Matzav

The United States carried out an extensive wave of military strikes across Syria on Friday, hitting dozens of Islamic State-linked sites in response to a deadly assault on American personnel, according to US officials.

US Central Command said the operation struck more than 70 locations across central Syria, with Jordanian fighter jets assisting in the mission. A US official said the attacks involved F-15 and A-10 aircraft, Apache helicopters, and HIMARS rocket systems.

The strikes followed an attack last weekend in which two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in the central Syrian city of Palmyra. According to the US military, the assailant targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot and killed. Three additional US soldiers were wounded.

The Syrian Interior Ministry later identified the attacker as a member of Syria’s security forces who was suspected of sympathizing with Islamic State.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation focused on “ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites” and confirmed that the mission was designated “OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE.”

“This is not the beginning of a war — it ⁠is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue,” he added.

President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the Syrian government fully backed the US action and described the response as “very serious retaliation.”

Speaking later Friday night at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Trump characterized the strikes as a significant blow against those responsible for the December 13 attack on coalition forces. “We hit the ISIS thugs in Syria. … It was very successful,” Trump said.

A US-led coalition has intensified air and ground operations against Islamic State suspects in Syria in recent months, frequently coordinating with Syrian security forces as part of a broader effort to prevent the group from regrouping.

Jordan’s military confirmed its involvement, with state-owned television reporting Saturday that Jordanian aircraft struck Islamic State-affiliated sites in southern Syria as part of Amman’s cooperation with the coalition.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said the government remains committed to fighting Islamic State and ensuring that the group has “no safe havens on Syrian territory.”

Roughly 1,000 US troops are currently deployed in Syria.

Syria’s current leadership emerged from former rebel factions that overthrew Bashar al-Assad last year after a 13-year civil war. The government includes figures linked to Syria’s former al-Qaeda branch, which later broke away and fought Islamic State.

Damascus has continued to cooperate with the US-led coalition against ISIS, formalizing that coordination last month during a visit to the White House by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is expected to raise the possibility of renewed military action against Iran when he meets with President Donald Trump later this month, according to a report published today by NBC News, citing multiple officials familiar with the matter.

Sources told NBC that Israeli leaders are increasingly alarmed by what they see as Iran’s rapid efforts to restore and expand its ballistic missile manufacturing capabilities following the 12-day war between the two countries in June. Israeli officials reportedly believe that if left unchallenged, Iran could scale up missile production to as many as 3,000 units per month.

Those missiles, officials assess, would not only pose a direct threat to Israel but could also serve as a strategic shield, deterring Israeli action against Iran’s regional proxies or any renewed effort to strike Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure.

While Israel has long described Iran’s nuclear ambitions as an existential danger, officials quoted in the report said missile development is currently viewed as the more immediate threat.

“The nuclear weapons program is very concerning. There’s an attempt to reconstitute. [But] it’s not that immediate,” a source with knowledge of Israel’s plans told NBC News.

“The threat of the missiles is very real, and we weren’t able to prevent them all last time,” another source said.

Netanyahu and Trump are slated to meet at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida toward the end of the month. According to NBC, Netanyahu may use the meeting to outline several possible military scenarios, similar to options he has previously presented to the US president.

Those options were detailed earlier this week in a Washington Post report, which said the two leaders discussed potential strikes on Iran as early as February, during their first meeting after Trump’s return to office. At that time, Netanyahu reportedly laid out four possible approaches: a fully Israeli strike, an Israeli-led operation with limited US support, a joint Israeli-American attack, or a US-led assault.

NBC reported that a comparable menu of options could again be placed before Trump during the Florida meeting.

Israeli concerns are also fueled by intelligence assessments that Iran may attempt to leverage its missile arsenal to accelerate the rebuilding of its nuclear enrichment program, which suffered significant damage during the June conflict. That war saw Israel target Iran’s nuclear facilities, missile production sites, and senior figures connected to those programs, with the United States joining in the final days to strike hardened underground nuclear installations.

Iran has said that more than 1,000 people were killed by Israeli strikes during the fighting. Tehran responded by firing over 500 ballistic missiles and launching roughly 1,100 drones at Israel. According to Israeli health authorities, those attacks killed 32 people, wounded more than 3,000, and caused widespread destruction across multiple cities, leaving more than 13,000 residents displaced.

Despite the scale of the strikes, assessments of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program vary. Trump has said the program was “obliterated” by US action, while American and Israeli intelligence agencies have offered more restrained evaluations, suggesting Iran’s capabilities were set back by months or years, but not eliminated entirely.

David Barnea, the outgoing head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, warned this week that Tehran remains intent on reviving its nuclear ambitions.

“The idea of continuing to develop a nuclear bomb still beats in their hearts. We bear responsibility to ensure that the nuclear project, which has been gravely damaged, in close cooperation with the Americans, will never be activated,” he said.

The White House responded to the NBC report by reiterating Trump’s position on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Spokesperson Anna Kelly said: “As President Trump has said, if Iran pursued a nuclear weapon, that site would be attacked and would be wiped out before they even got close.”

Israel declined to comment directly on the report, and the Iranian mission to the United Nations also offered no response.

Iran continues to deny that it is seeking nuclear weapons, even as it enriches uranium at levels with no civilian justification, restricts international inspections, and expands its missile program. When the June war began, Israel said Iran had recently taken concrete steps toward weaponization, heightening fears in Jerusalem that the window for action could narrow quickly.

{Matzav.com}

By Jonathan S. Tobin

Intense scrutiny comes with high office.

So when someone like Vice President JD Vance makes a statement in an interview or posts a comment on social media about a hot topic, it inevitably becomes news. And when that topic is especially controversial—antisemitism, for instance—and he’s made little or no effort not to get mired in it, anything he winds up saying or writing is likely to feed speculation about where he really stands.

And that has been the case of late. When Vance denied that Jew-hatred is “exploding” among young conservatives in an interview with NBC News and then engaged in an exchange on X with an Israel-bashing white nationalist who uses antisemitic tropes, as he has done in the last two weeks, it’s far from unreasonable to wonder about his motives.

But there’s more to it than that. Vance is the current frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. That fuels the belief that his every action is calculated to enhance his chances of being President Donald Trump’s successor.

An antisemitism problem

Fair or not, and though he and his supporters would deny it, that means he now has an antisemitism problem.

Any discussion about the vice president—and the question of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel bigotry—starts with his apparently unbreakable ties with Tucker Carlson. The former Fox News host and current far-right podcaster is, by all accounts, a good friend of Vance. In fact, he owes Carlson a debt of gratitude. Carlson was a significant booster of Vance’s successful campaign for an Ohio U.S. Senate seat in 2022 and then reportedly played a decisive role in persuading Trump to choose him as his running mate in 2024.

When Carlson hosted faux historian and Holocaust denier Daryl Cooper on his podcast just weeks after Vance was tapped for vice president, what followed was significant. Not only did Vance not disassociate himself from Carlson. Instead, he kept a commitment to appear with him on one of the political commentator’s live shows, which, for all intents and purposes, turned out to be a Republican campaign rally.

Flash-forward a year later, and Carlson’s flirtation with antisemitism and Israel-bashing has turned into a full-blown obsession. Vance’s buddy seems to platform virtually anyone who will demonize Israel, including floating antisemitic blood libels about its war against Hamas in Gaza or opposing efforts to stop the nuclear threat from Iran. After his chummy interview with “groyper” Nick Fuentes—a self-avowed neo-Nazi—and his attacks on Christian Zionists and even the idea of a Judeo-Christian heritage, there’s no denying that he’s become the most dangerous antisemite in the country.

But for Vance and some other increasingly disreputable voices on the right, like podcaster Megyn Kelly, the priority is protecting their friendship with Carlson. Given that distancing himself from a conservative movement that has a lot at stake in the success of the Trump administration and in the failure of the Democrats to win back the White House in 2028, Vance’s decision to stick with his friend must be seen as significant.

A crisis among young Zoomers

That’s the context for the dustup about Vance’s denial of the growing antisemitism problem on the right. That comment was enough to feed the controversy. But it only grew after he decided to engage in a back-and-forth with Sarah Stock, another person with a problematic record on Jew-hatred, and, oddly enough, to do it on the same evening that he was hosting a Chanukah party at the vice-presidential residence in Washington.

That Vance would deny that antisemitism is “exploding” among young conservatives is perhaps to be expected. But after the Fuentes interview and the subsequent blow-up at the Heritage Foundation, when its president, Kevin Roberts, refused to disavow Carlson and the growing belief that a sizable percentage of young conservatives are following the groypers, that’s no longer a credible position.

Writer Rod Dreher wrote that he was told that 30% to 40% of Zoomers who work for the administration or Republicans in Washington these days are fans of Fuentes. Heritage vice president Victoria Coates told me in an interview on my “Think Twice” podcast that she fears the true number might be double that.

The situation on the right might not be as dire as that on the left, where the intersectional base of the Democratic Party is clearly hostile to Israel and has accepted blood libels about it committing “genocide” in Gaza. But if the true number of Fuentes followers among young conservatives is even half of either Dreher’s or Coates’s estimates, then there’s no denying that the right has a crisis that needs to be acknowledged.

Indeed, a Manhattan Institute poll published earlier this month showed that some 17% of Republicans are “anti-Jewish” and hold views that encompass Holocaust denial or the left-wing myth about Israel being a “settler-colonial” state that has no right to exist. Those numbers are far higher among younger GOP voters and minorities.

Anti-Zionism and antisemitism

Vance’s exchange with Stock was equally problematic.

The vice president was partially correct. One can criticize Israeli policies without being antisemitic. After all, 10 million Israelis do it every day on one issue or another, just as 340 million Americans find fault with their government.

The problem is that the “criticism” being voiced and the attitudes that have surfaced in the Manhattan Institute poll reflect the spread of pro-Hamas propaganda that delegitimizes the Jewish state and treats its justified war of self-defense after the Oct. 7 attacks as genocide. In the current context, talk of “not liking” Israel isn’t an innocent opinion about not being enamored with the weather in Tel Aviv. It’s invariably the product of some of the lies being platformed on Carlson’s show and even on more extreme venues, such as what is heard on the podcasts of Fuentes or the unhinged conspiracy theorist Candace Owens.

More to the point, language such as that used by the vice president can be interpreted as maintaining the entirely fictional distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Anti-Zionists may claim not be antisemitic, but that is a distinction without a difference.

To deny the Jews, alone of all the peoples in the world, the right to live in peace, security and sovereignty in their ancient homeland is not an assessment about which reasonable people should be expected to agree to disagree.

To support the elimination of the one Jewish state on the planet—something that could only be accomplished by the genocide of its citizens—while having no problem with the scores of other nations that are explicitly Muslim or officially devoted to one specific faith or ethnic group is to discriminate against Jews.

And there is more proof of prejudice. Carlson continues to declare that the fictional “genocide” being committed by Israel is the most urgent of issues. At the same time, he remains unconcerned by the fact that the Palestinians intend to continue their murderous onslaughts against the Jews, all while downplaying and denying that genocidal assaults on Christians are right now being waged by Muslims in African countries.

A political calculation

The vice president is clearly treading in dangerous waters. But that begs the question as to why he’s doing so.

The only logical answer? It seems that similar to the leadership of the Democratic Party, he has come to the conclusion that it’s good politics.

Democrats have embraced open antisemites like New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, whose short political career has revolved around his obsession with destroying the Jewish state, not to mention the members of the left-wing congressional “Squad” who are treated like rock stars by their voters, as well as the chattering classes.

By contrast, the Republicans had become a lockstep pro-Israel party in recent decades, with only libertarian outliers like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) or erratic extremists like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) being exceptions to a pro-Israel consensus among GOP officeholders.

But Vance, a savvy political player and someone, in contrast to Trump or veteran conservatives, who is very much attuned to online trends, is sensing that the tide is shifting against the Jews among younger Republicans.

This generation has largely been indoctrinated in the same leftist ideologies like critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonialism in K-12 schools and colleges that grant a permission slip to Jew-hatred as their liberal compatriots. And they are swimming in the same sea of anti-Jewish prejudice and Israel-bashing that the algorithms of TikTok and other social-media platforms enable.

Their vulnerability to these toxic myths and lies is partly due to their addiction to the internet, as well as the product of the deleterious impact of the COVID pandemic isolation they suffered.

But if Vance aspires to become president, then voters have a right to expect him to do more than appease or validate these prejudices, as did his predecessor, former Vice President Kamala Harris. And for him to argue that antisemitism isn’t that big a problem or that it’s OK to “not like” Israel in the aftermath of two years of a post-Oct. 7 surge in Jew-hatred that culminated in the massacre of 16 people on Bondi Beach in Australia isn’t just bad taste. It’s not unreasonable to conclude that he is dog-whistling to Fuentes fans and other young antisemites that he’s on their side—or at least doesn’t openly oppose them.

The jury is still out about whether that is as smart a political move as he may think it is.

For those who spend their days on X or TikTok, the views of Carlson or even the groypers may seem normative. But in contrast to the situation with the Democrats, the GOP base, which is dominated by evangelical Christians, remains solidly pro-Israel. So, too, are the majority of Republican voters and even most Americans.

What voters want

Working-class Americans of all races who played a decisive role in re-electing Trump to a second term agree with Vance on immigration and share his skepticism about the European establishment’s disdain for democratic norms that interfere with policies that undermine their national sovereignty. But they’re not going to turn out for him if he becomes too closely identified with extremism and hate.

In a 2024 speech to the Quincy Institute, Vance made a strong case for Israel as the perfect “America First” ally for the United States because of its strength, technological prowess and willingness to defend itself. He’s also consistently denounced antisemitism.

Still, he seems to be drifting away from that principled stance in less than a year as vice president. He seems to think that the political future belongs to ignorant young voters who have been spoon-fed anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda for years. Whether or not that’s a correct analysis of the 2028 electorate, it’s feeding a crisis that is both undermining Jewish security and harming an alliance that benefits the United States.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him: @jonathans_tobin.

{Matzav.com}

Iran has carried out the execution of a man convicted of spying for Israel, according to reports broadcast by state media, as Tehran continues to intensify its response to alleged intelligence activity linked to the Jewish state.

The individual, identified by state television as Aghil Keshavarz, was accused of maintaining what authorities described as “close intelligence cooperation” with the Mossad and of photographing sensitive military and security sites inside Iran. Officials said the images were provided to Israeli intelligence.

Keshavarz was detained in May in the northwestern city of Urmia, roughly 600 kilometers northwest of Tehran, where he was allegedly caught taking pictures of a military headquarters. Prosecutors later claimed that he had carried out more than 200 similar missions for the Mossad across multiple Iranian cities, including the capital.

According to the report, Keshavarz, who was 27 years old and had studied architecture, was tried in an Iranian court and sentenced to death. The ruling was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, clearing the way for the execution.

The execution comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions following a 12-day air war in June, during which Israel struck Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure. Iranian officials say that since that conflict, the country has executed 11 people on espionage charges. During the same period, Iranian missile attacks on Israel killed 32 people and left more than 3,000 wounded.

Iran has also carried out other executions linked to alleged Israeli intelligence activity in recent months. In October, authorities announced the execution of an unnamed individual convicted of spying for the Mossad in the city of Qom.

Human rights organizations have long criticized Iran’s handling of espionage cases, noting that such trials are often held behind closed doors, with defendants frequently denied access to the evidence used against them.

That same month, Tehran announced sweeping changes to its espionage laws, significantly increasing penalties for those accused of spying for Israel and the United States. Under the revised legislation, individuals found guilty will “be punished by the confiscation of all assets… and subject to the death penalty.”

Under the previous legal framework, Iran’s espionage laws did not single out specific countries, and convictions did not automatically carry the death sentence.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump threw his support behind Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman in the New York governor’s race on Saturday, moving quickly after Rep. Elise Stefanik ended her campaign the day before.

Announcing the endorsement on Truth Social, Trump praised Blakeman’s loyalty and prospects in the race. “Bruce is MAGA all the way, and has been with me from the very beginning,” Trump wrote. “Bruce Blakeman is a FANTASTIC guy, will win the big November Election and, without hesitation, has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Governor of the ONCE GREAT STATE OF NEW YORK (IT CAN BE GREAT AGAIN!). BRUCE BLAKEMAN WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

Stefanik had been widely viewed as the Republican frontrunner to challenge Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2026. Her decision to step aside followed a turbulent year that included Trump withdrawing her nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, citing concerns about protecting the party’s narrow majority in the House. Trump ultimately did not back Stefanik for governor, and in her announcement exiting the race, she said she would not seek reelection.

The field grew more complicated earlier this month when Blakeman entered the contest, prompting Trump to publicly compliment both Republican contenders as “fantastic people.” In the months prior, Trump had also encouraged another potential candidate, Rep. Mike Lawler, to stay put by endorsing him for reelection to his closely contested House seat.

Polling suggests Blakeman faces an uphill battle against the incumbent. A Siena Poll of New York released earlier this week showed Hochul holding a double-digit advantage over Blakeman in a hypothetical general election matchup.

Blakeman has maintained a visible relationship with Trump, including attending a Hanukkah reception at the White House earlier this week. After the endorsement became public, Blakeman responded on X, saying he was “grateful and blessed” to receive the president’s backing.

{Matzav.com}

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Friday that the current ceasefire in Gaza cannot evolve into lasting stability if Hamas remains armed and capable of attacking Israel, saying any arrangement that leaves the terror group intact will eventually fall apart.

Rubio described the existing ceasefire as fragile and demanding constant oversight, with multiple governments needing to intervene regularly to prevent renewed violence. He said the situation on the ground shows how easily calm can be disrupted. “This is not easy; peace is [not] a verb; it’s not; it’s an action,” Rubio said. “It’s not a sentiment. Every single day will bring challenges. Every single day.”

Pointing to recent incidents, Rubio said Hamas continues to pose an active threat despite the pause in fighting. “We also have had instances, for example, over the last couple weeks where Hamas elements emerged from a tunnel, attached an explosive device to the side of a vehicle, and injured and almost killed Israeli soldiers,” he said. “We still have this threat. We still have and see every single day Hamas openly taking steps to strengthen themselves inside of those places in Gaza that they still control.”

Rubio said that reality underscores why disarmament must be central to any serious peace effort. “If Hamas is ever in a position to threaten or attack Israel, you’re not going to have peace,” Rubio said. He repeated the point during the State Department briefing, stressing that economic recovery is impossible under the shadow of renewed war. “If Hamas is ever in a position in the future that they can threaten or attack Israel, you’re not going to have peace, OK? You’re not going to convince anyone to invest money in Gaza if they believe another war is going to happen in two to three years.”

He urged observers and negotiators to focus less on slogans and more on concrete capabilities. “So, I would just ask everyone to focus on what are the kind of weaponries and capabilities that Hamas would need in order to threaten or attack Israel as a baseline for what disarmament needs to look like,” Rubio said.

Rubio said that without removing those capabilities, violence is bound to return. “Because you’re not going to have peace, if two years from now, Hamas is launching rockets or killing Israelis or carrying out, God forbid, another Oct. 7-type terrorist attack and so forth, you’re not going to have peace,” he said. “So, who is going to invest in a peace, who is going to invest in rebuilding a place, that’s going to get destroyed again in a future war? So that’s why disarmament is so critical.”

While declining to provide details of ongoing negotiations, Rubio said the exact scope of disarmament will be worked out by technical teams. Still, he made clear that partial measures will not suffice. “Everyone wants peace,” Rubio said. “No one wants a return to a war.”

{Matzav.com}

At his marathon year-end news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed questions about the future of the conflict in Ukraine and dismissed suggestions that Moscow is preparing for a broader military confrontation with Europe.

Asked directly whether Russia intends to launch military action against European countries, Putin said Moscow’s position depends on how it is treated by Western governments. “There will be no special operations if you treat us with respect, if you respect our interests as we have always tried to respect yours. There will be no further Russian invasions if you do not humiliate us as you did when you expanded NATO eastward,” Putin said.

The Russian leader also revisited his proposal for ending the war in Ukraine, pointing back to terms he publicly outlined last year. He reiterated that Moscow expects Kyiv to renounce its bid to join NATO, withdraw forces from four regions claimed by Russia, reduce the size of its military, and grant official status to the Russian language. Putin additionally called for new presidential elections in Ukraine.

Putin argued that Russia remains open to a negotiated resolution, insisting that responsibility for the lack of progress lies elsewhere. “The only thing I want to say is that we have always said this: we are ready to end this conflict peacefully, based on the principles I outlined in June last year at the Russian Foreign Ministry, and by addressing the roots that led to this crisis,” he said during the event, which stretched for more than four hours.

He also spoke positively about U.S. President Donald Trump’s involvement, saying he appreciated Trump’s role in seeking an end to the war. At the same time, Putin accused Western governments of preventing an agreement. “It is the West, not Russia, that is blocking the deal. The ball is in the court of our Western opponents, primarily the leaders of the Kyiv regime, and in this case, above all, their European backers,” he said.

Ukrainian officials, for their part, have already rejected Moscow’s territorial demands, including calls for Kyiv to surrender Crimea, Donbas, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, areas Russia claims as its own.

{Matzav.com}

A 15-year-old from Beit Shemesh who drew nati1onwide attention last month after climbing a crane at the Marom Tower near the entrance to Yerushalayim attempted to scale the site again on Friday morning, but was stopped before reaching dangerous heights.

The earlier incident ended with the teen being rescued by fire and rescue crews. This time, his attempt was cut short when he was intercepted by a passerby and later taken in by police for questioning at the Lev HaBira station.

According to reports, the teen was spotted trying to breach the perimeter fence leading toward the 39-story Marom Tower. Photographer and drone hobbyist Malkiel Elbaz noticed the attempt and chose to intervene to prevent another life-threatening situation.

Elbaz described the encounter, saying, “I was passing near the central bus station and saw a boy trying to cross the fence toward the Marom Tower. I came closer and asked him where he was going. He told me that he had been up there a month ago and that he was going up again.”

Realizing the danger, Elbaz said he took immediate action. “I was alone and decided to act. I notified the police and started talking to him, and when I saw that he was about to cross the fence, I jumped up, grabbed him, and held him for a few minutes until more help arrived. Then police officers came and took over.”

After the incident, Elbaz issued a public appeal, warning of the risks involved. “I have one request of you—pay attention to your friends. This is not a joke; these are people’s lives.”

Police confirmed that the teen was brought in for questioning following the incident.

{Matzav.com}

Rabbi Leibel Druck z”l, a respected member of the Karlin-Stolin community and a longtime melamed at Etz Chaim, passed away early Friday at the age of 79.

The niftar, who resided in Beitar Illit in recent years and was formerly a resident of Yerushalayim’s Rechov Yirmiyahu, had been ill over the past period. During the night, he suffered cardiac arrest and was niftar.

Rabbi Druck was born in Yerushalayim on 8 Elul 5706 (1946) to his father, Rav Chaim Druck zt”l, author of Oros Chaim and one of the prominent rabbonim of Yeshivas Etz Chaim. His father was a talmid of Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer. His mother was Mrs. Batya a”h.

Upon reaching marriageable age, he married the daughter of Rav Moshe Cohen zt”l.

For many years, Rabbi Druck served as a devoted melamed at Etz Chaim in Ramat Shlomo, where he was known as a warm and caring educator who consistently went out of his way to help others. Those who knew him describe him as a gentle and giving individual, deeply committed to his talmidim and to those around him.

In recent years, he relocated to Beitar Illit to live near his children. He is survived by his family, including his sons and daughters, sons-in-law, and many descendants.

His levayah took place Friday morning, departing from the Shamgar Funeral Home in Yerushalayim to Har HaMenuchos, where he was laid to rest.

The family will be sitting shivah at his home, 38 Maggid of Mezeritch Street, Beitar Illit.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Hertzel z”l, a distinguished member of the Belzer community in Antwerp and one of the owners of the Hertzel-Gold dairy, widely known as Europe’s Jewish dairy, has passed away at the age of 70 following an illness.

Rabbi Hertzel was born in the month of Adar 5716 (1956) to his father, Rabbi Yosef Yisrael Hertzel z”l, one of the senior Belzer chassidim in Antwerp and among the founders and owners of the only Jewish-owned dairy in Europe. His mother was the daughter of Rabbi Shmuel Yosef Friedman.

As a youth, he studied in the educational institutions of Belzer chassidus. Upon reaching marriageable age, he married his wife, the daughter of Rabbi Tzvi Davidson.

Rabbi Hertzel was widely known as a man of extraordinary chessed. He donated significant sums of his personal wealth to Belz institutions worldwide, with particular dedication to the institutions in Antwerp. Among his many acts of generosity, he regularly covered the annual costs of refreshments on the first day of Selichos at the Beis Medrash in Kiryat Belz in Yerushalayim, an event that draws thousands of Belzer chassidim each year.

Despite his financial success, he was known for his humility and discretion, quietly assisting families in need and giving charity without seeking recognition.

His levayah will take place on Motzaei Shabbos in Antwerp. His aron will then be flown to Eretz Yisrael, where the levayah will be held on Sunday night, Leil Zos Chanukah, in Kiryat Belz in Yerushalayim. He will be laid to rest in the Kehillas Machzikei Hadas section of Har HaMenuchos.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}

Work crews began preparations at the Kennedy Center on Friday to reflect the board’s decision to add President Donald Trump’s name to the iconic performing arts complex, one day after the vote was taken.

Early in the morning, large blue tarps were draped across portions of the building’s exterior, shielding the activity from public view. Before the coverings were fully in place, a large letter “D” could be seen mounted on the structure, while workers operated from scaffolding along the façade of the building originally named for President John F. Kennedy.

Under the resolution approved by the board, the venue will now be known as The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Trump, a Republican, currently serves as chairman of the board.

The decision has drawn objections from critics, including Democrat members of Congress who sit on the board in an ex-officio capacity, as well as several historians. They argue that authority to alter the center’s official name rests solely with Congress, not the board.

The Kennedy Center now joins a growing list of Washington landmarks bearing Trump’s name. Earlier this year, his name was also added to the building that houses the U.S. Institute of Peace.

{Matzav.com}

Leadership changes are underway at the BBC after an internal assessment faulted the organization’s response to controversial edits made to a speech by US President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol unrest.

At the center of the shake-up is the network’s editorial standards committee. BBC chairman Samir Shah, who faced criticism over the episode, will step aside from leading that body as part of the restructuring.

The review, released Friday, concluded that senior management failed to respond “quickly or decisively enough following the discovery” that edits to Trump’s remarks created the impression that he urged supporters to storm the US Capitol.

Those edits prompted Trump to file a $10 billion lawsuit against the broadcaster, escalating scrutiny of the BBC’s editorial practices and governance.

According to the report, the committee’s remit will be adjusted to “clarify and focus” its role, with the stated aim of adopting a “robust and transparent approach” to addressing editorial issues as they arise.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump moved late Thursday to halt the visa lottery program after it was disclosed that the suspect in the killing of two Brown University students and an MIT professor entered the United States through that system.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the decision in a statement posted overnight on X, saying, “This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country.” She added, “At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.”

The suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old native of Portugal, received a Diversity Immigrant (DV1) Visa in 2017 and was granted a green card several months later. Authorities said he was found dead Thursday evening at a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, from what was described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Neves Valente was identified as the prime suspect in the December 13 mass shooting at Brown University that left students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov dead and nine others wounded. Investigators also linked him to the December 15 killing of MIT nuclear science professor Nuno Loureiro.

Records show that Neves Valente had previously enrolled in a graduate physics program at Brown during the 2000–01 academic year. He took a leave of absence in April of that year and officially withdrew from the university in 2003.

Authorities have not determined where Neves Valente lived or what he was doing in the years leading up to the shooting. His most recent known address was in Miami, Florida, and his activities between receiving his green card in 2017 and last weekend’s attack remain unclear.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa program was created under the Immigration Act of 1990 and allows for up to 50,000 visas each year. The lottery system prioritizes applicants from countries that have sent relatively few immigrants to the United States over the previous five years.

For the 2025 lottery cycle, nearly 20 million people submitted applications. More than 131,000 applicants and their spouses were selected worldwide, including 38 Portuguese nationals.

President Trump has criticized the visa lottery in the past, renewing calls to end it after a 2017 terror attack in Lower Manhattan. In that case, Uzbekistan national Sayfullo Saipov killed eight people and injured 11 others when he drove a pickup truck onto a crowded bike path along the Hudson River.

Saipov was convicted in January 2023 on murder and other charges and was sentenced to eight life terms plus an additional 260 years in prison.

{Matzav.com}

Debate over presidential war powers has resurfaced as President Donald Trump defended his authority to expand U.S. military action against drug traffickers linked to Venezuela, arguing that congressional approval is not required for such operations.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump dismissed the need to formally notify lawmakers if he chose to authorize strikes on land, saying he would not object to informing them but questioning the value of doing so. “I wouldn’t mind telling them, but you know, it’s not a big deal. I don’t have to tell them,” he said, adding that members of Congress “leak like a sieve.”

The comments came in response to a reporter’s question about whether Trump would seek authorization from Congress before targeting drug cartels inside Venezuela, following months of U.S. military activity aimed at trafficking operations at sea.

Since September, American forces have carried out a series of airstrikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, actions that have resulted in at least 99 deaths, according to U.S. figures.

Those operations have drawn criticism from both parties in Congress, with lawmakers pointing to constitutional limits on presidential authority. While the president serves as commander-in-chief, the Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war — a concern raised not only by Democrats but also by some Republicans, even as most members of Trump’s party have continued to back him.

During a House debate, New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks challenged the legal basis for the strikes, saying, “The president has failed to demonstrate the necessary authority under U.S. or international law to conduct lethal military strikes on these boats.”

Meeks went further, arguing that the threat justification does not hold up. “No one can credibly claim that these vessels, in some cases not even traveling to the United States and located thousands of miles from U.S. soil, posed an imminent threat to the American people warranting the use of military force,” he said.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused Washington of using anti-drug operations as a pretext for destabilizing his government, claiming the true objective of the campaign is regime change rather than narcotics enforcement.

Legal and military analysts note that a U.S. president may order limited strikes without congressional approval under certain conditions, but say such actions are generally expected to be short-term and narrowly defined, often framed as defensive measures.

After the September 11 attacks, Congress passed authorizations for the use of military force in Afghanistan and Iraq, which were later cited to justify counterterrorism missions in other parts of the world, a precedent now being referenced as lawmakers weigh the scope of Trump’s current actions.

{Matzav.com}

A provocative protest installation was discovered Friday morning near the private residences of former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, retired Supreme Court Justice Uzi Fogelman, and Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai, drawing immediate attention for its graphic and accusatory imagery.

At each location, protesters placed cloth dolls with severed heads laid on the ground in pools meant to resemble blood. Accompanying signs delivered personal messages aimed directly at the figures associated with the homes, linking them to past legal decisions and public statements.

The placards referenced rulings and positions connected to immigration policy and the treatment of migrant populations. Each sign carried a different message. The one near Barak’s home stated: “You prided yourself on canceling the infiltration laws – we got decapitated heads.” Outside Fogelman’s residence, the sign read: “You wanted hobbies – we got decapitated heads.” The sign placed near Huldai’s home said: “You said a person is a person is a person – we got decapitated heads.”

The display was described by organizers as a reaction to a recent and shocking killing in south Tel Aviv, where a migrant murdered another migrant by beheading him. The protest was framed as an expression of anger over what organizers view as the deteriorating security and social conditions in the city’s southern neighborhoods.

In a statement issued by the group “The Front for the Liberation of South Tel Aviv,” headed by Sheffi Paz, the organization said: “When a resident of Kiryat Shalom can’t take her dog for a walk in the park for fear that a migrant will jump on her with a machete; when a child in the Shapira neighborhood can’t play in the playground for fear that migrant children will lynch him; and when an elderly person in the Hatikva neighborhood can’t withdraw money from the ATM for fear of being attacked and robbed violently – we remember the arrogant Supreme Court justices, who cared about the matchmaking and hobbies of the infiltrators, and the cowardly mayor who fosters a slave ghetto in the southern neighborhoods.”

Paz continued with further criticism of Israel’s judicial and municipal leadership, saying: “Their compassion is our disaster. Their embrace of border thieves is a spit in our faces. Their fake liberalism is the knife in our back. We know that the display won’t move their closed minds, but we thought there was no reason why only we should enjoy the cultural wealth they forced on us.”

{Matzav.com}

Airport officials at Ben Gurion located a 13-year-old boy on Thursday night who had previously drawn national attention after secretly boarding an El Al flight to New York last October without a ticket or passport. This time, he was identified before reaching the security screening areas.

The boy was noticed inside the terminal but outside the standard passenger flow. A deputy shift commander on duty observed behavior that raised suspicion and stopped him for questioning.

During the encounter, airport personnel confirmed the boy’s identity and determined that he was the same minor who had managed months earlier to fly abroad without authorization or identification.

Following this and other recent incidents, the Israel Airports Authority announced changes to security procedures at Ben Gurion Airport. Under the updated protocol, boarding passes will now be inspected earlier in the screening process rather than only near the departure gate.

The decision comes after another serious breach earlier this week, when an 18-year-old Israeli boarded an Austrian Airlines flight from Israel to Vienna without holding a valid ticket. The oversight was discovered only after the plane landed in Austria, and the passenger was returned to Israel.

Addressing that case, the Israel Airports Authority said, “A preliminary investigation of the incident revealed that the passenger underwent security screening but did not complete the border control procedure.”

Airport officials said an immediate review was carried out in coordination with the Population and Immigration Authority and the airline involved, and that the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories accused the authors of a recent IPC food security analysis on Gaza of producing a report whose conclusions were decided in advance and detached from verified humanitarian data, arguing that its publication undermines genuine relief efforts.

In a statement responding to the report, COGAT said the way the assessment was compiled raises doubts about the organization’s professionalism. According to COGAT, the IPC team met with Israeli officials only after drafting the report and finalizing its conclusions, and even when presented with “complete, daily, and verified data,” the authors “chose to present a series of excuses regarding the use of the data and relied only partially on the information provided.” COGAT stated: “The manner in which the IPC conducted itself during the preparation of the report raises serious questions regarding its credibility and professional integrity.”

COGAT also pointed to what it described as internal contradictions in the report, saying its authors ultimately acknowledged there is no famine in Gaza, despite earlier claims to the contrary, while still maintaining assertions of severe food insecurity.

Detailing the scope of aid entering the territory, COGAT stressed that “between 600-800 aid trucks enter the Gaza Strip every day, approximately 70 percent of which carry food,” explaining that this is “in accordance with Israel’s commitment under the ceasefire agreement to allow and facilitate the entry of 4,200 aid trucks per week.” The statement further said: “Nearly 30,000 food trucks carrying more than 500,000 tons of food entered the Gaza Strip throughout the ceasefire period,” while adding that “approximately 100,000 food trucks entered the Gaza Strip until the start of the ceasefire.” According to COGAT, “these quantities significantly exceed the nutritional requirements of the population in the Gaza Strip according to accepted international methodologies, including those of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).”

COGAT emphasized that much of this assistance does not flow through UN channels, noting that “only about 20 percent of the humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip is delivered via the UN, while the remainder is delivered by countries, additional international organizations, and the private sector.” It said this fact “illustrates the severe gap between the actual volume of aid and the partial data on which, among other things, the IPC report relies.”

The Israeli agency added that all aid figures are shared transparently, stating the data are “presented daily as part of joint situational assessments to the mediators, the UN, and international organizations,” and warning that “any attempt to present the data otherwise or to claim a shortage of food constitutes a deliberate distortion of the facts.”

In its official rebuttal, COGAT said: “COGAT strongly rejects the claims and conclusions presented in the IPC report published today (Friday), which once again portrays a distorted, biased, and unfounded picture of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. The report relies on severe gaps in data collection and on sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance. As such, it misleads the international community, fuels disinformation, and presents a false depiction of the reality on the ground.”

Concluding its response, COGAT warned that flawed assessments harm, rather than help, civilians in Gaza. It stated: “The publication of statements and warnings that are not based on complete and verified data does not advance the humanitarian response. Instead, it harms it and diverts the discussion from the real challenge – improving collection and distribution mechanisms within the Gaza Strip and preventing Hamas from taking control of the aid.” The statement added that the international community must “avoid falling for false narratives and distorted information,” and that COGAT “will continue to act, together with international actors and regional partners, to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and its transfer to the civilian population, while preventing the exploitation of the aid by the terrorist organization Hamas.”

{Matzav.com}

Security camera recordings from Weizmann City Mall in Tel Aviv show a hijab-wearing woman approaching a menorah and extinguishing four Chanukah candles while a man believed to be with her claps in approval. After walking away, she returns moments later to put out the shamash that remained lit, and she appears to document the episode on her cellphone.

Israeli authorities are weighing whether the incident constitutes a criminal offense under Section 170 of the Penal Law, which bars “the destruction, damage, or desecration of a place of worship or any object held sacred by a group of people, with intent to insult their religion, or knowingly that they may regard the act as an insult to their religion.”

Police confirmed that an investigation has been launched into the actions of an Arab individual seen in the footage blowing out the Chanukah candles, with detectives reviewing the video and examining the circumstances surrounding the act.

WATCH:

ערבייה עוברת בחנוכיות מתעדת איך היא מכבה אותן, ומצלמת להנאתה: התיעוד מקניון וייצמן. גועל נפש! pic.twitter.com/7RJ3O20gtF

— Yossi Eli (@Yossi_eli) December 19, 2025

At a high-level gathering of Russia’s defense establishment, President Vladimir Putin lashed out at Western leaders, using crude language to ridicule UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and suggesting that Russian weaponry could soon be positioned close enough to threaten Britain.

Speaking during the annual defense ministry meeting, Putin accused former US President Joe Biden of deliberately provoking the war in Ukraine and claimed European governments rushed to align themselves with Washington. “Everyone assumed that they would destroy Russia in a short period of time, they would ruin it,” Putin said.

He continued with even sharper rhetoric aimed at Europe, adding: “And the European piglets immediately joined in to aid the former American administration in this task. They were hoping to profit from the collapse of our country. To get back something that was lost in previous historical periods and try to take revenge. As it has now become obvious to everyone. All these attempts and all these destructive plans towards Russia completely failed.”

The remarks were delivered as tensions spiked following reports of a World War III alert, after Russian border guards allegedly crossed into a NATO country without authorization.

Putin used the occasion to argue that Russia has weathered Western pressure, declaring that “Russia has demonstrated its steadiness in the economy, finance, in the internal political situation of the society […] and in the sphere of defence capacity,” while also saying Moscow remains open to talks with Europe — though not with current European leadership.

The comments came just ahead of a crucial summit of European Union leaders focused on reaching an agreement to continue financing Ukraine.

In the same appearance, Putin confirmed that Russia plans to deploy its Oreshnik missile system in Belarus in the near future, placing it within minutes of London. According to Ukrainian intelligence assessments cited by the Express, the move is not primarily aimed at Kyiv but is intended to pressure European capitals.

The planned deployment would position the system roughly 124 miles from Lithuania and the nearest NATO border, significantly shortening missile flight times across much of the European Union compared to launches from within Russia.

Oleh Ivashchenko, head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, warned that the move is designed to intimidate Europe, saying: “The deployment of Oreshnik on Belarusian territory is a means of pressure primarily on the EU and NATO, not on Ukraine.

“This move will allow Russia to expand its capabilities for striking the capital of any European country and significantly reduce missile flight time compared to launching from the Kapustin Yar test site.”

Ivashchenko added that Russia and Belarus are currently building the necessary military infrastructure for the system, including launch sites as well as tracking and communications facilities, though he noted that the work is not yet finished.

Belarusian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenka previously said on October 31 that the Oreshnik missile system is expected to become operational sometime this month.

{Matzav.com}

The Pentagon says its expanding maritime campaign against drug smuggling has now resulted in more than 100 deaths, following a pair of U.S. strikes Thursday on boats traveling in the eastern Pacific.

According to the U.S. military, two separate vessels were targeted along routes long associated with drug trafficking. Three people were killed when the first boat was hit, while two others died in the strike on a second vessel, the military said in a post on social platform X that also included a 30-second video of the attacks.

U.S. Southern Command said the boats were moving through “known narco-trafficking routes” in the eastern Pacific Ocean and were “engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” The command added that the vessels were operated by members of designated terrorist organizations, though it did not identify which groups were involved.

The military emphasized that no U.S. service members were injured during the operations.

Since early September, when the campaign began, U.S. forces have carried out at least 26 strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing a minimum of 104 people described by the Pentagon as narco-terrorists.

One of those earlier missions, conducted on Sept. 2, has drawn particular attention. During that operation, U.S. forces launched four strikes on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean. The Washington Post later reported that a second attack during the same mission killed two individuals who had survived the initial strike and were clinging to the boat.

Amid the scrutiny, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said Thursday that he has seen “no evidence of war crimes” connected to the operation. Some Democrats and experts in the law of armed conflict have argued that the follow-up strike may have violated international law.

{Matzav.com}