Matzav

The White House unveiled a sweeping proposal on Wednesday aimed at dramatically softening the fuel economy benchmarks that Joe Biden locked into place last year, marking another effort by the administration to ease the pathway for selling gasoline-powered cars.

Under the plan released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the required fleetwide average for model year 2031 would drop to 34.5 miles per gallon—far below the 50.4 mpg level set under Biden. The agency also wants to reset the standards for earlier years and then raise them incrementally between 0.25% and 0.5% each year through 2031.

NHTSA noted that the Biden-era policy had demanded much steeper annual increases: 8% for models built in 2024 and 2025, and 10% for 2026. By contrast, the new plan represents a significant rollback that the administration argues will reduce the cost of purchasing a new vehicle by an estimated $900 on average, even though it would lead to substantially higher fuel consumption nationwide.

The agency is also seeking to overhaul the program itself. A key element of the proposal would scrap credit trading between automakers beginning in 2028 and discontinue certain credits tied to efficiency-enhancing features. In its explanation, NHTSA said the current system has become a “windfall for EV-exclusive manufacturers that sell credits to other non-EV manufacturers.”

President Donald Trump is expected to present the proposal alongside the chief executives of Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler.

Earlier this year, Trump signed a measure eliminating fuel economy penalties for the auto industry, and according to NHTSA, companies will not face any fines retroactive to the 2022 model-year period.

The effort to eliminate credit trading has major implications for companies like Tesla and Rivian, which have generated sizable revenue streams by selling credits to manufacturers still producing gas-powered vehicles.

Ford’s CEO Jim Farley applauded the move ahead of Wednesday’s event, saying Trump was “aligning fuel economy standards with market realities. We can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while still giving customers choice and affordability.”

GM’s Mary Barra, speaking at an event on Tuesday, underscored the pressures the industry faced under California’s now-blocked zero-emission rules. Before Congress intervened in June, states following California’s model were preparing to require that “35% of new vehicles sold in 2026 must be EVs,” she said. “We were going to have to start shutting down plants because we weren’t going to be able to build and sell those vehicles.”

NHTSA had previously projected that the 2022 standards for passenger cars and trucks would cut fuel use by 64 billion gallons and eliminate 659 million metric tons of emissions, delivering a net financial benefit of roughly $35.2 billion to American drivers.

Long-range projections from the same 2022 rule estimated more than 200 billion gallons of gasoline saved through 2050.

Environmental groups immediately blasted the new proposal. Kathy Harris of the Natural Resources Defense Council argued that “The Trump administration is sticking drivers with higher costs at the pump, all to benefit the oil industry. Drivers will be paying hundreds of dollars more at the pump every year if these rules are put in place.”

Trump has repeatedly advanced policies to ease the sale of gasoline vehicles and slow the shift toward electric models, including revoking EV tax credits and preventing California from imposing a 2035 phase-out of gas-powered car sales.

{Matzav.com}

A recently completed Pentagon inspector general review concluded that War Secretary Pete Hegseth did not follow certain internal protocols earlier this year when he relayed sensitive operational information through the Signal messaging platform.

According to a source who reviewed the findings and spoke with Newsmax’s Carla Babb, the technical breach does not appear to cross legal lines because Hegseth possesses the authority to declassify Pentagon material himself. This, the source said, indicates that “he did not break federal law.”

Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri, after examining the report on Wednesday, brushed off the uproar around the episode—mockingly dubbed “Signalgate”—as yet another politically motivated strike against Hegseth. “The arc of the story is that it’s just a never-ending stream of efforts to undermine Pete Hegseth, right? The whole controversy,” Schmitt told The Wall Street Journal.

“So, they didn’t get him in the confirmation process? Make a big deal out of this. … So, it’s just an ongoing effort. I wouldn’t expect it to end with this, but I think again, the president has faith in Secretary Hegseth. I think he’s doing a great job.”

The inspector general’s conclusions were released as Hegseth remains at the center of criticism from both parties over a deadly September 2 operation targeting a suspected narcotics vessel in the Caribbean. The mission resulted in 11 fatalities, including two individuals who died following a second strike. Members of Congress have openly rebuked Hegseth for permitting Navy Vice Adm. Frank Bradley to carry out that follow-up attack.

Although Hegseth chose not to meet in person with IG investigators, he provided a written account maintaining that he deliberately downgraded the information in question and insisted that its disclosure would not—and did not—jeopardize troops or compromise active missions.

Yet Babb’s source said the IG determined that the details Hegseth posted in Signal conversations—threads that included senior national security personnel and, mistakenly, a journalist—might have created risks had any of the material been intercepted.

A public, unclassified version of the inspector general’s report is set to be released Thursday.

The inquiry stems from an April episode in which Hegseth circulated specifics about U.S. airstrikes in Yemen to a Signal chat shared with high-level national security aides and Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic. He also forwarded the same material to another Signal group that included his wife.

The information he passed along came from a SECRET//NOFORN message sent by Gen. Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, via the Pentagon’s secure Secret Internet Protocol Router Network.

Multiple sources familiar with the exchange say Hegseth sent the strike details through a private Signal channel, omitting the original classification labels.

Although the watchdog completed its review in September, the document did not reach Capitol Hill until this week—delayed partly due to the government shutdown.

{Matzav.com}

Israel announced on Wednesday that the remains transferred a day earlier by Hamas were not those of the two hostages whose bodies are still being held in Gaza.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, forensic specialists at the Abu Kabir institute in Tel Aviv completed their examinations and notified the families of the two missing victims — Israeli police officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai citizen Sudthisak Rinthalak — that the material handed over did not match either man. “The efforts to bring them home will not stop until the mission is complete — returning them for a proper burial in their country,” the PMO said.

Kan News reported that both Hamas and the Red Cross were continuing efforts to locate the bodies of Gvili and Rinthalak and were expected to keep searching over the coming days.

Separately on Wednesday, the Al Quds Brigades — the military arm of Palestinian Islamic Jihad — said it was working with a Red Cross team in northern Gaza in an attempt to locate the remains of a hostage. A senior Red Cross official told The Times of Israel the previous day that the items delivered to the IDF consisted of “small remains, pieces” of a body.

Unlike past instances in which Hamas announced in advance that it intended to hand over remains, the terror group did not issue any such statement this time. After receiving the material from the Red Cross, IDF personnel carried out an initial inspection and held a brief ceremony led by a military rabbi before police escorted the remains to the Abu Kabir institute for identification.

Palestinian media outlets claimed the remains had been found in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.

Throughout the week, conflicting reports circulated suggesting that Hamas had located a hostage’s remains but was delaying their return. Defense officials initially said they anticipated that some remains might be transferred on Monday, only to later clarify that none would be.

Gvili and Rinthalak were among the 251 people abducted during the October 7, 2023 massacre, when Hamas-led terrorists stormed communities across southern Israel and murdered roughly 1,200 individuals, most of them civilians.

{Matzav.com}

During an appearance at The New York Times’s DealBook Summit, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, age 76, sidestepped the question of when he planned to retire from political life.

“I don’t measure it by time,” he says. “I measure it by missions, by tasks.”

Netanyahu, already the longest-serving premier in Israel’s history, has contended with several health issues over the past few years. Even so, he insisted that his political base remained strong, pushing back against polling that shows his bloc facing headwinds ahead of next year’s elections.

“I’m supported by a great majority of the people in the country,” he says. “You’d never know that by the foreign reporting, but that’s it. That’s why I keep winning these elections.”

Looking ahead, Netanyahu said he intended to focus on advancing technological breakthroughs — especially artificial intelligence — as well as expanding regional diplomacy toward what he described as a “broader peace.”

“I think there’s another revolution coming,” he says regarding technology. “I intend to steer it, along with the achievement of a broader peace. These are two enormous tasks that I’d like to take on. And you know, when history is within reach, you don’t step aside. You step forward, and that’s what I’m doing.”

{Matzav.com}

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Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu used a New York Times–hosted forum to launch a fierce attack on the corruption case against him, dismissing the allegations as “bogus” and accusing prosecutors of attempting to force him from power through the courts.

His comments came shortly after he formally submitted a request for a presidential pardon from President Isaac Herzog. Netanyahu has been on trial for years on charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust.

Addressing the DealBook Summit by video, Netanyahu argued that the legal proceedings were never about justice. Instead, he claimed they were engineered to end his political career. “So they kept on going because they don’t want justice, they want me out of office,” he said, later declaring, “This trial is just collapsed, it’s become a joke.”

Netanyahu also asserted that a pardon would not require him to acknowledge wrongdoing. “In our system, when you ask for a pardon, you’re not admitting to any guilt, you don’t have to, and I don’t,” he said — a position that legal experts have challenged and that critics say is inaccurate, insisting an admission of guilt is mandatory.

When asked about his recent conversation with President Donald Trump and whether the subject of his trial came up, Netanyahu refused to share specifics. Trump has repeatedly urged that Netanyahu be pardoned.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump maintained that Vladimir Putin appeared open to stopping the fighting in Ukraine, even though marathon discussions in Moscow failed to produce a concrete agreement and U.S. officials now prepared for follow-up talks with Ukraine’s chief negotiator.

Trump had dispatched envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to the Kremlin, where the pair met with Putin late into the night. Despite the lengthy session, the delegation did not secure a breakthrough to halt what has become Europe’s most devastating conflict since World War II.

After the meeting, the Kremlin announced that several elements of Washington’s proposal were deemed unacceptable. The U.S. plan, as described, included Ukraine surrendering portions of the eastern Donbas region—territory Kyiv continued to hold nearly four years after Russia’s invasion.

Reflecting on the discussions, Trump said, “I can tell you that they had a reasonably good meeting with President Putin,” and added that the talks were “very good.”

Still, Trump cautioned that no outcome was guaranteed, noting that diplomacy requires cooperation from both sides. He said it remained too early to predict the next steps “because it does take two to tango.”

When asked whether Witkoff and Kushner sensed that Putin truly wished to wind down the nearly four-year-old war, Trump said their takeaway was clear: “He would like to end the war. That was their impression.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump signaled on Wednesday that the second stage of his Gaza initiative remains on schedule, even after an explosion in Rafah left five IDF soldiers wounded, including one in serious condition.

During an exchange with reporters, Trump was asked when the next phase of the peace plan would roll out. He responded with optimism, brushing aside the day’s violence. “Well, it’s going along well. You know, they had a problem today, I understand, with a bomb that went off. Hurt some people pretty badly…but it’s going on very well. We have peace in the Middle East. People don’t realize it. We have tremendous support.”

Earlier in the day, the IDF announced that its forces had carried out a strike in southern Gaza following what it called Hamas’ “blatant violation” of the ceasefire terms.

In its statement, the military stressed that its personnel stationed in the Southern Command remain positioned in accordance with the truce. “IDF troops in the Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the IDF stated.

A new report from Kan News indicates that the terrorists entrenched inside Rafah’s tunnel network are not acting on their own, but are maintaining steady contact with Hamas’ top military leadership, contradicting the group’s public claims.

According to a Palestinian Arab source cited in the report, the messaging coming from Hamas since the IDF positioned itself along the so-called “yellow line” has been misleading. Hamas has repeatedly insisted that the gunmen in Rafah are running their own operations without direction from the organization’s central command.

Kan News, however, emphasized that the opposite is true: every one of the terror squads bunkered in Rafah’s underground passages remains tied into Hamas’ senior chain of command. The outlet reported that this link was enabled after Hamas’ military brigades shifted their layout in response to the IDF’s establishment of a permanent line in the area.

With these adjustments, the Northern Gaza Brigade continues to operate out of Gaza City, while oversight of Rafah’s terrorist network now comes from Khan Yunis. The Rafah cells, the report explained, are receiving direct instructions from the brigade based in Khan Yunis, which in turn answers to the overarching leadership of Hamas’ military wing.

Even as this command structure remains intact, violence in Rafah persists. On Wednesday, three terrorists surfaced from a tunnel entrance and ambushed an IDF force, leaving one soldier in serious condition and injuring four more lightly or moderately. The unit fired back, killing two of the attackers. A helicopter later struck compounds nearby where the third terrorist, who escaped during the clash, was believed to be hiding.

{Matzav.com}

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It’s midnight in the holy city of Yerushalayim, and a group of exalted and illustrious mekubalim stream in, one by one, into the Beis Medrash overlooking the Makom HaMikdash—the site of our destroyed Beis HaMikdash—where they will spend the night immersed in holiness.  

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The night begins at midnight, when the avreichim tearfully and mournfully recite Tikkun Chatzos, along with other tefillos, lamenting what has been lost, and storming the Heavens for its restoration.  

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President Donald Trump’s latest comments on health-care affordability set off a sharp rebuttal from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who denounced Trump’s entire record during an appearance on MS NOW’s “All In.”

Before the exchange, host Chris Hayes introduced a clip from the White House Cabinet meeting, noting that since the topic of affordability had come up, he wanted Jeffries to address Trump’s view of the term itself.

During that meeting, Trump dismissed the concept outright, declaring, “This is a fake narrative that the Democrats talk about affordability. They just say the word. It doesn’t mean anything to anybody. It’s just say it. The word affordability is a scam.”

Hayes then circled back to Jeffries, saying he assumed the New York lawmaker took issue with Trump’s framing, and asked him to define what he means when he talks about affordability.

Jeffries did not hold back. “Well, listen, Donald Trump’s whole life is a scam. The Trump administration is a scam. And certainly, the so-called House Republican majority is a scam,” he said, launching into a critique of Republican promises. He added that GOP leaders pledged immediate cost relief, gave themselves a clear benchmark, and then failed to deliver. “These people promised that they were going to lower costs on day one, right? They provided the measuring stick. They made that promise to the American people. And of course, costs aren’t going down, costs are going up,” he said.

Pointing specifically to Trump’s trade policies, Jeffries argued that everyday families are now paying the price. “The Trump tariffs are creating a crisis in affordability, thousands of dollars in additional expense for everyday Americans in terms of goods and groceries,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump used a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday to unleash a blistering critique of Somali migrants living in the United States, insisting that those who complain about America should return to their homeland instead of complaining about the country. “They come from —- and they complain and do nothing but [complain],” he said, arguing, “We don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”

His remarks are expected to spark a fierce counterattack from Democrats, who have routinely defended the community.

The comments come at a time when mounting investigations have revealed widespread criminal schemes involving individuals within the nearly 100,000-strong Somali migrant population settled in Minnesota. Even the New York Times has acknowledged that “Somali refugees who came to the United States after their country’s civil war were raised in a culture in which stealing from the country’s dysfunctional and corrupt government was widespread.”

During the same meeting, Trump doubled down on his position, saying, “I don’t want them in our country,” before launching into a searing assessment of Somalia’s conditions. “Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks … I can say it about other countries too. We got to, we have to rebuild our country … [Rep.] Ilhan Omar [D-MN] is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage. These aren’t people that work. These aren’t people that say, ‘Let’s go, come on, let’s make this place [Somalia] great.’ These are people that do nothing but complain.”

Trump’s focus on the community comes against the backdrop of several massive fraud cases linked to Somali networks that allegedly siphoned off more than $1 billion in government funds earmarked for vulnerable populations — including autistic children, underprivileged families, coronavirus aid recipients, homebuyers, and the medically needy. Critics argue that the problems stem not only from weak vetting processes but also from cultural clashes between a deeply clan-based society and the individualistic fabric of American life.

Minnesotans themselves have been increasingly aware of the scope of the misconduct, even as Democratic officials in the state have been accused of ignoring or suppressing evidence presented by state investigators. Meanwhile, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security has intensified enforcement efforts in Minnesota, arresting migrants following extensive probes into systemic migration fraud.

Democrats’ continued efforts to shield political and community figures tied to the scandals risk becoming a political liability, strategists warn. With voters already uneasy about corruption and mismanagement, party leaders may face a backlash heading into the 2026 elections.

{Matzav.com}

Dear Matzav Inbox,

Someone has to finally say aloud what too many are whispering in private: the bizayon haTorah unfolding in our midst is intolerable, and the silence around it is even worse.

And so, I really hope you’ll print my letter, because someone has to say something!

Over these past weeks, the kooks and agitators have crawled out from their corners to stage their so-called “protests” against the gedolei hador themselves, whether it is Rav Dov Landau or, specifically this week, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch during his visit to the United States.

And what do we hear in response? Nothing. Deafening, humiliating silence.

Where is the machaah? Where is the voice of a rosh yeshiva, of a rov, of anyone in leadership, rising publicly to defend kavod haTorah? How is it that this keeps happening, again and again, and not one person thundering a single word against it?

Let us be clear: These individuals are being mevazeh Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch because of their own amateur commentary on the Draft Law. They’ve crowned themselves experts, as if the gedolim who have borne the weight of Klal Yisroel somehow “don’t get it.”

Do these people truly believe that Rav Dov Landau and Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch are unaware of the law, the negotiations, the consequences, the subtleties?

These Torah giants know the Draft Law better than any pundit, blogger, WhatsApp warrior, or bullhorn-wielding kanna’i or demonstrator. They understand every ramification — legal, political, practical, and spiritual — with a depth that protestors and kannaim hotlines featuring hotheads and misguided ignoramuses cannot even begin to fathom.

And more than that, they understand the way gedolim have always navigated moments like this, with responsibility, strategy, and the foresight that comes only from Torah leadership.

They know how to maneuver.

They know how to negotiate.

They know how to delay when delay is necessary — how to “kick the can down the road” if that is what preserves the Olam Hayeshivos today so that Klal Yisroel can thrive tomorrow.

And let’s spell out what every honest person knows: They do not intend for a single ben yeshiva to end up in the army. Not one. They are safeguarding our yeshivos with every fiber of their being.

That’s what makes them gedolim. That’s what makes them the leaders of our generation. And yet these protestors — these noisy, self-appointed critics — actually imagine they know better. Afra L’pumayhu.

We’ve seen this script before. These are the very same people who, not so long ago, hurled venom at Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l and Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman zt”l, accusing them of the vilest things. The invectives they screamed back then cannot be repeated in a respectable publication.

The pattern is identical: Delegitimize the gedolim, weaponize ignorance, and pretend it’s all “for the sake of Klal Yisroel.”

They did it to Rav Chaim. They did it to Rav Aharon Leib. And now they are doing it to Rav Dov and Rav Moshe Hillel.

But the protestors themselves are not the only guilty parties. No. The rot spreads further. The enablers are the ones who give them cover, those who refuse to call them out, who remain silent while kavod haTorah is trampled, who, especially in America, watch the questioning of the gedolei hador metastasize across our communities and shrug it off or even legitimatize it.

Only when the chaos spirals out of control — only when the monster they themselves allowed to grow explodes out of control — do they suddenly rouse themselves with indignance. By then, of course, it’s too late. By then, the damage is done. And we are left with a daily churban of mobs of loudmouthed goons degrading the gedolei hador without consequence.

Enough.

Enough silence. Enough enabling. Enough pretending that this is normal or tolerable. We must call this what it is: an assault on kavod haTorah, a brazenness that should make every member of Klal Yisroel tremble.

If we still have the dignity to care, if we still believe in the sanctity of Torah leadership, then the time has come to draw a clear line and say with absolute clarity: this behavior is poison and it must end now.

If no one else will speak up, then let this letter be the beginning.

Sincerely,
A deeply pained member of Klal Yisroel

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Russian forces unleashed a wave of drone assaults across Ukraine on Wednesday, striking just as Moscow rebuffed a U.S.-backed blueprint to halt the fighting. According to Ukraine’s air force, the barrage included 111 attack and decoy drones, overwhelming multiple regions and leaving the town of Ternivka in the Dnipropetrovsk area reeling, with two fatalities and three wounded.

Even with negotiations underway, Moscow appeared to dismiss the very premise of concessions. Russian state media suggested that President Vladimir Putin sees “no point in making any serious compromises” and believes he remains “absolutely confident on the battlefield,” underscoring his refusal to bend despite the high-level American outreach.

The diplomatic push had stretched late into the night. Five hours of discussions between Putin and President Donald Trump’s emissary Steve Witkoff, joined by Jared Kushner, ended without any breakthrough. The Kremlin acknowledged the impasse with a curt assessment that “compromises have not yet been found.”

Still, Moscow attempted to paint the talks as productive in tone, if not in substance. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that the conversation represented progress in itself, saying, “A direct exchange of views took place yesterday for the first time.”

Peskov insisted that Russia was not shutting the door entirely. He maintained that negotiators had found limited areas of alignment before firmly pushing back on others. “Some things were accepted, some things were marked as unacceptable – this is a normal working process of finding a compromise,” he said.

Despite the stalemate, Peskov signaled that Moscow would not shy away from continuing discussions, asserting that Russia was open to as many rounds of meetings as required to determine whether an agreement could eventually be forged.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump signaled on Tuesday that his personal feelings toward Elon Musk remain warm, even after their dramatic and very public rupture this past summer over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

As the monthly Cabinet session wrapped up, FOX Business correspondent Edward Lawrence asked whether Musk had rejoined Trump’s inner circle after months of pointed criticism. Trump replied with measured uncertainty but emphasized his affinity for the tech mogul, saying, “Well, I really don’t know. I mean, I like Elon a lot.” He then acknowledged Musk’s enthusiastic support during the 2024 race, before noting that their clash over electric-vehicle rules was a turning point.

In the early stretch of Trump’s second term, Musk was omnipresent in Washington. He became the unofficial head of the Department of Government Efficiency, operating as a special government employee who attended Cabinet meetings, appeared alongside Trump at public events, and drove DOGE’s internal reform efforts. That chapter ended in late May, when Musk’s role with DOGE concluded.

Musk had been a vigorous and visible ally during the 2024 presidential race, traversing swing states and stumping for Trump in a campaign that ultimately swept every battleground. Trump often publicly applauded Musk’s achievements at DOGE, crediting him with rooting out government waste—moves that triggered fierce opposition from federal workers and Democrats who protested both Musk and the administration repeatedly.

The cordial partnership collapsed by June, when Musk launched an aggressive online campaign against the sweeping legislative package that Trump pushed for months. He mocked the One Big Beautiful Bill, calling it the “BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY,” and escalated the feud further with a personal post alleging, “@RealDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files.”

Trump had said previously that Musk’s breakaway began when he objected to Trump’s move to end the electric-vehicle mandate—a shift that would directly influence Tesla. In June, Trump signed three congressional resolutions eliminating California’s diesel-engine restrictions and its EV-sales mandates, boasting afterward that his signature “will kill the California mandates forever.”

After their split, Musk distanced himself from the administration but occasionally expressed approval online when he supported Trump’s decisions, including commending a July ceasefire agreement between Israel and Gaza.

Their paths crossed again visibly in September at the memorial service for Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on September 10. Trump and Musk were spotted sitting together, speaking quietly during the ceremony, signaling a possible thaw.

Musk also attended a high-profile White House dinner on November 18, joining Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and a gathering of major business figures for the event.

Trump’s newest comments about Musk came during his latest Cabinet meeting—the ninth he has held since beginning his second term, matching the total number of full Cabinet meetings Joe Biden conducted throughout his entire four-year presidency.

{Matzav.com}

A dramatic overnight standoff erupted in the southern city of Ofakim after military police detained a yeshiva bochur classified as a draft dodger — only to release him minutes later when hundreds of protesters surrounded their vehicle following a “Black Alert” callout.

During the late-night hours, a military police team arrived at the home of a young man who had not appeared at the draft office. He had been officially designated as a “me’atzev” (absentee) and then as an “arrestable deserter.”

Upon the officers’ arrival, the bochur‘s family sent out an alert, which led to a mass message through the “Tzeva Shachor” (“Black Alert”) system, summoning crowds to the scene. Within a short time, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the street, surrounding both the home and the military police vehicle.

Although the officers managed to get the yeshiva bochur into the vehicle, the crowd blocked the patrol car on all sides, triggering a large-scale confrontation and preventing the unit from leaving.

A female IDF officer from the military police, who was inside the vehicle at the time, ultimately decided to release the detainee in order to disperse the crowd and allow the military police team to exit the area safely.

Activists celebrated the release, calling it “a tremendous success,” claiming that “the yeshiva bochur was freed by the crowd even after he was already inside the military police vehicle, thanks to the massive protest that erupted at the scene.”

A police source said afterward that the military police had carried out the arrest “without coordination” and “in violation of protocol.” According to the source, local police forces who were called to the scene worked to disperse the protest and escort the military police out unharmed.

{Matzav.com}

Secretary of State Marco Rubio unloaded on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro during an appearance on Hannity Tuesday night, as President Donald Trump escalates efforts to force the strongman out of power.

Rubio did not mince words when describing the Venezuelan government’s conduct, telling Sean Hannity, “The Maduro regime is not a legitimate government. What it is is a transshipment organization. It allows cocaine and other drugs that are produced in Colombia to be trafficked through Venezuelan territory and – with the cooperation of elements of the regime – are allowed to… leave Venezuela on airplanes and ships headed towards the United States.”

That critique comes as the administration continues to expand military activity around Venezuela. U.S. forces have been conducting operations targeting suspected narcotics vessels in the Caribbean, and the Pentagon recently boosted its presence in the region. Rubio underscored that initiative, saying, “The president has authorized a counter-drug mission in the region. The fact that Maduro is upset about it tells you that drugs are coming out of Venezuela.”

The administration is also preparing to terminate temporary protected status for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans currently residing in the United States, another move that aligns with the White House’s aggressive stance toward Caracas.

Rubio accused Maduro’s government of enabling and partnering with criminal networks, warning that the fallout has engulfed the broader continent. “The Venezuelan regime is a source of instability in the entire region,” he said. “Over eight million Venezuelans have flooded into neighboring countries as a result of the regime’s activities within their own country, including into the United States.”

He added that any attempt to negotiate with Maduro is bound to fail, pointing to what he described as a consistent pattern of broken agreements. Rubio argued, “If you wanted to make a deal with him [Maduro], I don’t know how you do. He’s broken every deal he’s ever made… Maduro has made five deals with different parties over the last 10 years and has broken every single one of them.”

Rubio also highlighted an arrangement between Joe Biden and Maduro that he said collapsed, claiming it never received proper scrutiny. According to Rubio, “Maduro asked [Biden] that his nephews, convicted drug traffickers, be released from U.S. prisons. He asked that his chief money launderer… be released from U.S. custody before he stood trial. In exchange, he promised to hold free and fair elections. He got the nephews back, the drug dealers, he got the bag man back, and he never did the free and fair elections.” Rubio followed that with a sharp assessment: “They suckered Joe Biden. They’re not going to sucker Donald Trump.”

President Trump has recently acknowledged having spoken directly with Maduro, warning him that refusing to step aside could provoke U.S. military action. The exchange followed a cabinet meeting in which Rubio lauded Trump’s global posture, calling this past year one of the most “transformational” periods in American diplomacy since World War II.

Despite the bleak outlook for negotiations, Rubio noted that Trump still remains willing to explore diplomatic avenues. He emphasized the president’s openness, saying, “The president is a unique figure in modern American history. He’s prepared to sit down and meet and talk to anybody. But at the end of the day, there has to be somebody that you can actually make a deal with. We’ve made a deal with the Chinese, but Maduro’s never kept a deal. That doesn’t mean the president won’t try.”

{Matzav.com}

Malcolm Hoenlein delivered an urgent message at the Yisroel Hayom Conference in New York, describing an alarming demographic and cultural trajectory he believes is endangering both Israel’s standing and the stability of the American Jewish community. As Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, he argued that shifts in population and political influence are rapidly outpacing the Jewish community’s preparedness to address them.

Reflecting on decades of public service—from his political activism in the 1950s during Adlai Stevenson’s presidential campaign to his lifelong battle against antisemitism—Hoenlein said the trends he long feared have now materialized. “Unfortunately,” he stated, “this prophecy has come true.” He noted that today’s manifestations of antisemitism echo troubling patterns he witnessed in Europe, warning that America is no longer immune to similar developments.

Hoenlein stressed that, despite widespread awareness, the community continues to avoid confronting the magnitude of the crisis. While hundreds of new groups have emerged over the last two years to combat antisemitism, many flush with funding, he said the overall effort lacks coherence. “For the past twenty years I have been warning about the phenomenon,” he said, adding that “we are winning a few battles but losing the war.” He emphasized the absence of a coordinated financial and strategic framework and pointed to the latest New York elections as evidence of how rapidly the political landscape is shifting. According to him, the city’s Muslim population now surpasses major ethnic communities such as Italians and Poles—and continues to expand.

During the conversation, Hoenlein addressed claims that nearly 30 percent of Jewish voters supported Zohran Mamdani. He dismissed the figure as inaccurate, explaining that the methods used to calculate the vote do not properly measure Jewish demographics. “They did not vote for him,” he said, noting that even if the number were closer to 20 percent, the real question is why those voters were drawn to Mamdani. “He spoke about the cost of living. He excited them. We are not exciting young people, and it is not only a revolt against Israel, Israel is just a symbol. It is a revolt against their families. We are not growing, and we are not building the future. We are the ones who carry this message we always have and now is the time to focus on the future.”

When asked if the community can still turn the tide, Hoenlein pointed to the limits of political maneuvering when stacked against demographic trends. “Ten years ago I said, ‘Don’t run, prepare,’ because you can argue with politics and policy but not with demography,” he explained. He called for investment in a new generation—one that is deeply educated, confident, and tied to Israel—but urged that the approach must be innovative and fundamentally different from past efforts.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump ignited a new national debate on Tuesday when he hinted that Americans could soon see the federal income tax vanish entirely, suggesting that soaring tariff revenue may make such a sweeping change possible under his watch.

Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting, Trump declared that “at some point in the not too distant future you won’t even have income tax to pay,” insisting that the money now flowing into the Treasury is “so great… so enormous.” He went even further, musing that income taxes might be scrapped or reduced to a symbolic level, saying, “Whether you get rid of it or just keep it around for fun or have it really low, much lower than it is now, but you won’t be paying income tax.”

If realized, the elimination of income tax would constitute the most dramatic transformation of America’s tax structure in more than 100 years. Trump has often signaled interest in funding the government through tariffs, but his comments on Tuesday represent his clearest embrace of that direction.

Earlier in his second term, he put forward the idea of exempting individuals earning below $150,000 from income tax altogether and relying on tariffs to compensate for the lost revenue. That plan echoed the rhetoric he used in January, when he said, “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens.”

His stance surfaced again during an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan while on the campaign trail, when he was asked directly whether he was serious about abolishing personal income taxes. Trump replied, “Yeah, sure, why not?” explaining that tariffs could serve as the government’s primary funding source in place of wage-based taxation.

This position marks a departure from ideas he floated decades ago. During his brief consideration of a presidential run with the Reform Party in 1999, Trump toyed with a proposal for a one-time “net worth” tax on individuals whose wealth exceeded $10 million.

Should he pursue elimination of the income tax now, the initiative would entail massive revisions to the tax code and would meet heavy resistance in Congress, especially with the House majority holding only a slim margin.

Although abandoning income tax has traditionally been viewed as an outsider proposal, Trump’s push to rely heavily on tariffs has propelled the notion closer to the center of national discussion than it has been in generations.

A new resolution at the UN General Assembly reignited international criticism of Israel on Tuesday, as the body approved a measure insisting that Israel relinquish the Golan Heights and labeling Israel’s control of the area as “illegal.”

Egypt brought the proposal to the floor, pressing the demand that, “Israel withdraw from all the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967 in implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.” The text accuses Israel of blocking progress toward stability in the region, asserting that its governance of the strategic plateau amounts to “a stumbling block in the way of achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.”

The vote divided the chamber: 123 nations supported the resolution, seven voted against, and 41 abstained. The opposing camp included Israel, the United States, Paraguay, Palau, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga.

The initiative mirrors a yearly effort driven by Syria and several Arab states, who routinely put forward similarly worded resolutions that typically gain majority approval with little difficulty.

Israel’s envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, blasted the move, responding sharply that, “The UN General Assembly once again proves how disconnected it is from reality.” He faulted the organization for fixating on Israel while ignoring real dangers unfolding in the region.

Danon emphasized that the UN was misplacing its focus, saying, “Instead of addressing the crimes of the Iranian axis and the dangerous activities of militias in Syria, it demands that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights – a vital defense line that protects our citizens.”

He closed with a firm declaration of Israel’s stance on the matter: “Israel will not return to the 1967 lines and will not abandon the Golan. Not now, not ever.”

{Matzav.com}