Matzav

A driverless Waymo vehicle became locked in an awkward standoff with an on-duty fire truck responding to an alarm at an Austin, Texas, hotel this week, temporarily obstructing the emergency vehicle as firefighters attempted to reach the property.

The Sept. 14 incident, captured on video by hotel guest David Munoz, is drawing renewed attention to the challenges autonomous vehicles can encounter when interacting with emergency responders. It comes months after Austin officials documented other instances in which Waymo vehicles interfered with emergency operations, including during the response to a deadly mass shooting earlier this year.

Munoz said the Waymo had been dropping off a passenger at the hotel when a fire alarm was activated. As the autonomous vehicle began leaving the property, an Austin Fire Department truck arrived in response to the alarm.

“At that time, a Waymo was dropping a passenger off. Once the Waymo began to leave, the fire truck arrived in response to the alarm,” Munoz told Storyful.

Video from the encounter shows the empty Waymo facing the fire truck in the hotel driveway. Rather than immediately clearing the path for the emergency vehicle, the robotaxi can be seen edging forward as the fire truck attempts to maneuver around it and at one point backs up.

The unusual encounter did not ultimately involve an actual fire or medical emergency. Munoz said the hotel alarm proved to be a false alarm and nobody was injured.

Munoz said he found the situation amusing because the autonomous vehicle appeared unable to recognize that it needed to clear the way for the fire truck.

“I thought it was funny the Waymo was not able to determine the fire truck needed to get to the hotel, and instead of pulling over, blocked the truck’s path,” he said.

Waymo provided a somewhat different description of the encounter, saying its vehicle was leaving the hotel after completing a passenger trip when it encountered the arriving fire truck.

“After a brief pause, the vehicle backed up and allowed the fire truck to pass. Shortly after the Waymo vehicle’s maneuver, the fire truck exited the parking lot,” the statement read.

The company also stressed that it takes its responsibilities toward emergency personnel seriously as it expands autonomous ride-hailing operations in Texas.

“Operating in Austin and across Texas is a privilege that carries real responsibility that we take seriously. We appreciate the dedication of first responders, continue to work closely with local public safety partners, and remain committed to continuous learning to better serve our riders and the community.”

Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet, operates autonomous vehicles in Austin as part of a partnership with Uber. Riders in the city can be matched with a Waymo vehicle through the Uber platform.

But the latest episode is particularly notable because Austin authorities have already raised concerns about how autonomous vehicles interact with police, firefighters and paramedics during emergencies.

City records show that during the response to the March 1 mass shooting on Austin’s West Sixth Street, a Waymo vehicle blocked an ambulance approximately a block and a half from the scene, forcing the ambulance to divert. Officials said the incident occurred after police, fire and EMS had upgraded the situation to an active attack and autonomous-vehicle companies had been alerted.

Austin officials documented additional Waymo-related problems during the same emergency. Between approximately 2:10 and 2:30 a.m., firefighters reported as many as five Waymo vehicles obstructing a response corridor that had been established for ambulances near Guadalupe and West Sixth streets. Police dispatchers subsequently asked that Waymo be notified to avoid the entire West Sixth Street area, and the company told authorities that it was geofencing a section of the neighborhood.

In one widely circulated incident from that response, an officer approached a Waymo that had stopped in the roadway while an ambulance was attempting to get through. Video showed the vehicle moving incrementally but failing to fully clear the route until the officer interacted with it and ultimately took control of the vehicle.

Those episodes prompted Austin officials to examine more closely how driverless vehicles respond when emergency personnel need immediate access to a roadway.

The City of Austin says its transportation staff collect reports of autonomous-vehicle incidents from city departments and Austin 3-1-1 and pass public-safety concerns to vehicle operators. The city cautions that its incident database contains reported events that have not necessarily been independently validated and may not capture every autonomous-vehicle incident in Austin.

Texas law limits the ability of cities such as Austin to impose their own regulations on autonomous vehicles. Commercial autonomous-vehicle operators are regulated primarily at the state level and are required to provide plans explaining how firefighters, police officers, ambulance crews and other emergency personnel should interact with their vehicles during emergencies.

Waymo says it has developed specific emergency-response procedures and provides instructional material to police, fire and other public-safety agencies. The company says it has conducted in-person training for more than 35,000 first responders at over 150 agencies.

Waymo also maintains that its autonomous-driving technology has a strong overall safety record. The company says its vehicles have logged more than 100 million miles of real-world autonomous driving and cites insurance-claims and crash data that it says show substantially fewer serious crashes than comparable human-driven vehicles. Those figures address overall road safety, however, rather than the narrower question of how the vehicles perform during unusual emergency-response situations.

The Austin hotel episode ended without injuries and with the fire truck eventually getting through. But the footage has once again highlighted a problem emergency officials and autonomous-vehicle developers are confronting as driverless cars become more common: situations that may be immediately obvious to a human driver — such as yielding quickly and decisively to an approaching fire truck — can require autonomous systems to interpret a complicated and rapidly changing scene.

For Austin first responders, the Sept. 14 standoff also comes against the backdrop of the city’s earlier encounters with autonomous vehicles during genuine emergencies, making the seemingly minor hotel incident part of a broader discussion over how robotaxis should behave when seconds can matter.

President Donald Trump’s newly announced security agreement with Greenland and Denmark comes just over two weeks after an American-based mining company completed its acquisition of a major Greenland rare-earth project that the company says could eventually produce roughly one-third of the neodymium-praseodymium oxide currently refined outside China.

Greenland Mines Ltd., a Nasdaq-listed critical-minerals company headquartered in North Carolina, completed its acquisition of the Sarfartoq Rare Earths Project in southwestern Greenland on Sept. 1 after receiving approval from Greenland’s government. The transaction involved $20 million in cash and $15 million in securities.

The project is focused heavily on neodymium and praseodymium, commonly referred to as NdPr. The elements are essential ingredients in powerful permanent magnets used in electric-vehicle motors, wind turbines, advanced electronics and a range of military and defense systems.

Greenland Mines says that, based on 2025 consumption levels, planned annual production from Sarfartoq’s ST1 deposit alone would amount to approximately 34% of all NdPr oxide currently refined outside China during each of the project’s nine scheduled years of operation. The project has not yet reached production.

An independent initial assessment cited by the company calculated a high-case pre-tax net present value of approximately $2.05 billion for the project, including both indicated and inferred mineral resources. The figure is an economic projection rather than a purchase price or current market valuation of the mine.

The preliminary acquisition had been announced earlier this year. The completed transaction gives the U.S.-based company control of a potentially significant source of minerals at a time when Washington and other Western governments are seeking to reduce their dependence on China for critical rare-earth materials.

The mining development has now been followed by a potentially far-reaching security agreement involving Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk.

President Trump announced Friday that the United States, Denmark and Greenland had reached an agreement “that gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns.”

“From now on, no U.S. adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

The governments of Denmark and Greenland confirmed that an agreement is expected to be signed, although their descriptions emphasized that Greenland’s sovereignty and right to self-determination would remain intact. The precise terms have not yet been publicly released.

The three governments are expected to formally sign the agreement during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. According to Denmark’s government, the pact would then be subject to the necessary domestic parliamentary procedures before entering into force.

The timing drew additional attention from Greenland Mines, whose president, Bo Møller Stensgaard, pointed to the security agreement as further evidence of Greenland’s growing strategic significance.

“Today’s announcement underscores what we have long believed: Greenland is becoming one of the most strategically important regions in the world. We applaud the US and the governments of Greenland and Denmark for advancing a framework that strengthens security, deepens cooperation among longstanding allies and recognizes Greenland’s importance to the future of the United States and the Western alliance. We believe that same strategic importance extends to the critical minerals required for defense, advanced technology and energy security.”

Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, has stressed that the new arrangement does not transfer sovereignty to the United States. Danish and Greenlandic officials have characterized the agreement as an expansion of security cooperation in the Arctic and North Atlantic rather than a transfer of ownership or governmental control.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen expressed optimism about the emerging agreement Saturday, writing: “Next week could be a good week… For both Greenland, Denmark and the USA.”

He added that the agreement could replace months of uncertainty with a formal arrangement strengthening collective defense while respecting boundaries established by Denmark and Greenland.

“As long as uncertainty is hopefully replaced by a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic and thus also our common security in NATO and Europe – with respect for the Kingdom’s red lines. It is important at a time when the security policy situation in the Arctic has also changed.”

Greenlandic officials similarly welcomed the prospect of bringing months of negotiations to a conclusion. The government has publicly emphasized that any agreement must recognize Greenland’s interests and its people’s right to determine their own future.

Greenland Foreign Minister Múte B. Egede told Denmark’s TV2 that he was “pleased that we finally have an end product within reach. And it’s about time.”

Despite Trump’s description of the agreement as providing the United States with permanent security control, neither Denmark nor Greenland has publicly released the actual text. Officials also have not disclosed the full extent of any new American military deployments or facilities contemplated under the pact.

Likewise, there has been no public indication that the security agreement contains provisions specifically connected to Greenland Mines, the Sarfartoq project or U.S. access to Greenland’s rare-earth deposits. The close timing of the two developments highlights Greenland’s increasing economic as well as military importance, but does not establish that the mining acquisition and the government security negotiations were linked.

Reuters reported before Trump’s announcement that the emerging arrangement was expected to permit a substantially expanded U.S. military presence in Greenland and could accommodate elements of Trump’s planned Golden Dome missile-defense system.

The United States already maintains a major military foothold in Greenland through Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, which plays a role in missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance because of Greenland’s strategically important position between North America and the Arctic.

The new agreement comes amid intensifying competition over the Arctic, where security concerns increasingly intersect with access to minerals and other resources. Greenland possesses substantial deposits of rare-earth elements, while China currently dominates much of the global processing and refining infrastructure for materials needed for advanced technology and defense applications.

Sarfartoq could become particularly significant if Greenland Mines succeeds in bringing the project into commercial operation. The company says the ST1 deposit represents only a small portion of the project’s 191-square-kilometer exploration license, with five additional known rare-earth occurrences along a roughly 32-kilometer geological structure remaining largely unexplored.

For now, both developments remain works in progress. The Sarfartoq project must undergo further drilling, engineering, environmental studies and development before reaching production, while the U.S.-Greenland-Denmark security agreement still awaits formal signing and the required governmental procedures.

Together, however, the developments underscore why Greenland has assumed an increasingly prominent place in American strategic planning: its location is crucial to Arctic and North American defense, while beneath its territory are mineral resources that could play an important role in Western efforts to build supply chains less dependent on China.

A NORAD F-16 fighter jet was scrambled this morning after a civilian aircraft entered restricted airspace near Camp David while President Donald Trump was staying at the presidential retreat, prompting the fighter to deploy flares before safely escorting the plane away from the protected area. Officials have given no indication that the aircraft posed a deliberate threat to the President or Camp David.

The incident unfolded at approximately 7:50 a.m. over Thurmont, Maryland, the community near Camp David in the Catoctin Mountains. According to an official military statement, the aircraft involved was a general aviation plane.

President Trump had arrived at Camp David late Friday night and was spending the weekend at the secluded presidential compound. His public schedule listed him as participating in executive time at Camp David Saturday morning.

The First Air Force, which operates under U.S. Northern Command and supports NORAD’s air-defense mission, publicly announced the violation and used the episode to remind civilian pilots about the importance of checking flight restrictions before taking off.

“Pilots! @NORADCommand fighter aircraft intercepted an aircraft violating restricted airspace over Thurmont, MD, resulting in flares being deployed,” it said.

The military added a warning to pilots about checking for restrictions before flying into an area that could be subject to heightened security measures.

“Make sure to check NOTAMs before takeoff to ensure you have current information about TFRs in your area,” the post continued, referencing Notices to Airmen and temporary flight restrictions.

Camp David and the surrounding area are subject to stringent aviation security restrictions, with additional temporary restrictions imposed when the President is at the retreat. Saturday’s violation triggered a NORAD response that placed an F-16 alongside the civilian aircraft.

During the interception, the fighter deployed flares, a maneuver that could be seen by people on the ground and was intended to attract the civilian pilot’s attention. The appearance of a military fighter and flares near the presidential retreat prompted attention in the surrounding area, but NORAD stressed that the flares themselves presented no threat to residents below.

“During the intercept, NORAD aircraft dispensed flares, which may have been visible to the public. The flares were used to draw attention from or communicate with the pilot. Flares are employed with the highest regard for safety, burn out quickly and completely, and pose no danger to people on the ground.”

After contact was established, the civilian aircraft was safely escorted out of the restricted zone, and officials reported no further incident.

Authorities did not publicly identify the pilot or provide details about the aircraft’s origin or intended destination. They also did not announce any arrest or suggest that the intrusion was intentional. The official military account described the episode simply as a general aviation aircraft entering restricted airspace.

NORAD also issued instructions for civilian pilots who unexpectedly find themselves confronted by military aircraft. Pilots are instructed to tune their radios immediately to the emergency frequencies 121.5 or 243.0 and reverse course while awaiting further instructions.

“Should NORAD aircraft intercept a general aviation aircraft, the pilot should immediately come up on frequency 121.5 or 243.0 and turn around to reverse course until receiving additional instructions on one of those frequencies,” the military said.

The Continental U.S. NORAD Region, headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, was the operational lead for Saturday’s interception. NORAD is responsible for aerospace warning and aerospace control across the United States and Canada, including responding when civilian aircraft enter temporary flight restrictions established to protect the President.

Saturday’s incident was not the first time NORAD fighters have been called to the Camp David area because of an airspace violation while Trump was present. Another aircraft entered restricted airspace near the presidential retreat in June while the President was staying there. In that case as well, the pilot was intercepted and safely escorted out of the restricted zone.

Trump traveled to Camp David after spending part of Friday evening at Trump National Golf Club Washington D.C. in Sterling, Virginia. According to his schedule, he departed the club shortly after 9 p.m. and arrived at Camp David at approximately 9:53 p.m.

Despite the dramatic sight of an F-16 deploying flares over the region with the President nearby, available official information did not indicate that Trump was ever in immediate danger. The military response ended with the unidentified aircraft being escorted away, and NORAD used the incident to reiterate its warning that pilots must remain aware of temporary flight restrictions before entering sensitive airspace.

{Matzav.com}

[COMMUNICATED]

There’s nothing quite like giving your children what they need and seeing how happy it makes them.

The new dress your daughter can’t stop looking at. The suit that makes your son stand a little taller. The simple relief of knowing your children have what they need for school, Shabbos and Yom Tov.

Every parent wants to be able to give their children that feeling. But for thousands of families, the cost of providing clothing to their growing children has become increasingly out of reach.

That’s where Bobbie’s Place comes in.

Every year, Bobbie’s Place provides brand-new clothing to over 12,000 children and teens. Families receive full wardrobes for Yom Tov and beyond, along with coats, pajamas and accessories. With a full selection of beautiful new clothing, parents can choose the dress their daughter loves or the suit their son is proud to wear — without an overwhelming bill standing in the way.

The children leave with new clothing, confidence and the ability to look and feel like everyone else. But something else happens at Bobbie’s Place, too.

Their parents get to be the ones who give it to them.

They get to see the smile. They get to say, “This is for you.” They get to experience the same joy every parent knows — without having to worry about what they’ll need to give up in order to afford it.

Today, Bobbie’s Place operates in eight communities — Brooklyn, Monsey, Passaic, Chicago, Toronto, Baltimore, Queens and Cleveland — and is entirely volunteer-run, with no salaries or payroll.

As Yom Tov approaches, Bobbie’s Place is raising $750,000 to continue providing for the thousands of families who rely on it.

You know the feeling of giving your own child something they need and watching them light up.

This Yom Tov, give that feeling to another parent.

Give the joy of giving.

Help Bobbie’s Place reach its $750,000 goal

President Donald Trump has extended for another year a policy requiring employers to make a $100,000 payment for certain H-1B visa petitions involving foreign workers seeking entry into the United States, keeping the restriction in place through September 2027 even as its legality remains the subject of ongoing federal court battles.

The H-1B program allows American employers to temporarily hire foreign nationals for jobs classified as specialty occupations, including a large number of positions in the technology sector.

Trump’s administration first imposed the $100,000 requirement in September 2025 as part of a broader effort to overhaul the H-1B system. The administration says some employers have used the program to replace American employees with lower-paid foreign workers, while opponents of the policy have challenged the administration’s legal authority to impose the payment.

One of those legal disputes is now before the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A federal judge ruled in June that the $100,000 requirement was unlawful and barred the government from collecting the payment. In July, the appeals court declined the Trump administration’s request to put that ruling on hold while its appeal proceeds.

A separate case is being considered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. That dispute stems from a challenge brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Association of American Universities, which unsuccessfully challenged the policy before a federal district judge in Washington. The organizations appealed that ruling.

The original presidential proclamation was scheduled to expire this month, one year after it was issued. Trump’s new proclamation extends the restrictions for an additional 12 months, through September 21, 2027.

The requirement does not apply across the board to every H-1B holder. The proclamation focuses on certain workers who are outside the United States and must seek admission to the country in order for an approved H-1B petition to take effect. It also allows the Department of Homeland Security to grant exceptions when it determines that hiring particular workers is in the national interest and does not threaten U.S. security or welfare.

The long-running debate over H-1B visas has divided employers, labor advocates and immigration-policy groups. Critics argue that companies can use the program to obtain foreign labor at lower costs and displace American employees. Business groups and technology companies counter that H-1B visas are an important mechanism for recruiting highly skilled professionals when employers cannot find enough qualified workers domestically.

Congress created the H-1B program in 1990, and it has since become particularly important to the technology industry. Companies have used the visas extensively to recruit skilled professionals from abroad, with workers from India and China among the largest groups participating in the program.

The White House said the original $100,000 requirement has already produced significant changes in H-1B filing patterns. According to administration figures, registrations submitted by the largest IT outsourcing firms have fallen 92% since the 2025 proclamation took effect. Those figures represent the administration’s assessment of the policy’s impact.

The administration on Friday also announced additional changes aimed at tightening oversight of the H-1B system. Among other measures, federal agencies were directed to consider whether companies seeking H-1B workers have recently laid off, or plan to lay off, similarly situated American employees.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty surrounding H-1B processing has begun affecting corporate planning. Some major users of the visa program, including Google parent Alphabet, have increased operations in India as changes to U.S. immigration rules complicate decisions about hiring and expansion in the United States.

The extension ensures that the Trump administration’s H-1B restrictions will remain a major immigration and business issue for another year, although the ultimate fate of the $100,000 requirement may depend on the outcome of the pending federal appeals.

Rep. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat with a longstanding record of support for Israel, is warning Israeli leaders and voters that American public opinion toward the Jewish state has undergone a dramatic deterioration — one he says could eventually jeopardize not only U.S. financial assistance but Israel’s access to American weapons and diplomatic backing.

Sherman issued the warning while sharing a CNN segment examining recent polling on American attitudes toward Israel. He urged Israelis to pay close attention to the numbers and said he had personally discussed the issue with Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter.

“Every Israeli official and every Israeli voter should watch this clip, which should be translated into Hebrew. Yesterday I spoke with the Israeli ambassador. I don’t think he, or most Israelis, understand what is at stake.”

Sherman argued that the potential consequences extend well beyond the billions of dollars in annual U.S. military assistance Israel receives. In his view, a sustained decline in American backing could ultimately have implications for Israel’s access to U.S. weapons, diplomatic support from Washington and its broader international standing.

The congressman also directed sharp criticism at the Israeli government, arguing that Israel has failed to devote sufficient resources to its Foreign Ministry and to improving its image internationally. He singled out National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s presence in the government as particularly damaging.

“Ben-Gvir in the cabinet is an existential threat. Israel cannot survive without friends in the world,” he declared.

Sherman’s comments came against the backdrop of polling highlighted by CNN showing a major change in American attitudes toward Israel over the past eight years. CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said Israel’s average net favorability stood at plus 51 percentage points in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term, compared with minus 16 points in the polls analyzed in July 2026 — a 67-point swing.

CNN cited four separate national surveys — conducted by Ipsos, Fox News, Marquette University Law School and Pew Research Center — in which Israel registered negative net favorability ratings, ranging from minus 10 to minus 23 points. Enten said the findings indicated that the change in attitudes was no longer confined to Democrats or the political left, but was evident among the broader American electorate.

The CNN segment also cited polling showing 55% of Americans saying U.S. military assistance to Israel should be reduced or ended. Separately, a September Marquette Law School national survey found that 55% of adults believed the United States was providing Israel with too much military aid, while 33% said the current level was about right and 12% said it was insufficient.

Sherman’s warning is particularly notable because of his lengthy record as an advocate of strong U.S.-Israel relations. He has served in Congress since 1997 and currently holds senior positions on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including serving as the ranking Democrat on its Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee.

His message to Israeli officials and voters was that the shifting political environment in the United States should not be viewed solely through the traditional debate over foreign aid. Sherman argued that continued erosion in public attitudes toward Israel could eventually carry broader consequences for the strategic and diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

{Matzav.com}

New details have surfaced about the extraordinary security operation that abruptly removed Yair Netanyahu from South Florida and returned him to Israel in December 2025, after Israeli intelligence reportedly uncovered information indicating that Iranian operatives were planning to target Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s son.

According to a Newsmax report cited by Israel National News, Yair Netanyahu was living in the Hallandale Beach area near Miami when Israeli intelligence received information about the alleged assassination plan. The intelligence reportedly indicated that Iranian operatives were already operating in the area and had been conducting surveillance of Netanyahu’s home and movements.

The new information comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed during a live Channel 14 interview that Iran had sought to assassinate one of his sons. Netanyahu did not say at the time which of his sons had allegedly been targeted, while details of the incident had previously been barred from publication by Israel’s military censor.

Israel’s Shin Bet subsequently acknowledged that Yair Netanyahu had been rushed back to Israel because of what the agency called a “significant threat” against him. According to the Shin Bet, security officials conducted an assessment and decided that Netanyahu and the personnel protecting him needed to be immediately removed from the area and returned to Israel. The agency did not disclose the specific nature of the threat or publicly attribute it to Iran.

Col. (res.) Ronen Cohen, chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Security of Dignitaries, had earlier characterized the episode as an attempted assassination that security authorities managed to prevent “at the very last minute.” Details about the incident were under publication restrictions at the time.

Once the intelligence warning was received, American authorities were reportedly notified and Yair Netanyahu was told that he needed to leave immediately. The departure was so hurried that he reportedly did not return to collect his personal possessions before being flown back to Israel. He arrived there on December 7, 2025.

The emergency operation also reportedly prompted Israeli security officials to dispatch additional personnel to Florida. Israeli media reports said members of Netanyahu’s existing security detail were joined by Shin Bet agents who had been assigned to protect President Isaac Herzog during a visit to New York. Those agents were reportedly redirected to Miami to assist in getting Netanyahu safely out of the United States.

Israeli security officials later offered a more measured account of what had occurred. They said they were unaware of any terrorist cell in Florida that had been arrested moments before carrying out an attack. At the same time, the officials said Israeli security agencies possessed intelligence indicating an intention to harm prominent Israeli figures, including Yair Netanyahu, and that the information prompted authorities to take precautionary security measures.

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Mordechai Auerbach zt”l, one of the most revered rabbinic figures in Tel Aviv, who served for decades as rav and av bais din of Kehillas Abir Yaakov, headed Yeshivas Halichos Shlomo, and served as president of the National Center for Family Purity. He was 84.

Rav Auerbach, a son of the posek hador Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l, was known not only as an extraordinary talmid chacham and posek, but as a uniquely warm and approachable rav whose influence reached far beyond his own kehillah. Over the course of decades, thousands of Jews from across the religious spectrum were drawn closer to Torah and Yiddishkeit through his warmth, wisdom and remarkable ability to connect personally with virtually anyone who entered his orbit.

Rav Auerbach was niftar at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv following a serious deterioration in his health in recent days. He had been suffering from a severe case of pneumonia and was hospitalized in intensive care.

As word of his grave condition spread, tefillos were held throughout the Torah communities on behalf of Rav Mordechai ben Chaya Rivka. Large tefillah gatherings were held for his refuah, including tefillos at the kever of his father, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. Despite the outpouring of tefillos, he was niftar on Motzoei Shabbos.

The levayah was held at his bais medrash, Abir Yaakov, at 17 Oliphant Street in Tel Aviv. The levayah continued at midnight from the Shamgar Funeral Home in Yerushalayim, proceeding to Har Hamenuchos, where Rav Auerbach was laid to rest alongside members of his illustrious family.

Rav Mordechai Auerbach was born on 3 Adar 5702 in the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood of Yerushalayim. His father was Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Kol Torah and one of the preeminent poskim of the previous generation.

His paternal grandfather was Rav Chaim Yehuda Leib Auerbach zt”l, founder and rosh yeshiva of the Shaar Hashamayim Yeshiva for Kabbalah. The family also traced its distinguished lineage to the Toldos Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye.

His mother, Rebbetzin Chaya Rivka Auerbach a”h, was a daughter of Rav Chaim Aryeh Leib Ruhmkin zt”l, known throughout Yerushalayim as Reb Leib Melamed, a noted figure among the yirei Hashem of old Yerushalayim.

Growing up in the extraordinary Auerbach home, Rav Mordechai absorbed an intense love of Torah, kedushah and yiras Shomayim from his earliest years. Even as a young man, he distinguished himself through exceptional diligence in learning and a lifelong attachment to Torah.

Upon reaching marriageable age, he married the daughter of Rav Aharon Lemberger zt”l, a granddaughter of the Kopyczynitzer Rebbe zt”l. Following his marriage, Rav Auerbach settled in Tel Aviv, the city with which his life and decades of rabbonus would ultimately become closely identified.

With the blessing and direction of the Rebbes of the Ruzhin dynasty, Rav Auerbach was appointed rav of Kehillas Abir Yaakov, the Sadigura kehillah in Tel Aviv. Under his leadership, the kehillah became a flourishing center of Torah, tefillah and chassidus in the heart of the largely secular city.

For decades, Rav Auerbach led the kehillah with a rare combination of authority and warmth. He was renowned for his vast knowledge throughout all areas of Torah, while his personal conduct was marked by striking humility and simplicity. His life was devoted to teaching Torah, strengthening Jews in their observance and demonstrating an exceptional ahavas Yisroel toward people of every background.

His bais medrash on Oliphant Street became a destination for Jews from across Israel and beyond. Young and old, seasoned talmidei chachamim and Jews searching for greater meaning all found his door open.

Some came with complicated shailos. Others sought a bracha, advice or encouragement. Still others simply wanted the opportunity to speak with him. Rav Auerbach possessed an unusual ability to listen and to understand the person sitting before him, and his gentle manner and warmth enabled him to reach Jews who might otherwise have remained far removed from religious life.

Over the years, his influence helped bring thousands closer to their Father in Heaven. His approach was not one of confrontation, but of warmth and affection. Through the sweetness of his conversation and the sincerity with which he related to others, he awakened within many Jews a renewed attachment to Torah, mitzvos and Jewish life.

Rav Auerbach delivered daily shiurim in both advanced Torah study and halachah. On Shabbos, large numbers would gather after davening to hear his words of Torah and inspiration.

His responsibilities did not end when the shiurim were over. Rav Auerbach received people each day, responding to questions in halachah and offering brachos, guidance and spiritual support to those who sought his assistance. The constant stream of people reflected the unusual place he occupied in the lives of Jews far beyond the formal membership of his kehillah.

Alongside his leadership of Abir Yaakov, Rav Auerbach stood at the helm of Yeshivas Halichos Shlomo in Tel Aviv.

He was also deeply involved in strengthening taharah throughout Eretz Yisroel, serving as president and guiding rabbinic authority of the National Center for Family Purity. In that capacity, he devoted enormous energy to the construction and maintenance of mikvaos throughout the country and to strengthening the observance of taharas hamishpachah among Jews from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Rav Auerbach additionally served as president of numerous educational institutions, among them the Ohel Rivka Seminary for girls in Yerushalayim and the Chochmas Shlomo Talmud Torah in Yerushalayim.

He leaves behind a distinguished family continuing the legacy of Torah in which he was raised.

His sons include Rav Aharon Auerbach, a son-in-law of Rav Eliyahu Sternbuch zt”l, who served as raavad of Antwerp; and Rav Chaim Leib Auerbach, a son-in-law of the Slonimer Rebbe.

His sons-in-law include Rav Avraham Nosson Bornstein, rav of the Radomsk bais medrash in Bnei Brak, and Rav Yosef Meir Feldman, one of the rabbonim of Yeshivas Toras Chaim Vizhnitz in Elad.

Rav Mordechai was a member of one of the most distinguished families in the contemporary Torah world. His brothers included Rav Shmuel Auerbach zt”l, the renowned rosh yeshiva and leader of Yeshivas Maalos HaTorah; Rav Avraham Dov Auerbach zt”l, who served as gaavad of Tiveria; and Rav Baruch Auerbach zt”l.

His surviving brothers include Rav Azriel Auerbach, one of the generation’s prominent poskim; Rav Moshe Shlomo Auerbach, rav of Kehillas Derech Simcha in Beitar Illit; and Rav Yaakov Auerbach, rav of Kehillas Darchei Shmuel in Yerushalayim’s Ezras Torah neighborhood.

His sister, Rebbetzin Malka Borodiansky, is the wife of Rav Yitzchak Yerucham Borodiansky, mashgiach of Yeshivas Kol Torah and Yeshivas Heichal Yosef Shalom.

With Rav Mordechai Auerbach’s petirah, the Torah world has lost a remarkable link to the towering Auerbach family of old Yerushalayim, while Tel Aviv has lost a rav who spent decades bringing the warmth and light of Torah to Jews from every walk of life.

Yehi zichro boruch.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani welcomed mayors and other officials from around the world Saturday for the start of a three-day Urban 20 Summit focused on housing affordability, climate policy and immigration, even as much of the gathering’s opening-day schedule remained closed to the press and several meeting locations were not publicly disclosed.

New York City and Los Angeles are co-chairing this year’s U20, which brings together major cities to develop recommendations intended to influence discussions among national governments at the G20. The 2026 agenda is centered on affordable housing and homelessness, climate and sustainability, and immigration and human mobility.

Mamdani delivered opening remarks in New York on Saturday, where he and other city leaders were scheduled to discuss what his administration described as “practical solutions” to “rising housing costs, the climate crisis and migration.”

While City Hall publicly announced the summit and its policy agenda, access to many of Saturday’s events was restricted. Most activities were closed to the general press, and only selected news organizations were permitted to attend Mamdani’s opening remarks. The location of the event was also not publicly disclosed, according to the New York Post.

Mamdani’s public schedule also included a visit to an undisclosed wastewater treatment facility alongside Helsinki Mayor Daniel Sazonov, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni and Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri. According to the Post, media footage approved for release was expected to be distributed later rather than allowing general press access to the visit.

The mayor was additionally scheduled to hold private meetings at undisclosed locations with Collboni and Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema.

During his opening remarks, Mamdani portrayed the gathering as an opportunity for cities around the world to cooperate on problems he said transcend national boundaries. Among the issues he highlighted were making cities more affordable, responding to “the growing impact of the climate crisis,” and opposing right-wing political movements that, in his words, make it “their mission to demonize and terrorize immigrants.”

“As we hold panels, conversations and plenary sessions, my sincere hope is that this conference marks only the beginning of a new era of cooperation and emulation,” Mamdani said in remarks he subsequently posted on social media.

City Hall said the summit is expected to bring together 25 mayors as well as deputy mayors and other senior officials representing 34 cities in G20 countries. Participants include officials from cities across the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

The summit’s official agenda includes discussions about increasing affordable housing, protecting tenants, reducing energy costs, supporting immigrant communities, creating jobs and preparing cities for extreme heat, flooding and other effects associated with climate change.

Los Angeles is serving as co-host of the New York-based gathering. New York and Los Angeles assumed leadership of the U20 following Johannesburg and Tshwane, South Africa, which co-chaired the organization in 2025.

Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of International Affairs Dilpreet Sidhu addressed participants and is co-chairing the summit alongside Mamdani, according to the Post.

Among the international officials reportedly attending are Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung and Mexico City Head of Government Clara Brugada, in addition to leaders from European cities including Barcelona, Rome, Helsinki and Amsterdam.

The Urban 20 was launched in 2017 as a mechanism for major cities to coordinate policy priorities and present a collective position to G20 national governments. Its principal annual product is a communiqué containing proposals and requests from participating cities for consideration by national leaders.

This year’s gathering runs from September 19 through September 21 and coincides with the beginning of Climate Week NYC. According to City Hall, the summit is scheduled to conclude Sunday with participating officials ratifying a communiqué setting out their shared agenda, after which representatives of national governments, the United Nations and other international organizations will be invited to respond.

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the sudden and shocking petirah of Rav Chaim Yisroel Weinfeld zt”l, the longtime rov of Khal Toras Chaim of Flatbush, a distinguished talmid chacham whose life was defined by unwavering devotion to Torah and decades of selfless dedication to his kehillah.

Rav Weinfeld suffered a heart attack at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Friday. Despite efforts to save his life, he was niftar shortly before 4 p.m.

The devastating news has spread rapidly throughout Flatbush in the hours before Shabbos, leaving his family, mispallelim, talmidim, friends and countless others stunned by the sudden loss.

For many years, Rav Weinfeld was synonymous with his shul, Khal Toras Chaim D’Flatbush, the shul located at 2201 Avenue L, near East 22nd Street in Brooklyn. To generations of families in the neighborhood, however, it was known far more simply: “Rabbi Weinfeld’s Shul.”

That informal name captured something fundamental about the relationship between the rav and the kehillah he served. This was not merely a shul at which Rav Weinfeld occupied the rabbinic position. It was a kehillah whose members he carried with him, rejoicing in their simchos, standing alongside them in difficult moments, answering their shailos, teaching them Torah, and making their concerns his own.

Indeed, an extraordinary glimpse into Rav Weinfeld’s life as a rav was provided several years ago by his daughter, Mrs. Tzippy Halioua, who wrote about growing up in the home of the rav of Khal Toras Chaim.

She described a father for whom every member of the shul was precious, writing that “every one of the mispallelim in my father’s shul is like his child.” She recalled that her father would go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that he did not miss a simchah of a member of the kehillah. The same devotion was present when families experienced hardship, although Rav Weinfeld’s deep respect for their privacy meant that even his own family often did not know the details of what he was quietly doing for others.

That discretion was emblematic of Rav Weinfeld. The avodas hakodesh of a true rav often takes place away from public view — the phone calls, the private conversations, the shailos, the worries carried home, the visits and words of encouragement that never become known beyond the people involved. Rav Weinfeld’s rabbonus was built upon that intensely personal relationship with his mispallelim.

Yet even before he was the rav whom others turned to, Rav Weinfeld was, at his essence, a ben Torah.

His extraordinary attachment to learning was not something reserved for a shiur or a public setting. It formed the rhythm of his life.

His daughter recalled that throughout her childhood, regardless of the season or circumstances, there was one thing she could know with absolute certainty: if she awoke at 4 o’clock in the morning, she would find her father in his study with his Gemara.

It was, she wrote, as predictable as sunrise.

And when she returned home from school later in the day, he would again be learning, this time with a chavrusa. Torah was not something the Weinfeld children needed to be told was important. They saw its primacy every single day in their own home.

That image — a quiet home in Flatbush in the predawn hours, with Rav Weinfeld already sitting over his Gemara — perhaps captures his life better than any lengthy description could.

Day after day, year after year, the learning continued.

It was not occasional inspiration or a schedule adopted for a particular period. It was constancy. His days were constructed around Torah, with his responsibilities as a rav and his responsibilities to others woven into a life whose foundation remained uninterrupted limud haTorah.

Rav Weinfeld was known as a massive talmid chacham, but those who encountered him understood that his Torah knowledge was accompanied by the sense of responsibility that comes with it. His Torah was there to be learned, taught and lived — and to provide direction to those who turned to him.

Over the years, he maintained regular chavrusa learning and delivered a Daf Yomi shiur, among his other learning commitments. His daily schedule reflected the consistency with which he learned and transmitted Torah to others.

His daughter would later write that there was no single dramatic anecdote that encapsulated her father. Rather, it was the accumulation of innumerable moments: the time invested in his Daf Yomi shiur, his daily chavrusa learning, his determination to be home for Shabbos, and the way he placed his time for others ahead of his own needs.

That, in many ways, was Rav Weinfeld.

There are lives defined by individual accomplishments, and there are lives defined by consistency — thousands upon thousands of ordinary days lived extraordinarily. Another early morning with a Gemara. Another chavrusa. Another shiur. Another shailah. Another simchah at which the rav made certain to appear. Another family experiencing difficulty that discovered that its rav was quietly standing beside it.

Together, those days became decades of harbotzas haTorah and avodas hakodesh.

Khal Toras Chaim became an established fixture of the Flatbush Torah landscape under Rav Weinfeld’s leadership. For decades, he served as a source of Torah, guidance and stability to the families who called the shul their spiritual home.

His influence was felt not through fanfare, but through the daily life of a kehillah. A rav sees families through generations. He watches young couples become parents and grandparents. He celebrates births, bar mitzvahs and weddings, and stands with the same families through illness and loss. He answers questions whose importance outsiders may never understand and becomes a constant presence through the changing stages of people’s lives.

That was the bond Rav Weinfeld cultivated with his mispallelim.

And yet, for all that he gave to his kehillah, his family saw something else: the source from which it all came.

His daughter wrote that only as an adult did she fully recognize what it meant to have grown up in a home with a father “whose entire life is only Torah.”

There could scarcely be a more succinct description of his existence.

The Torah he learned at 4 a.m. was the Torah he brought to the people who sought his guidance later that day. The hasmadah his children witnessed privately was the foundation of the authority and wisdom his mispallelim experienced publicly. His life as a talmid chacham and his life as a rav were not separate endeavors; they were two expressions of the same avodas Hashem.

Rav Weinfeld also leaves behind an important continuation of that legacy through his family.

Among his sons-in-law is Hagaon Rav Yosef Halioua, who serves as one of the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin. Rav Yosef is the son of Hagaon Rav Shlomo Halioua zt”l, the late rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, whose own sudden petirah in 2024 shook the Torah world. Following Rav Shlomo’s petirah, Rav Yosef Halioua and Rav Tzvi Fink were appointed roshei yeshiva of Chaim Berlin.

The sudden petirah of Rav Weinfeld on Erev Shabbos brought an abrupt end to a lifetime in which the constancy itself was so striking. A man whom his family could expect to find learning before dawn, whom his mispallelim could expect to find at their simchos, and whom so many could approach for Torah and guidance was suddenly no longer there.

For the mispallelim of Khal Toras Chaim, the loss is intensely personal. They have lost not merely the rav who stood at the front of their shul, but the person who had accompanied their families through the milestones and challenges of life.

For Flatbush, the loss is that of a longtime rav and talmid chacham who was woven into the fabric of the neighborhood’s Torah life.

And for his family, the loss is of the husband, father and grandfather whose quiet example taught perhaps more powerfully than words ever could what it means for Torah to occupy the center of a person’s existence.

Rav Weinfeld is survived by his Rebbetzin, his children, grandchildren and extended family, including his daughter Mrs. Tzippy Halioua, wife of his son-in-law, Rav Yosef Halioua, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin.

The shock of the petirah is compounded by its suddenness. Only hours separated an ordinary Friday from the devastating news that a longtime marbitz Torah and rav had been taken from his family and kehillah.

But the thousands of hours Rav Weinfeld spent over a Gemara, the Torah he taught, the shailos he answered, the families he guided, the simchos he attended, and the quiet acts of responsibility performed over decades remain embedded in the lives of those he touched.

The image his daughter described now takes on a painful new meaning: Rav Chaim Yisroel Weinfeld sitting with his Gemara in the stillness of the early morning, long before most of the neighborhood had awakened.

For his children, it meant they never needed to be told how important Torah was.

For his mispallelim and all those who knew him, that lesson will now remain part of his enduring legacy.

Levayah and kevurah information will be published as details become available.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

Hezbollah has reportedly begun staging unusual propaganda tours at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport in which supporters are blindfolded and taken through an experience intended to recreate aspects of the devastating September 2024 pager attack against the terror group.

Reports emerging from Lebanon on Friday said Hezbollah operatives were conducting the tours at the country’s main international airport, located adjacent to Beirut’s southern suburbs, including the Dahiyeh area long regarded as a Hezbollah stronghold. Participants are reportedly blindfolded as part of an effort to simulate the confusion and vulnerability experienced during the attack.

The tours are being held as Hezbollah and its supporters mark two years since the extraordinary intelligence operation that struck thousands of the organization’s members and associates across Lebanon.

Details about the airport program remain limited. JFeed reported Friday that Hezbollah operatives are offering supporters what it described as an “experience” of the pager attack, with participants wearing blindfolds during the presentation. As of Friday, major international news agencies and Lebanese news organizations reviewed by Matzav had not independently reported the airport tours, and it was not immediately clear whether Lebanese airport authorities had formally approved the activity.

The reported event comes amid renewed attention in Lebanon to the September 17 and 18, 2024 attacks, in which pagers and other communications devices used by Hezbollah suddenly exploded across the country.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on September 17, 2024, thousands of pagers carried by Hezbollah members began detonating nearly simultaneously. A second wave followed the next day, when walkie-talkies and other communications equipment exploded. The blasts killed dozens and wounded thousands, including numerous Hezbollah operatives as well as civilians.

The operation was eventually acknowledged by Israel. The IDF has since publicly described the pager attack as a joint Mossad and Israeli military intelligence operation whose preparations stretched back years. According to an IDF account published in 2025, Israeli intelligence personnel monitored the devices before the order was given to activate them simultaneously on September 17.

Reuters subsequently reported that the pagers had been constructed with a small quantity of PETN plastic explosive concealed within specially designed batteries. The devices were built to survive Hezbollah’s security checks, including X-ray screening, while appearing to be ordinary communications equipment. A network of fake commercial material was also created to give the devices a convincing history and help them pass Hezbollah’s scrutiny.

The operation dealt Hezbollah one of the most unusual intelligence and security blows in its history. Many of the victims suffered severe injuries to their hands, faces and eyes because the pagers sounded shortly before exploding, prompting users to pick them up and look at their screens. Accounts from survivors have described blindness, amputations and other permanent injuries.

The blasts also triggered immediate security concerns at Beirut’s international airport. Within days of the attack, Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation prohibited passengers from carrying pagers or walkie-talkies aboard aircraft departing from Beirut, whether in checked luggage, carry-on baggage or air cargo.

The timing of the reported Hezbollah tours is particularly notable: September 17 marked the second anniversary of the pager operation. Lebanese media this week have published extensive retrospectives examining how Israeli intelligence penetrated Hezbollah’s communications procurement system and how the organization failed to uncover the operation before the devices were activated.

The airport “experience,” if the reports are accurate, appears to represent an effort by Hezbollah to incorporate one of its most damaging security failures into its own narrative for supporters — transforming the episode into an immersive presentation two years after the attack.

There is also an unusual irony surrounding the choice of venue. Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport was precisely where authorities imposed restrictions on pagers and walkie-talkies after the 2024 explosions. Now, according to Friday’s report, Hezbollah is using the airport itself to stage an experience recalling the attack.

{Matzav.com}

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Friday aimed at accelerating state oversight of artificial intelligence, including exploring a requirement that developers of advanced AI systems create an emergency “kill switch” that could shut down frontier models if they pose a serious threat. The order also calls for faster implementation of California’s recently enacted independent AI auditing and oversight programs.

Newsom coupled the announcement with criticism of the Trump administration’s approach to regulating the rapidly developing technology, accusing the federal government of abdicating “its responsibility to protect Americans.” The governor called for Washington to adopt stronger national AI safeguards as increasingly capable systems are developed.

Under the executive order, California will convene experts to develop recommendations for strengthening the state’s existing AI safety laws. Among the proposals to be considered are independent safety assessments of frontier AI companies and mechanisms allowing advanced models to be shut down during emergencies.

“We’re not waiting to act – we’re going to speed up our work on substantial and responsible AI oversight before it’s too late. We’re going to do this thoughtfully but with urgent velocity; the stakes are too high to wait or delay action,” Newsom said.

Newsom also used a video posted to his personal YouTube channel to criticize President Donald Trump’s position on additional AI regulation.

“There’s still no comprehensive federal law, none, requiring AI companies to report dangerous incidents when they happen, and President Trump has rejected calls for new regulation. No new regulation. Let it rip. He’s dead wrong,” Newsom said.

The executive order is also intended to accelerate implementation of California laws establishing a system for independent organizations to evaluate artificial intelligence models for safety and risk. Newsom signed SB 813 and AB 1405 earlier this month, establishing frameworks for independent AI verification organizations and a state registry for AI auditors.

The order moves up the implementation timetable for California’s AI auditor registry and oversight program, with the governor seeking to have key elements in place by December 2027 rather than January 2029.

Newsom acknowledged that precisely what an AI “kill switch” would entail remains unsettled. His order calls for experts to study the issue and develop recommendations, rather than immediately imposing a finalized shutdown mechanism on AI companies.

A kill switch “means a lot of things depending on who you talk to,” Newsom said, adding, “So we want to flesh out exactly what that means and how to come up with a framework that works.”

The issue has also surfaced in Washington. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., sought this week to advance federal legislation addressing an emergency shutdown mechanism for powerful AI systems, but Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., blocked the effort.

“I think it would be crazy to get on the floor one day and regulate an entire industry,” Paul told reporters. He argued that passing such a piece of legislation would require input from industry leaders.

President Trump has generally favored accelerating American AI development while resisting regulatory measures that his administration says could impede innovation and weaken the United States in its technological competition with China. At the same time, the administration has adopted AI-related rules in national-security settings, including a June directive requiring military and intelligence AI systems to be robust, controllable and subject to clear lines of accountability.

Trump has also repeatedly promoted the construction of data centers and other infrastructure needed for the rapidly expanding AI industry, while warning that slowing American development could allow China to gain an advantage.

On Monday, Trump rejected calls for additional federal restrictions on artificial intelligence amid warnings from prominent figures in the technology industry, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI CEO Elon Musk, about potential risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems.

“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump announced Friday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico are being barred from the White House, accusing the three news organizations of repeatedly disseminating false reporting about his administration and warning that additional media outlets could face similar restrictions. The move, which Trump said was effective immediately, was confirmed by multiple news organizations Friday.

Trump disclosed the decision in a post on Truth Social, where he sharply criticized all three outlets and explained his reasons for excluding them from the White House.

“I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them ‘alive.’ Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” Trump wrote.

The President said the action was prompted by what he characterized as persistent falsehoods in coverage of him, his administration and the country, while indicating that Friday’s announcement might not be the last such action.

He continued, “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”

The announcement marked the latest chapter in Trump’s long-running clashes with major news organizations, with CNN in particular having frequently been the target of his criticism. The Associated Press noted that the scope and enforcement of the newly announced ban were not immediately clear, while the restrictions are expected to raise legal questions involving press access and First Amendment protections.

One of Trump’s most prominent confrontations with CNN came during his first term in 2018, when the White House temporarily revoked the press credentials of CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta following a contentious exchange at a presidential news conference.

In the aftermath of that dispute, Trump suggested establishing a new U.S.-based international television network that could compete with CNN and present what he said would be a more positive picture of the United States to viewers overseas.

Trump’s disputes with members of the press have extended well beyond CNN. During an April 2020 White House briefing, he clashed with Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker after Rucker questioned him about a Department of Homeland Security presentation concerning research into the possible effects of heat and humidity on the coronavirus.

“I’m the president and you’re fake news,” Trump responded, adding, “It’s a just a suggestion from a brilliant lab, from a very very smart, perhaps brilliant man. He’s talking about sun, he’s talking about heat. And you see the numbers. That’s it, that’s all I have. I’m just here to present talent. I’m here to present ideas.”

The latest restrictions also come after other battles between the Trump administration and news organizations over White House access. In 2025, the Associated Press challenged restrictions placed on its access after it declined to adopt the administration’s preferred terminology for the Gulf of Mexico, a dispute that resulted in ongoing litigation.

Shelly Meshel-Yogev, the mother of Libby Cohen Meguri, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists during the October 7, 2023 massacre, confronted Aharon Haliva, the former head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate, during an unexpected encounter in a park on Friday, accusing him of failing to personally face her family in the aftermath of the disaster.

Cohen Meguri was murdered while trying to flee the Supernova music festival massacre. During the emotional confrontation, Meshel-Yogev told Haliva that despite the fact that he lives close to the family and knows Libby’s father, he had never reached out to them or come to see them.

“You live a kilometer from our house, and you never came. You know her father, and you didn’t come. Don’t lie,” Meshel-Yogev said in a video of the encounter posted to her Instagram account.

Meshel-Yogev continued, directly blaming Haliva for the intelligence failures preceding the Hamas invasion and demanding that he acknowledge the magnitude of what happened.

“Where are you? Where were you? My daughter was buried because of you! You should feel humiliated and carry responsibility, and not breathe and say, ‘I want to come to you, I want to cry with you, because I am also suffering.’ You should say you are suffering like me! You don’t understand this?” she told Haliva.

She contrasted Haliva’s conduct with that of Herzi Halevi, the former IDF chief of staff, who she said had personally contacted the family.

“You didn’t bother to talk to us once – unlike [former IDF Chief of Staff] Herzi Halevi, who called and said I want to come. Where are you? Where have you been?”

Video from the encounter shows Haliva standing and listening as Meshel-Yogev speaks to him. He does not answer her during the recorded exchange.

Haliva stepped down as head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate in 2024, announcing his resignation in April, approximately six months after the October 7 massacre. In his resignation letter, Haliva publicly accepted responsibility for the Intelligence Directorate’s failure to provide the warning expected of it before the Hamas attack. His departure officially took effect in August 2024.

“The Intelligence Department under my command did not fulfill the mission we were entrusted with. I carry that dark day with me since then, day by day, night by night. I will forever carry with me the tremendous pain of the war,” he wrote.

Haliva returned to the subject publicly in August 2025, when Channel 12 aired recordings in which he discussed at length the failures surrounding October 7 and his view of the responsibility borne by Israel’s military and political leadership.

“I took responsibility. They won’t forgive me for October 7th – I failed,” he said.

Haliva argued in the recordings that the catastrophe resulted not simply from an individual mistake, but from deeply rooted assumptions that had taken hold throughout Israel’s security establishment.

“It’s not arrogance, it’s a whole culture. We got used to thinking we knew everything – IDF Intelligence, Shin Bet, Mossad – and the enemy was deterred. This wasn’t an accident that you just change four tires and move on. It requires deconstruction and rebuilding.”

In those recordings, Haliva also addressed Halevi’s conduct before the attack, contending that the prevailing assumptions about Hamas were shared broadly among senior security officials.

“Herzi was not negligent – he was paranoid. He didn’t wake me up at night, but even if he did, I would have gone back to sleep. That was the mindset we all had.”

Haliva also offered a harsh assessment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing him as an “attentive, situation-reading man – but a coward. He failed the test of results.”

Discussing his own responsibility as the officer who headed IDF Intelligence at the time of the massacre, Haliva said that he had not sought to conceal his role in the failures and had acknowledged it openly before other officers.

“I’m accountable for the investigations at IDF Intelligence, to dozens of officers, in bright sunlight. Nothing was hidden. This happened on my watch. I despise anyone who says, ‘That wouldn’t have happened to me.’ I was the CEO of a monster – and I’m responsible. Period.”

A Sefer Torah stolen nearly two weeks ago from the Chabad House in Haifa’s German Colony has been returned to the shul in an extraordinary turn of events, after a Jewish man recognized the Sefer Torah from publicity surrounding its disappearance, paid the non-Jew who was holding it, and personally arranged for its return.

The recovery, which took place Thursday, came just days before Yom Kippur and brought tremendous relief to the Chabad House, which had been left without its only kosher Sefer Torah.

The saga began on Shabbos Parshas Nitzavim-Vayeilech, when the Sefer Torah disappeared from the Chabad House. The disappearance was subsequently publicized in an effort to locate it.

At the time, police issued a statement saying that the Sefer Torah had been located and returned to the shul and that the incident apparently had not involved a theft. Chabad officials, however, disputed that account, insisting that the Sefer Torah had indeed been stolen and remained missing.

With Rosh Hashanah only days away, the disappearance caused particular distress because the stolen Sefer Torah was the only kosher one belonging to the shul.

“There was a theft, and the Sefer Torah was not returned,” Rabbi Ben Tzion Gagula said at the time. “The Sefer Torah that disappeared was the only kosher Sefer Torah in the shul. We are three days before Rosh Hashanah and we have no Sefer Torah. The door was locked, everything was locked. Apparently, they entered through the window.”

The breakthrough finally came Thursday evening.

A Jewish man who had seen the publicity surrounding the missing Sefer Torah contacted Rabbi Gagula with startling news: the Sefer Torah was in his possession.

According to the account provided by the Chabad House, the man had encountered a non-Jew who was holding the Sefer Torah. Having seen the reports about the theft, he realized that it appeared to be the missing Sefer Torah from the Chabad House.

Rather than risk losing track of it, the man used his own money to purchase the Sefer Torah from the individual who had it, intending from the outset to return it to its rightful home.

Once the Sefer Torah was safely returned, members of the Chabad House offered to reimburse the man for everything he had spent to recover it. He refused.

The man, who asked that his identity remain private, explained that once he realized he had encountered the stolen Sefer Torah, he felt there was no question that he had to do whatever was necessary to bring it home.

“It was truly a miracle,” Rabbi Gagula said emotionally. “This righteous Jew acted quickly, redeemed the Sefer Torah with his own money and brought it to us. He called me in the evening and informed me that he had the Sefer Torah in his possession. He even brought it all the way to the area of my home.”

For Rabbi Gagula and the members of the Chabad House, seeing their Sefer Torah again after nearly two weeks of uncertainty was an emotional moment made all the more powerful by its timing, just before Yom Kippur.

“It was an excitement that is impossible to describe,” Rabbi Gagula said. “After almost two weeks in which we did not know where the Sefer Torah was or what had happened to it, suddenly it was found and returned to us. To see again the Sefer Torah that we had been missing, especially when it is just a few days before Yom Kippur, is truly an enormous joy.”

The anonymous man’s refusal to accept reimbursement added another dimension to the story.

“We told him that we wanted to reimburse him for what he paid, but he would not agree under any circumstances,” Rabbi Gagula said. “He did it for the sake of Heaven, to save the Sefer Torah and return it to its place. It is an act of kindness that is difficult to remain indifferent to.”

During Rosh Hashanah, while their own Sefer Torah remained missing, the Chabad House had been forced to use a borrowed Sefer Torah for the Yom Tov davening.

Now, just days before Yom Kippur, their own Sefer Torah is back where it belongs.

“We thank first and foremost Hakadosh Boruch Hu, who performed this miracle for us, and we thank that righteous Jew who redeemed the Sefer Torah, as well as everyone who helped, worried, publicized and prayed,” Rabbi Gagula said. “After we held the Rosh Hashanah prayers with a borrowed Sefer Torah, now, just a few days before Yom Kippur, the Holy One, Blessed is He, arranged matters so that the Sefer Torah returned to us. We are entering the holy day with a feeling of gratitude and tremendous joy.”

{Matzav.com}

A 49-year-old Breslover chassid from Beitar Illit was detained while attempting to leave Ukraine following Rosh Hashanah in Uman and was reportedly taken for compulsory service in the Ukrainian military after authorities determined that he was subject to the country’s wartime mobilization requirements.

The man, an Israeli citizen who was originally born in Ukraine and has lived in Israel for many years, was stopped at the Romanian border while making his way back to Israel. According to sources, his family has since lost all contact with him and does not know where he is being held.

The man, who became religious later in life and subsequently settled in Israel, had traveled to Uman for Rosh Hashanah together with the thousands of Breslover chassidim who spend the Yom Tov near the kever of Rav Nachman of Breslov.

The trouble reportedly began when Ukrainian authorities examined his documents as he attempted to cross the border into Romania.

A source familiar with the incident described what happened at the crossing.

“He spoke to them in Ukrainian, and then they took him aside and checked him and discovered that he was required to enlist, and they simply arrested him. The family has no communication whatsoever with the father, and they are extremely worried.”

The incident has left the man’s family and members of the Breslover community scrambling for assistance, with efforts underway to determine both his whereabouts and whether there is any legal avenue through which he can be released and permitted to return to Israel.

A Breslover community activist involved in efforts to help the family said that numerous rabbis and communal figures in Ukraine had already been contacted, but thus far no solution had been found.

“We are at a loss. We have reached out to all the rabbis and community activists in Ukraine, and no one has a solution for how to get him released.”

Friends and acquaintances of the detained man are now urgently reaching out to individuals with connections and influence in Ukraine in the hope of securing his release and returning him to his family in Israel.

Compounding the family’s distress is the fact that they reportedly have limited financial resources and have not been able to retain an attorney to represent him.

A community activist familiar with the case said that the situation appears particularly difficult because neither the detained man nor his family has the connections or resources that might help them navigate the Ukrainian system.

“The story is tragic because the man has no connections and the family does not have the money to hire a lawyer, and it looks like the man may simply remain there for a long time. No one has any idea where he is.”

According to the sources, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has been contacted and is attempting to assist the family. At this stage, however, officials reportedly have not even been able to establish precisely where the man was taken after his detention.

The Foreign Ministry told the family that its immediate effort is to determine his whereabouts, since his current location remains unknown.

The case comes against the backdrop of Ukraine’s wartime mobilization rules, under which Ukrainian men who fall within designated categories can face restrictions on leaving the country and may be subject to military service.

For the man’s family in Israel, the immediate concern is establishing contact with him and determining where he has been taken.

As of Friday, his relatives and members of the Breslover community were continuing urgent efforts to locate him and find a way to secure his release, with the family anxiously awaiting any word about his condition or whereabouts.

After nearly six decades at the helm of one of France’s longstanding Torah communities, Rav Shmuel Akiva Yaffe-Schlesinger, the longtime rav and av bais din of Strasbourg’s Eitz Chaim kehillah and one of France’s senior rabbonim, has announced that he intends to step down from his position.

Rav Schlesinger made the announcement during the regular shiur he delivers each Thursday via Zoom to members of his kehillah, bringing toward a close an extraordinary period in which he has been virtually synonymous with the Torah community of Strasbourg.

During his remarks, Rav Schlesinger also addressed his absence from Strasbourg for Rosh Hashanah, the first time in decades that he had not spent the Yom Tov together with his kehillah. He apologized to community members for not being present and explained his circumstances before turning to the question of the kehillah’s rabbinic leadership going forward.

Rav Schlesinger stressed that the selection of his successor is not his decision to make and that he cannot determine for the members of the kehillah who should serve as their next permanent rav.

For the interim period, however, Rav Schlesinger recommended Rav Yosef Chaim Waknin as a rabbinic address for the community until a permanent decision is reached.

Rav Waknin, a native of Aix-les-Bains, France, currently serves as a maggid shiur in a kollel in Strasbourg. Rav Schlesinger spoke warmly of him during the shiur, describing him as a yerei Shomayim and also noting his experience as a mohel and the excellent manner in which he performs brissim.

His comments were widely understood as a clear recommendation that members of Eitz Chaim turn to Rav Waknin during the transitional period, even as Rav Schlesinger carefully reiterated that the ultimate choice of the kehillah’s next permanent rav belongs to the community.

The announcement marks the end of a remarkable chapter in the history of Strasbourg’s Orthodox Jewish community.

Rav Schlesinger was born in 1939 into a distinguished rabbinic family. His father, Rav Mordechai Yaffe-Schlesinger, served as the final rav of Eisenstadt, Austria, before World War II. The family fled Europe during the year of Rav Shmuel Akiva’s birth and settled in Eretz Yisroel.

Rav Schlesinger subsequently learned at Yeshivas Slabodka and later continued his learning in the United States, where he was privileged to study, among others, under Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l.

Over the course of his many decades in Strasbourg, Rav Schlesinger became one of the central figures of Torah life in the city. As the leader of the Eitz Chaim kehillah, he delivered shiurim, rendered halachic rulings and provided guidance to generations of families.

His responsibilities extended far beyond the walls of the shul. Rav Schlesinger was deeply involved in matters of kashrus, the local kollel and bais medrash, and other aspects of communal Torah life. Over the years, he became one of the most prominent rabbinic figures not only in Strasbourg and the Alsace region, but in French Jewry as a whole.

The extraordinary length of Rav Schlesinger’s tenure had already been formally celebrated nearly a decade ago. In 2017, Eitz Chaim held a special kiddush commemorating 50 years since he had assumed leadership of the kehillah.

Nearly another decade has passed since that milestone, meaning that Rav Schlesinger’s retirement comes after close to 60 years during which his name and that of the Eitz Chaim community have been closely intertwined.

Eitz Chaim itself is one of Strasbourg’s veteran Orthodox kehillos. Its shul is located on Rue Turenne, where the community established itself after moving from its previous location in the late 1990s.

Over the years, a broad Torah infrastructure developed around the shul, including a bais medrash, kollel and regular shiurim, with Rav Schlesinger serving as the central rabbinic figure of the kehillah throughout those decades.

The past several years also brought Rav Schlesinger a profound personal loss. In Tammuz 5784, his wife, Rebbetzin Sarah Schlesinger a”h, passed away following more than 60 years of marriage.

Rebbetzin Schlesinger, a daughter of Rav Chaim Tzvi Kruger zt”l, av bais din of Brussels, stood alongside her husband for decades as he carried the responsibilities of the rabbonus and built the Strasbourg kehillah. Following her petirah, she was brought to kevurah in Yerushalayim.

The Schlesinger family has long been prominent in the rabbinic world of Europe and the United States. Two of Rav Schlesinger’s sons, Rav Yisroel Dovid Schlesinger and Rav Yehoshua Eliezer Schlesinger, serve as rabbonim in Monsey, New York.

Rav Schlesinger’s brother, Rav Avrohom Yaffe-Schlesinger, author of Be’er Sarim, served for decades as the rav of the Machzikei Hadas kehillah in Geneva, Switzerland.

Toward the conclusion of his remarks, Rav Schlesinger made a special request of Strasbourg residents, urging them to attend the Shabbos Shuvah drashah that will be delivered by Rav Waknin.

The members of Eitz Chaim will now face the consequential task of determining the future rabbinic leadership of their kehillah following an era spanning nearly 60 years.

Rav Schlesinger made clear that the final decision rests with the community. At the same time, for the immediate transition, he left his longtime mispallelim with a clear recommendation: Rav Yosef Chaim Waknin should serve as a rabbinic address as Eitz Chaim prepares for a new chapter in its storied history.

{Matzav.com}

The Trump administration is preparing to announce that Medicaid programs in all 50 states will have access to international benchmark pricing for certain prescription drugs, expanding President Donald Trump’s effort to reduce the amount the United States pays for medications compared with other developed countries.

President Trump is expected to promote the initiative at the White House on Friday alongside the governors of South Dakota, Mississippi and Arkansas. The announcement comes as the administration has placed prescription drug costs among its major domestic policy priorities ahead of the November midterm elections. Semafor first reported details of Friday’s planned announcement.

According to estimates from the White House Council of Economic Advisers cited by Semafor, the initiative is projected to produce $27.6 billion in net savings for state governments over the next decade, in addition to $36.6 billion in savings for the federal government. Those figures are administration estimates and have not yet been independently demonstrated through the program’s results.

The administration’s approach is based on the idea that Medicaid should be able to obtain prices for certain medicines that more closely resemble the lower prices paid in selected foreign countries.

“This is a clear cut example of how you can save money in the Medicaid program in a way that strengthens the program as a whole,” a White House official told Semafor. “By getting lower drug prices, more people will have access.”

Reuters reported that the administration was preparing to make the announcement, although the news organization said it had not independently confirmed Semafor’s reporting.

At the time of that report, neither the White House nor the Department of Health and Human Services had immediately responded to Reuters requests seeking comment.

At the center of the initiative is the administration’s GENEROUS Model — short for GENErating cost Reductions fOr U.S. Medicaid — which was launched in January 2026. Under the program, participating drug manufacturers provide supplemental rebates intended to bring Medicaid’s net cost for selected medicines in line with prices paid in certain other countries.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says the five-year model is voluntary for both states and pharmaceutical manufacturers. States choose whether to participate and which eligible medicines they want covered through the program.

The initiative is part of President Trump’s broader push for what the administration calls “most-favored-nation” drug pricing, an approach intended to narrow the gap between prescription drug prices in the United States and those paid abroad.

The administration has also been reaching agreements directly with pharmaceutical companies. On Aug. 31, it announced another group of agreements involving nine midsize pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Teva Pharmaceuticals, Astellas Pharma and UCB. Those arrangements followed earlier agreements reached with other major drugmakers.

The ultimate size of the savings produced by the Medicaid initiative, however, remains uncertain.

One reason is that Medicaid already obtains significant discounts on prescription medications through federally required manufacturer rebates. States are also permitted to negotiate supplemental rebates of their own, raising questions among health-policy analysts about how much additional savings international benchmarking can generate. Semafor noted that experts have questioned whether the GENEROUS model will produce savings on the scale projected by the administration.

CMS has reported that gross Medicaid prescription drug spending exceeded $100 billion in 2024. After manufacturer rebates were collected, net spending was approximately $60 billion.

The administration nevertheless believes the international-pricing mechanism can drive those costs down further.

Under the GENEROUS system, CMS negotiates with participating pharmaceutical manufacturers, which report applicable international net prices. Participating states can then obtain supplemental rebates intended to reduce the net Medicaid price of eligible drugs toward the agreed international benchmark.

Friday’s announcement represents a nationwide expansion of access to that approach, giving state Medicaid programs across the country the option of participating as the Trump administration seeks to make lower prescription drug prices a prominent part of its domestic agenda.

{Matzav.com}

David Friedman, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel during President Donald Trump’s first administration, came to the defense of current Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Friday, suggesting that Huckabee may not have been provided with all the relevant information before his controversial visit to Turmus Ayya earlier this month.

The controversy centered in part on Amishav Melet, a Jewish resident whom Huckabee filmed as Melet drove a security vehicle near the gathering in Turmus Ayya. Melet subsequently maintained that he was carrying out a routine security check and had not come to interfere with the ambassador’s visit. Friedman pointed to a recent interview with Melet and suggested that Huckabee’s Palestinian Affairs Unit may have failed to provide the ambassador with important background before arranging the trip.

“Gov. Mike Huckabee is an incredible US Ambassador to Israel – maybe the best ever,” Friedman wrote on X. “As occasionally occurred when I was Ambassador, I think his Palestinian Affairs Unit withheld some key facts in arranging his trip to Turmus Aya. Here’s an interview with the guy who the Palestinian residents of that town claimed was a terrorist – Amishav Melet – whose brother was murdered by residents of this community just 7 weeks ago. Take a look at this interview and decide for yourselves.”

Friedman had already publicly backed Melet earlier this month following the dispute over Huckabee’s visit.

“Enjoyed a cup of coffee this morning with Amishav Melet. He’s the guy who the residents of Turmus Ayya tried to portray as a terrorist when all he was doing was driving a security patrol and bothering no one.”

Two weeks ago, @GovMikeHuckabee filmed a security Ranger near Turmus Aya and called it “dangerous settlers.”

After Shabbat, the driver identified himself. Amishav Melet (@amishav_ ) — a 35-year-old farmer and father of six from the Shiloh Valley. Amishav explains why he was in… pic.twitter.com/jnZRTY7cQB

— Channel 18 Israel (@channel18israel) September 18, 2026

Friedman described Melet as “a vegan, a pacifist and a farmer,” adding, “He wants nothing more than to work the land promised to the Jewish people by God.”

“He says he harbors no hatred for the Palestinians, even though a Palestinian murdered his brother just six weeks ago,” Friedman continued.

“The Jew-haters will need to get another poster child for their ‘settler violence’ campaign. This one won’t work (neither will any other),” he concluded.

The dispute began after Huckabee traveled to Turmus Ayya, near Ramallah, on September 5 to meet Palestinian Americans living in the town and listen to their accounts of violence, property damage and intimidation. During the visit, Huckabee publicly condemned violence and said those who commit attacks should face consequences.

At one point during the visit, Jewish residents drove near the area where Huckabee and the delegation were assembled. Video from the scene showed Huckabee taking out his cellphone and recording the vehicle as it passed.

According to Channel 12, people present at the gathering said Huckabee indicated that he planned to personally send the footage to President Donald Trump to show what was described to him as an effort by Jewish residents to “disrupt” the visit.

Following the visit, Huckabee wrote on X that he had traveled to Turmus Ayya “to hear disturbing stories of criminal & terrorist actions by a band of trespassers who brazenly roam through property of lawful property owners.”

At the same time, Huckabee made clear that his criticism was directed at those engaging in violence and illegal conduct, rather than Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria generally. He said he supports “Israelis living in Judea/Samaria where they have right to be,” while emphasizing his opposition to violence and lawlessness. During the visit, Huckabee also explained his preference for the biblical terminology Judea and Samaria.

After Shabbos, Melet publicly revealed that he had been behind the wheel of the security vehicle Huckabee recorded.

“Dear Mike Huckabee,” Melet wrote. “Well, that was me. I was the driver of the Ranger you filmed.”

Melet offered a sharply different account of what had brought him to the scene. He said a shepherd had alerted local residents after noticing dozens of vehicles gathering near Turmus Ayya, in an area where, according to Melet, Jewish residents had previously encountered attacks and arson.

Melet said he got into the local security Ranger to investigate what was taking place and simultaneously notified the IDF, as required under the security procedures followed by residents in the area.

“When we arrived and saw respectable people and media crews, we said hello and continued on our way,” he wrote. “Shortly afterward, the army informed us that this was a proper, coordinated visit.”

Melet insisted that neither he nor the others with him had gone there to confront Huckabee’s delegation.

“That is the entire story,” Melet added. “And yet, within minutes, we were portrayed in the media as ‘dangerous settlers.'”

Melet has also said that his brother, Bnayahu Melet, had been killed weeks earlier during a violent confrontation in Samaria, and that he himself had received threats. Those statements are Melet’s account of the events and circumstances surrounding his presence near Turmus Ayya.

Friedman’s latest comments appeared aimed not at criticizing Huckabee personally, but at questioning the information presented to the ambassador before and during the visit. By highlighting Melet’s account, Friedman argued that Huckabee may have been given an incomplete picture of why the security vehicle approached the area.

Huckabee, for his part, has continued to distinguish between Israelis living in Judea and Samaria and individuals who engage in violence or property crimes. During his Turmus Ayya appearance, he said that people who burn cars or mosques, vandalize homes or seize property should be treated as criminals and, in certain circumstances, terrorists, while reiterating his longstanding support for Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

{Matzav.com}

A former Palestinian Authority cabinet minister has publicly identified himself as the mysterious intermediary who says he carried an extraordinary warning from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to Israel just weeks before the October 7 massacre — a warning that reportedly included the word “earthquake” and a threat that Sinwar was preparing a major surprise.

Dr. Sufian Abu Zaida, a former senior Fatah official and PA minister for prisoner affairs, revealed in a video posted to Facebook that he was the man previously identified only by the pseudonym “Coal Eyes” in investigative reporting about intelligence and warnings that preceded the Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

“I am ‘Coal Eyes,’” Abu Zaida said, according to Israeli media reports, confirming for the first time his role in the secret contacts that took place in the weeks before the attack. Abu Zaida said he intends to disclose additional details in the coming days about the contacts and the message Sinwar asked him to transmit.

His disclosure adds a new, named source to reporting published earlier this month by Israeli journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval concerning warnings that allegedly reached senior Israeli officials before October 7.

According to that reporting, Sinwar met privately with Abu Zaida in Gaza in September 2023, at a time when Hamas and Israel were engaged in indirect discussions over a broader arrangement concerning Gaza.

The contacts reportedly involved efforts to secure the return of four Israelis then held in Gaza — the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, along with civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. In return, Hamas sought the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as well as steps involving the blockade of Gaza and the territory’s electricity and water infrastructure.

Those discussions apparently stalled in the weeks before October 7. Sinwar subsequently disappeared from the regular channels through which Israeli officials had been following the negotiations.

A senior Shin Bet official told Haaretz that Sinwar had “vanished from our radar, evaporated.”

But Sinwar had not disappeared entirely.

According to the investigation, he met privately with Abu Zaida and instructed him to transmit an ominous message to the Israelis.

“Tell the Israelis if they don’t advance, I’m preparing a huge surprise for them,” Sinwar was quoted as saying.

Sinwar also reportedly used the Arabic word “zilzal” — meaning “earthquake” — to characterize what was coming.

Abu Zaida, a longtime Fatah figure who speaks fluent Hebrew and had extensive contacts with Israelis, reportedly understood the message as an unusually serious threat.

But he faced a dilemma over how to pass it along.

According to the account provided by Eldar, Abu Zaida feared contacting the Shin Bet directly. He was concerned both for his personal safety and that direct contact with Israeli intelligence could expose him to accusations of collaborating with Israel.

Instead, the warning was relayed through a Palestinian contact close to the leadership of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Zaida is politically associated with the camp of Mohammed Dahlan, the former senior Fatah official who has lived in the UAE and developed close ties to its leadership.

The warning reportedly made its way to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

According to the earlier investigation, Mohammed bin Zayed subsequently spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu roughly a week and a half before October 7 and warned him that Sinwar was planning a major operation that could destabilize the region.

The UAE has not publicly confirmed the details of the alleged conversation. Asked about the reporting, the Emirates said it “does not comment on media stories or speculation regarding conversations between government leaders.”

Netanyahu’s office, meanwhile, has strongly denied that the prime minister received such a warning from the UAE, making the question of what precisely reached Israel’s political leadership a matter of dispute. Abu Zaida’s newly released video identified him as the intermediary who received Sinwar’s message but, according to the Times of Israel, did not address the separate allegation concerning what Mohammed bin Zayed subsequently told Netanyahu.

There was reportedly another route by which the intelligence reached Israel.

Israeli reporting has said that information originating with the intermediary reached the Shin Bet in mid-September 2023. According to an N12 account of the investigation, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar recommended examining the possibility of preventive strikes in Gaza or substantially strengthening defenses along the Gaza border, but no operational decision followed from the discussions.

The information was also reportedly kept within a tightly restricted circle. As a result, senior IDF and Military Intelligence officials who were not privy to the intelligence could not combine Sinwar’s message with other warning signs that emerged ahead of October 7, N12 reported.

The precise meaning attributed to Sinwar’s “earthquake” warning at the time is also significant. Reporting by N12 said Israeli officials apparently misinterpreted some of the intelligence, believing it could relate to a possible transfer to Gaza of Elizabeth Tsurkov, the Israeli-Russian researcher who had been kidnapped in Iraq, rather than an imminent large-scale Hamas assault.

Weeks later, on the morning of October 7, thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel from Gaza, murdering approximately 1,200 people and abducting 251 hostages in the deadliest terrorist attack in Israeli history.

Abu Zaida, 66, was born in the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza and spent years as a prominent Fatah figure. He previously served as the Palestinian Authority’s minister for prisoner affairs and became well known in Israel because of his fluent Hebrew and frequent appearances in Israeli media. He is associated with Dahlan’s faction of Fatah and left Gaza for Egypt after the outbreak of the war.

His decision to reveal himself now puts a name and face to one of the more consequential claims to emerge from the continuing examination of the intelligence failures preceding October 7.

It also sharpens unresolved questions about how Sinwar’s warning was understood, who ultimately received it, and why the threat did not result in preparations sufficient to prevent the attack. Abu Zaida has said that additional details about his role in the secret contacts — including the message Sinwar personally asked him to convey to Israel — will be released in the coming days.

{Matzav.com}