismuth’s version eliminates that clause entirely, stating only that quotas will pertain to overall enlistment figures, regardless of service type.

Redefining “Chareidi” Eligibility

Edelstein’s law defined a chareidi recruit as one who studied in a religious institution for three years between ages 14 and 18. Bismuth’s bill lowers that threshold to just two years.

Surveillance and Oversight Relaxed

A further modification removes Edelstein’s controversial fingerprint attendance-tracking requirement. Instead, the bill substitutes periodic audits in place of biometric monitoring. The text specifies that inspections will be conducted “by a supervisor” rather than “through biometric attendance registration.”

If passed, the Bismuth bill would mark a historic milestone in legally safeguarding the status of Torah learners, reshaping the debate over military service exemptions and redefining the government’s approach to the chareidi community’s integration into national frameworks.

{Matzav.com}

In a move that surprised many in the chareidi world, the Peleg Yerushalmi group announced on Tuesday that it will not participate in the massive unity rally scheduled for Thursday in Yerushalayim.

The decision, which came under the directive of Rav Azriel Auerbach, was explained as a principled refusal to join an event that could create the impression that the group supports pending draft legislation. Rav Auerbach reportedly instructed his people that their place on Thursday will be in the batei medrash and kollelim, not in the streets.

According to statements released in his name, “Since the demand of authentic Torah Judaism is to restore the original arrangement of Toraso umnaso, and the organizers of the rally are not standing firmly on this point, I cannot instruct participation in such a gathering.”

The upcoming rally is meant to be a broad display of unity among all Torah-observant groups, drawing tens of thousands under the banner of defending the dignity of Torah learners.

Meanwhile, rally organizers revealed the official logo for the event, themed “Za’akas HaTorah” — “The Cry of the Torah.” The logo features bold yellow lettering on a dark blue background, with the phrase “Za’akas HaTorah” framed by two Etz Chaim scrolls representing a Sefer Torah. Below it appears the inscription: “The assembly of the multitudes of Klal Yisroel against the persecution of the Torah world in Eretz HaKodesh — 8 Cheshvan 5786, Yerushalayim.”

In a statement, the organizing committee said: “Forty-eight hours before the Za’akas HaTorah rally against the persecution of Torah scholars in Eretz HaKodesh, the public relations team is releasing the official logo that will accompany all event materials. The design reflects the united outcry of faithful Jewry against the campaign of harassment targeting Torah learners.”

Preparations are continuing in full force for the massive prayer gathering, which is scheduled for Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the entrance to Yerushalayim.

{Matzav.com}

As previously reported, the box delivered to Israel on Monday night contained only part of the remains of Ofir Tzarfati,  the same hostage whose body the Israeli military says it recovered in early December 2023.

The military now says that the episode in eastern Gaza City was a contrived spectacle, Times of Israel reports. Here are the details:

Operatives moved remains into a prepared pit, buried them, and then pretended to unearth the body in front of Red Cross staff. The IDF released drone footage on Tuesday showing the sequence of events and saying the clip proves the display was staged.

The video, the military added, shows Hamas fighters carrying a body bag out of a building, depositing it into a large hole and tamping earth over it before later digging the bag up with an excavator and dumping it nearby. Red Cross representatives then arrived as dirt was thrown onto the bag, and the operatives exposed the corpse while one of them took photos on his phone.

WATCH:

“Contrary to Hamas’ claims of difficulties locating the bodies of the deceased hostages, yesterday Hamas operatives were documented removing body remains from a structure that had been prepared in advance and burying them nearby,” the IDF said in a statement.

“Shortly thereafter, the Hamas terror organization summoned representatives of the Red Cross and staged a false display of discovering a deceased hostage’s body,” the military added, saying the footage “clearly shows that the Hamas terror organization is attempting to create a false impression of efforts to locate the bodies, while in fact holding deceased hostages whose remains it refuses to release as required by the agreement.”

The IDF continued: “This is accompanied by false claims of shortages in engineering equipment, equipment that is clearly unnecessary for the transfer of remains, and therefore these claims do not constitute an obstacle to the return of the remaining deceased hostages.”

Tzarfati — who was snatched from the Nova music festival during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, while celebrating his 27th birthday — was declared dead a month later. The military says his body had been recovered in the Gaza Strip on December 1 and returned to Israel for burial at that time; relatives say seeing the new footage “is a wound that constantly reopens.”

“Once again, deception has been inflicted upon our family as we try to heal,” Tzarfati’s family said in a statement. “This morning we were shown video footage of our beloved son’s remains being removed, buried, and handed over to the Red Cross — an abhorrent manipulation designed to sabotage the deal and abandon the effort to bring all the hostages home.”

News of the staged handover prompted voices from across the political map to demand immediate action. The Prime Minister’s Office called the episode “a clear violation of the agreement,” and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu scheduled an emergency security meeting to weigh Israel’s response.

Israeli media reported one option under consideration is extending the IDF’s control by moving the so-called Yellow Line that divides Gaza, giving the military authority over more territory as leverage to pressure Hamas to release additional remains; Channel 12 said the United States is open to the idea.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum — which has urged pausing the US-backed truce until the bodies are returned — demanded an urgent meeting with Netanyahu and called for decisive measures. “Hamas’s repeated violations and the IDF’s documentation prove what we have known and stated clearly and unequivocally: Hamas knows the location of the hostages and continues to act with contempt, deceiving the United States and mediators while dishonoring our loved ones,” the forum said in a statement. “The Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations.”

Families of other slain captives echoed the outrage. Ruby Chen, father of American-Israeli soldier Itay Chen whose body remains in Gaza, told Ynet on Tuesday, “This agreement isn’t good, that’s the lesson. Hamas has no incentive to transfer all the slain hostages to Israel.” He added, “What is the government of Israel doing right now? They should dedicate their energy and their thought to what we’ll do to change the equation. We shouldn’t lose this window of opportunity.”

Far-right ministers called for an all-out return to the campaign to eliminate Hamas. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted on X: “The fact that Hamas continues to play games and does not immediately transfer all the bodies of our fallen is in itself evidence that the terror organization is still standing,” and continued, “Now we don’t need to ‘exact a price from Hamas’ for the violations. We need to exact from it its very existence, and destroy it completely, once and for all — in accordance with the central goal defined for the War of Revival.”

Writing to the prime minister, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanded an urgent security-cabinet session to map “forceful and determined responses” to what he described as repeated ceasefire breaches. “Against the backdrop of Hamas’s repeated violations of the ceasefire terms and the first stage of President Trump’s plan, and against the backdrop of the lack of progress in its dismantling and the demilitarization of Gaza, I request that you urgently convene the security cabinet today for a discussion in order to formulate a package of forceful and determined responses, and to ensure our adherence to the central objective of the war: the destruction of Hamas and the removal of the threat emanating from Gaza toward the citizens of Israel,” Smotrich wrote.

On X, Smotrich proposed a concrete punitive step: rearrest “all of the terrorists released to [the West Bank] as part of the hostage deal.” Under the agreement Israel freed 250 prisoners serving life sentences along with roughly 1,700 Gazans held after the October 7 attack — some sent to the West Bank, some to Gaza and others abroad.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett — seen by many as Netanyahu’s most credible electoral challenger — added his voice to calls for decisive action: “Hamas is a cancer. Hamas must be destroyed,” he said in a statement.

{Matzav.com}

Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni paid a visit today to the yeshiva bochurim who have been jailed in a military prison for refusing to enlist, strengthening and encouraging them during their ordeal. This marks the first time a chareidi Knesset member has personally visited the imprisoned bochurim.

Following the visit, Gafni delivered a sharp statement: “It is a great stain on the State of Israel that someone who studies Torah is arrested and thrown into prison. This is an unbearable and unconscionable reality, and we will do everything possible to free them from here and bring them back to their yeshivos so they can continue learning Torah.”

Over the past week, Gafni has been actively working for the release of the detained yeshiva students. He has also sent a strong message to the Prime Minister’s Office warning that the continued arrests and imprisonment of Torah learners could lead to the complete collapse of the coalition by the chareidi parties.

{Matzav.com}

Yerushalayim police are preparing for extensive road closures and heavy congestion ahead of Thursday’s massive Atzeres Ha’achdus, expected to draw tens of thousands of participants from across Israel.

According to a police statement, hundreds of officers and Border Police units will be stationed throughout the city’s entrances and key intersections to maintain order, ensure the safety of attendees and residents, and manage traffic flow.

As part of the coordinated security plan with event organizers, Highway 1—the main route connecting Yerushalayim and Tel Aviv—will be completely closed to private vehicles in both directions from 12:00 p.m. until the rally concludes. The closure will extend from Latrun to the Givat Shaul and Givat Sha’ar HaGai areas, including Route 16 and the main Yerushalayim entrance.

Entry to the city will only be permitted for organized buses, which will be directed to designated drop-off points near Givat Shaul and Givat Sha’ar HaGai.

Drivers exiting Yerushalayim will be able to use the Har Ha’arazim tunnel, Route 16, or Route 443, which will remain open to private vehicles. Public transportation leaving the city will operate until 3:00 p.m. through the Har Ha’arazim terminal only. Within Yerushalayim, access roads around the city’s entrances and central areas will be blocked, with additional closures possible as needed. Police have warned that severe traffic delays are expected throughout the day.

Authorities have instructed drivers and participants not to attempt reaching the rally by private car but instead to use only the organized transportation provided. Any attempt to block key routes or disrupt traffic will be treated as a criminal offense. Police have further prohibited the lighting of fires, use of flammable objects, or operation of drones without prior authorization.

Motorists are advised to avoid traveling toward Yerushalayim from early morning, use navigation apps for real-time updates, and follow police directions at all times.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sent an urgent letter to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on Tuesday, pressing him to immediately assemble the cabinet to decide how Israel should respond to Hamas’s latest ceasefire breaches.

“Against the backdrop of Hamas’s repeated violations of the ceasefire conditions and the first phase of President Trump’s plan,” Smotrich wrote, “and against the backdrop of the lack of progress in dismantling and demilitarizing Gaza, I request that you urgently convene the cabinet today.”

Smotrich stressed that the meeting’s goal must be to design a decisive strategy that reaffirms Israel’s commitment to victory. He said the government must “formulate a firm and determined package of responses and to ensure our adherence to the central objective of the war – the destruction of Hamas and the removal of the threat emanating from Gaza toward the citizens of Israel.”

The finance minister emphasized that Hamas’s latest conduct leaves no room for silence. “We will not allow Hamas to mock the citizens of Israel and to cynically and cruelly play with the feelings of the families of the hostages,” he declared.

His appeal came shortly after officials confirmed that the body Hamas returned on Monday night was not among the 13 murdered hostages the terror group was obligated to hand over—further deepening anger across Israel and prompting Smotrich’s urgent call for immediate action.

{Matzav.com}

For the thirteenth time, Democrats on Tuesday blocked a measure that would have reopened the federal government, prolonging a shutdown that threatens essential services across the country.

Speaking to The New York Post, Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed frustration over the stalemate, saying there was a straightforward solution to prevent millions of Americans from losing access to food assistance. “The simplest way to end it and the simplest way to make sure that people are getting the food assistance they need is to pick up the bill and give us five votes,” Thune said.

He added that once that happens, “And we’ll, we’ll send it to the president. It’ll be signed into law.”

Despite the urgency, the Senate failed to pass the measure in a 54-45 vote, extending the shutdown’s economic toll and leaving vulnerable families in limbo.

Roughly 42 million Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for help buying groceries. Because of the ongoing government shutdown, their next monthly payments will be delayed and will not be distributed on Shabbos, Nov. 1.

{Matzav.com}

Amazon announced Tuesday that it will eliminate 14,000 corporate positions — one of the largest workforce reductions in the company’s history — as it continues restructuring under CEO Andy Jassy’s push for efficiency.

Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, revealed the sweeping layoffs in a company blog post, describing the decision as part of the ongoing transformation to run Amazon “like the world’s largest startup.” She emphasized that while the company remains strong financially, the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed the way Amazon operates.

“This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones),” Galetti wrote. She explained that in order to keep pace, Amazon must be more agile, cutting through layers of management and redirecting resources toward areas with the most growth potential.

The restructuring will affect roughly 4% of Amazon’s corporate staff — about 14,000 out of its 350,000 white-collar workers — though the company will continue to employ over 1.5 million people worldwide. Galetti said that while some divisions will see cuts, Amazon will keep hiring in strategic departments focused on innovation and emerging technology.

The move reflects Jassy’s multi-year effort to make Amazon leaner, more disciplined, and faster to adapt. Since the pandemic-era surge faded, Amazon has been trimming costs, eliminating underperforming ventures, and restructuring management. Jassy’s initiatives have included tightening budgets, streamlining operations, reducing bureaucracy, and requiring employees to return to the office full-time.

Amazon’s cost-cutting campaign gained momentum after 2022, when demand normalized and profits tightened following the company’s aggressive expansion during the pandemic. Jassy had warned earlier this year that AI-related efficiencies would likely lead to workforce reductions. In June, he said Amazon’s adoption of advanced automation would “shrink certain functions,” foreshadowing the current layoffs.

The company’s retail and cloud divisions have already seen hiring freezes and job losses this year, part of a broader trend among major technology firms adjusting to the AI boom. Microsoft cut around 15,000 positions in 2025, with CEO Satya Nadella urging staff to “remain focused on its three core priorities: security, quality, and AI transformation.” Meta has also laid off employees, telling some departments that their roles are being replaced with automated systems.

Amazon’s internal memo to staff elaborated on the changes:

“I want to let you know that we’re making organizational changes across Amazon that will impact some of our teammates. There will be communications from leaders to those teams and individuals today, but we also wanted to share the broader context about what’s happening and why. Last year, Andy posted a note about strengthening our culture and teams — explaining how we want to operate like the world’s largest startup, the importance of having the right structure to drive that level of speed and ownership, and the need to be set up to invent, collaborate, be connected, and deliver the absolute best for customers. Many of you have put significant effort into that work of strengthening your organizations by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and helping reduce bureaucracy. We’re already seeing the results, with teams moving faster and many Amazonians feeling more ownership, and the S-team and I appreciate all the work you’ve done. The reductions we’re sharing today are a continuation of this work to get even stronger by further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs. While this will include reducing in some areas and hiring in others, it will mean an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles. We’re working hard to support everyone whose role is impacted, including offering most employees 90 days to look for a new role internally (the timing will vary some based on local laws), and our recruiting teams will prioritize internal candidates to help as many people as possible find new roles within Amazon. For our teammates who are unable to find a new role at Amazon or who choose not to look for one, we’ll offer them transition support including severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits, and more. Looking ahead to 2026, as Andy talked about earlier this year, we expect to continue hiring in key strategic areas while also finding additional places we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realize efficiency gains. Some may ask why we’re reducing roles when the company is performing well. Across our businesses, we’re delivering great customer experiences every day, innovating at a rapid rate, and producing strong business results. What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones). We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business. I don’t know of any other company with the breadth of Amazon, the number of exciting bold bets we’re making, and all the ways we can make customers lives better and easier around the world. I’m inspired by what I see across the company every day, and the S-team and I appreciate all that you do. Beth.”

{Matzav.com}

In a brazen act of defiance, the Hamas terror organization declared Tuesday night that it would not hand over the body of an Israeli hostage it had murdered, claiming its decision was a response to what it called Israel’s “violations” of the ceasefire.

Earlier in the day, Hamas gunmen broke the truce by firing on IDF forces stationed in Rafah, prompting Israeli troops to respond with gunfire and targeted artillery strikes against the terrorist group’s positions in southern Gaza.

After holding urgent security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the IDF to “immediately carry out forceful strikes” across the Gaza Strip, ordering a swift and powerful response to the renewed aggression and the terror group’s blatant breach of the ceasefire deal.

Just hours before the attack, Hamas had announced plans to return the body of a slain hostage at 8 p.m. that evening, in accordance with the terms of the temporary agreement. That promise, however, was abruptly rescinded following their new wave of hostilities.

Adding to the growing outrage, the IDF earlier on Tuesday released video footage revealing that Hamas terrorists had secretly buried body parts belonging to murdered hostage Ofir Tzarfati — whose body had already been brought back to Israel in a rescue operation two years prior. After burying the remains, the gunmen staged a fake “discovery” and passed them to Israel through the Red Cross to falsely suggest compliance with the deal.

Under the existing ceasefire arrangement, Hamas was obligated to return every hostage, living or deceased, within 72 hours. While the group has so far released 20 living captives, only 15 of the 28 murdered hostages have been returned. Thirteen bodies remain in Gaza, held by Hamas in ongoing violation of the agreement.

After years of warning that rising global temperatures could trigger an unprecedented global catastrophe, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has dramatically shifted his outlook, writing that climate change “will not lead to humanity’s demise.”

The billionaire philanthropist, who has poured billions of dollars into climate-related ventures, published a blog post this week urging environmental advocates to abandon what he called a “doomsday outlook” that relies on fear to convert skeptics.

“Although climate change will have serious consequences — particularly for people in the poorest countries — it will not lead to humanity’s demise,” he wrote. “People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future.”

Gates, now 70, has been one of the world’s most prominent voices on global warming, penning the 2021 bestseller How to Avoid a Climate Disaster and warning at the time that climate change “could be worse” than the COVID-19 pandemic. But in his latest comments, he emphasizes a shift in focus: “we should measure success by our impact on human welfare more than our impact on the global temperature.”

That recalibration represents a major break from his earlier rhetoric, when he declared that preventing a climate catastrophe “will be one of the greatest challenges humans have ever taken on — greater than landing on the moon, greater than eradicating smallpox, even greater than putting a computer on every desk.”

Through his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the centibillionaire has spent vast sums funding projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions — including research into controversial technologies designed to dim the sun and reflect its rays away from Earth.

Gates also addressed long-standing criticism of his personal carbon footprint. The tech mogul often flies to climate conferences aboard his $70 million private jet, which burns roughly 450 gallons of fuel an hour. He conceded the irony, writing that he compensates for those emissions “with legitimate carbon credits.”

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu directed the IDF to unleash “immediate and powerful strikes” across Gaza on Tuesday, responding to what Israel described as a brazen Hamas attack on its forces.

Reports from The Times of Israel said Hamas fighters opened fire on Israeli troops positioned in Rafah early in the day, setting off intense exchanges of gunfire and heavy shelling in the southern part of the Strip.

According to Netanyahu’s office, “The attack from Hamas was a clear violation of the peace-deal secured by President Trump earlier this month, which demanded an immediate cease-fire within Gaza.” The statement accused the terror group of undermining the fragile agreement and reigniting hostilities that had barely paused.

The prime minister convened an urgent meeting with military and security officials, during which he authorized the latest wave of air and ground responses. Officials said the decision came after “Hamas’ repeated violations,” including its “failure to release the bodies of the 13 remaining hostages in Gaza — including Israeli-Americans Itay Chen, 19, and Omer Neutra, 21.”

{Matzav.com}

A newly unearthed video has ignited controversy around New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani, showing the Muslim socialist anti-Semite comparing the NYPD to the Israeli military in a speech laced with conspiracy rhetoric.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” declared Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman, during his address at the 2023 Democratic Socialists of America national convention, where he served as keynote speaker.

Watch the video here.

The footage captures Mamdani speaking passionately about connecting international struggles to local grievances. “We are in a country where those connections abound. Especially in New York City, you have so many opportunities to make clear the ways in which that struggle over there is tied to capitalist interests over here,” he said.

He went on to insist that people will only care about world issues if they’re tied to their everyday realities. “For anyone to care about these issues, we have to make them connected,” he said, before repeating his inflammatory claim. “We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.” He concluded, “We have to make it materially connected to their lives.”

The statements came during a panel discussion titled “Socialist Internationalism: The Solution to the Crisis of Capitalism,” where Mamdani outlined his vision of tying “hyperlocal” politics to broader global movements.

Since launching his mayoral campaign, Mamdani has been trying to downplay his record of radical statements and mend fences with the NYPD. He now insists that his views have evolved since 2020, when he labeled the department “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety” and backed calls to “defund the police.”

In a bid to project moderation, Mamdani has even pledged that, if elected, he would retain current Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch — a move seen by many as a calculated attempt to reassure law enforcement supporters.

Yet, police leaders remain unconvinced. Veteran officers have dismissed his newfound friendliness toward the force as opportunistic. Among them is Ray Kelly, the longest-serving NYPD commissioner, who made headlines this week for endorsing ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo instead of Mamdani.

As Mamdani’s remarks continue to circulate, critics say the footage exposes his true ideology — one that paints New York’s police officers as villains trained by Israel’s army, and raises serious questions about what kind of leadership he would bring to City Hall.

By Jonathan S. Tobin

In electoral politics, as in war and sports, the best defense is always offense. And like any skillful politician, Zohran Mamdani has been on the offensive throughout the course of his run for mayor of New York City.

When faced with criticism of his longstanding affiliation with antisemitic groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and the Democratic Socialists of America as well as opposition to the existence of the one Jewish state on the planet, he has two standard responses.

One is to talk past the issue by blandly claiming that, as mayor, he would protect Jewish New Yorkers against antisemitism. The other is to question the morality and decency of anyone who dares to point out that his entire political career is rooted in support for Israel’s destruction and those working to achieve that genocidal goal.

The former is utterly disingenuous. He has been vocal in his encouragement of the mobs on college campuses and elsewhere who target Jews and chant for their genocide (“From the river to the sea”), as well as call for terrorism against Jews everywhere (“Globalize the intifada”), which he won’t disavow.

Breathtaking mendacity

Such breathtaking mendacity is enough to satisfy those who already support the Democratic Socialist candidate’s bid to lead the world’s largest Jewish city outside of Israel. The ploy is simple. Just accuse those who have the temerity to hold him accountable for his antisemitism of engaging in Islamophobia.

In a society founded on principles of equality, calling someone a bigot is a devastating attack. Doing so has become especially effective in an era when victimhood has become the greatest political prize. And few groups have been more skillful in claiming that status than American Muslims.

At the heart of this claim is a myth about the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Muslims have been speaking as if they, and not the nearly 3,000 persons murdered by Islamists on that awful day, were the real victims of Al Qaeda’s assault on America.

And that’s why the recent dustup between Vice President JD Vance and Mamdani about 9/11 victimhood is not a meaningless kerfuffle or, as many Democrats and liberal journalists seem to be asserting, one more piece of evidence of the Trump administration’s racism and insensitivity. To the contrary, it betrays exactly how Mamdani and other supporters or fellow travelers of Islamist extremism and antisemitism have been able to mainstream their particular form of hate by accusing their critics of being prejudiced.

Vance is being bashed in the legacy media for a post on X in which he pointed out that a recent speech by Mamdani centered on calling his critics Islamophobes rested on a particularly deceitful reference to 9/11. As Vance put it, “According to Zohran, the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks.”

Mamdani said Vance’s comment was inappropriate. “This is all the Republican Party has to offer,” he retorted. Cheap jokes about Islamophobia so as to not have to recognize what people are living through, attempts to pit peoples’ humanity against each other.”

But Vance was exactly right.

For more than two decades, Muslim extremists and their apologists like Mamdani have been alleging that America was swept by a wave of Islamophobia after 9/11. That theme was enabled in part by a laudable concern on the part of then-President George W. Bush that the response to Islamic extremism should not turn into unfair targeting of American Muslims. Unfortunately, his attempts to claim that those Muslims who hate the West and support Islamists were a small minority that misrepresented their religion—and repeated insistence that “Islam is a religion of peace”—were inaccurate.

No evidence to back it up

But while people like Mamdani continue to float unverifiable allegations of prejudice against Muslims, the plain fact of the matter is that there has never been any empirical evidence of such a backlash against American Muslims. On the contrary, FBI hate-crime statistics over the last 24 years have consistently shown that anti-Muslim crimes have been relatively few and overwhelmingly outnumbered by those committed against Jews. Indeed, in the FBI’s latest report, nearly 70% of religion-based hate crimes committed in the United States were against Jews, despite the fact that they make up less than two percent of the population.

But that has never stopped those who purportedly represent Muslims, whether the openly antisemitic Council on America Islamic Relations (CAIR) or politicians like Mamdani, from asserting that Muslims are suffering disproportionate and widespread discrimination in the United States.

This started out as an attempt to flip the narrative about 9/11, such as when opposition to an attempt to build a mosque in the footprint of one of the buildings in the shadow of the World Trade Center that was destroyed by the attack was falsely portrayed as prejudice against Muslims. By claiming that Arabs and Muslims were suffering discrimination because of anger about the Islamist assault on America, the entire discussion shifted.

Rather than seeing the issue of the religion-based hatred of jihadist Muslims for the West, America and the Jews not as mere unkindness, but one that resulted in mass murder, liberal journalists—and apologists like CAIR, obsessed with anecdotal evidence of anti-Muslim discrimination—deemed anyone with a justified fear of Islamic terrorism after 9/11 to be a narrow-minded bigot.

In the last decade, Islamophobia also became a talking point for those who sought to silence criticism of the way in which CAIR and other members of the red-green alliance of Marxists and Islamists engaged in open antisemitism in the course of their agitation against Israel. Jewish groups and individuals, as well as non-Jewish supporters of Israel and the Jews, were targeted and denounced as Islamophobes. But in almost every case, all they were actually guilty of was pointing out that Israel-bashers were engaged in Jew-hatred, as they advocated for Israel’s eradication, denied Jewish history and rights and appropriated the memory of the Holocaust in order to falsely demonize Jews.

Post-Oct. 7 tactics

This dishonesty became even more blatant after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Many Muslims and their left-wing allies celebrated what was the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust because they hated Israel. Echoing the language of toxic leftist ideas about race, falsely branded Jews as “white” oppressors and the Jewish state as a nation that had no right to exist.

It is no exaggeration to say that this fraudulent and hateful stand is at the core of Mamdani’s political identity. When he spreads blood libels about Jews committing “genocide”—as he did just last week in the final mayoral candidate debate— while opposing the right of the Jewish people to their own state in their historic homeland and won’t condemn calls for genocide and terrorism against Jews, he’s engaging in behavior that is intrinsically antisemitic. But instead of owning up to his prejudice and that of those who share his views, he bemoans the way Muslims are treated and says that anyone who notices his antisemitism is an Islamophobe.

This is enormously popular among Muslims and also appeals to the left-wing intersectional base of the Democratic Party—and its journalist cheerleaders—who believe the war that Islamists are waging against the West is a function of a racial conflict in which victimized people of color are “resisting” white oppressors. In this way, Islamist terrorism is justified, while Jewish and American victims are erased.

No one should be targeted for his or her religious faith or ethnic identity. And the only people who should be blamed for Islamist terrorism are those who commit and support it. But the idea that American Muslims are in the crosshairs of a vicious backlash based on religious prejudice is still a myth. And those “pro-Palestinian” activists like Mamdani who support a war against the Jews deserve to be identified and held accountable for it.

Gaslighting the Jews

The purpose of promoting the dubious claim that Islamophobia is spreading is clear. It is a perfect example of gaslighting, as it is almost only used when it concerns efforts to identify the hate for Jews that is mainstream in the Arab and Muslim communities. Through this endeavor, the real hatemongers get to play the victims of prejudice, while the victims of their hatred are wrongly accused of being bigots.

The phenomenon is particularly egregious as Jews confront the likelihood of Mamdani—whose public career has revolved around antisemitism—becoming the mayor of New York City. The message they are getting from media outlets like The New York Times that are promoting this false narrative about Mamdani is that to raise the question of Muslim antisemitism is to be an Islamophobe.

If New York is to elect an antisemite as the city’s mayor, let’s be clear about what those seeking to clear the path for such an outcome are doing. Their goal is much like the tone that has characterized coverage of the post-Oct. 7 war against Hamas, in which terrorist propaganda and lies are treated as truth, and the truth about the genocidal goals of Israel’s opponents is sent down the Orwellian “memory hole.”

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