Matzav

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is in Washington, D.C. today for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. President Trump welcomed Netanyahu warmly as he arrived at the White House.

The leaders are expected to focus their conversation on several pressing topics, including a potential agreement to free hostages, concerns surrounding Iran, and the new tariffs the United States imposed on Israeli goods last week. Netanyahu flew to the U.S. following his official visit to Hungary, during which he had already spoken with President Trump.

In the hours leading up to Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, President Trump held discussions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, French President Emmanuel Macron, and King Abdullah II of Jordan. Their conversation centered around efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the release of hostages.

Before heading to the White House, Netanyahu had a meeting with Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. As he began his visit to the U.S., the Prime Minister also sat down with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Trump and Netanyahu are set to meet in the Oval Office now.

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Some 200 American family members of Oct. 7 victims filed a lawsuit in D.C. federal court on Monday against Bashar Masri, a Palestinian-American billionaire with ties to the Trump administration who, they allege, aided and abetted Hamas in carrying out the attack.

The suit accuses Masri of knowingly working with Hamas in developing business properties in Gaza that concealed and provided electricity to the terror group’s elaborate, militarized tunnel network. It seeks damages under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Masri has also provided advice and private plane travel to Adam Boehler, formerly U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be special presidential envoy for hostage affairs and a current special envoy at the U.S. State Department, as he conducted unprecedented direct negotiations with Hamas in March, per Israeli media reports.

As chairman of the Palestine Development & Investment Company, Masri struck deals to develop and operate hotels, an industrial park and other businesses in Gaza, including directly with Hamas officials, according to the suit and statements from the company’s website.

Those businesses included Al Mashtal Hotel, which the Israel Defense Forces identified in 2014 as a Hamas rocket launch site and which the suit alleges was refurbished by Masri’s company in contract with a Hamas-affiliated construction company. The suit also alleges that Hamas used the hotel in terrorist operations before, on and after Oct. 7.

Gary Osen, one of the lead attorneys representing the families against Masri, told JNS that this cycle of repeatedly re-investing in properties used by Hamas represented a “continuous pattern” of complicity with the terrorist group on the part of Masri and the other defendants.

“When the hotels get damaged by Israeli airstrikes or the Gaza Industrial Estate gets damaged, they not only don’t stop investing, they continue to rebuild infrastructure,” Osen said. “If someone didn’t want to be involved with Hamas or support them, they would presumably say, ‘Okay, well, they’re firing rockets from Al Mashtal hotel tunnels, maybe we should just exit that investment.’”

“But no, according to the complaint, they not only go back and refurbish, invest more money and more of other people’s money, but assist Hamas with its tunnels again,” Osen said. “Nothing changes.”

Masri’s office denied the allegations in a statement to JNS and said he would seek their dismissal in court.

“Bashar Masri is a successful and respected Palestinian American entrepreneur and business leader,” the statement said. “He was shocked to learn through the media that a baseless complaint was filed today referring to false allegations against him and certain businesses he is associated with. Neither he nor those entities have ever engaged in unlawful activity or provided support for violence and militancy.”

“Bashar Masri has been involved in development and humanitarian work for the past decades,” the statement added. “His continued efforts to promote regional peace and stability have been widely recognized by the United States and all concerned parties in the region. He unequivocally opposes violence of any kind.”

Masri was born in Nablus to a prominent and wealthy family of Palestinian businessmen and was educated in Egypt and the United States, graduating from Virginia Tech and eventually becoming a U.S. citizen. In the mid-1990s, he returned to Ramallah and founded a variety of business ventures.

Through his company and investments in or control of other entities, Masri runs or has stakes in some of the largest Palestinian companies, with market caps of hundreds of millions of dollars on the Nablus-based Palestine Exchange stock market.

In 2018, Fortune magazine listed him as no. 38 on its list of the world’s greatest leaders, and he sits on the Dean’s Council of Harvard Kennedy School.

Osen told JNS that Masri’s dealings with Hamas officials in the leadup to Oct. 7 cannot be squared with how he presents himself to the world as a legitimate Palestinian businessman.

“It’s just hard to wrap your mind around the degree to which the owners of the properties were complicit,” Osen said. “The fact that Masri was allegedly in Gaza three weeks before Oct. 7, promoting his green tech at the hotel, presenting himself and his companies as saving the environment and helping Palestinians get regular electricity—meanwhile, some of the solar electricity is going into the Hamas tunnels.”

“In my view, there’s a level of duplicity in all this that can’t be reconciled with that outward persona of moderation,” he said.

Masri’s alleged direct dealings with Hamas include a $60 million solar energy project in Gaza that his company announced in September 2023 and a 2022 agreement with Abdel Fattah Zrai’i, Hamas’s deputy minister of economy.

The IDF killed Zrai’i in 2024 airstrike and said that he had served in Hamas’s weapons manufacturing division and had played a role in seizing humanitarian aid.

It’s not clear how Masri became connected with the Trump envoy Boehler, though Masri has extensive business dealings with Qatar, including a nearly $1 billion Qatari investment in one of Masri’s real estate developments north of Ramallah.

JNS asked the State Department before the lawsuit was filed for details about Masri’s associations with Boehler, including the private jet travel and whether he had advised any other administration officials.

“We work closely with partners and third-party intermediaries in our efforts to free Americans detained overseas,” a spokesperson for the department told JNS. “We don’t have further details to share about special envoy Boehler’s travel.”

U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Boehler to be special presidential envoy for hostage affairs in January, but Boehler’s nomination was withdrawn after the negotiations with Hamas in March. He remains a special envoy at the State Department.

In a social media post in December before he took office, Trump described Boehler as one of the lead negotiators of the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries.

Boehler was also college roommates with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and was chief executive officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, a federal agency, in the first Trump administration. In 2020, Boehler announced that Masri would serve on the Development Finance Corporation’s advisory council, a position Masri held until 2023.

JNS sought comment from the State Department about the lawsuit after it was filed on Monday morning.

One of the allegations in the lawsuit is that for decades, Masri used funding from the U.S. government and from U.S.-backed international organizations intended for economic development and diverted the money to support Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure.

“The Gaza Industrial Estate, one of the key Masri-controlled sites implicated in this lawsuit, was originally funded as a USAID initiative to promote economic growth in the region,” the plaintiffs stated.

“However, evidence in the complaint suggests that while the GIE housed legitimate businesses, it also became a crucial Hamas operations hub, with its underground attack tunnels burrowed under the border with Israel to allow Hamas to attack a nearby kibbutz and seize hostages,” they state.

One of the plaintiffs, Naomi Feifer-Weiser, the mother of Roey Weiser, an off-duty commander at the Erez Crossing who was killed after drawing fire away from trapped fellow soldiers during Oct. 7, said that she wanted to bring accountability to Hamas’s financial backers.

“I hope this lawsuit exposes the ‘terrorists in suits,’” Feifer-Weiser said. “The ones who smiled for the cameras, shook hands and spoke about tourism and economic growth in Gaza, all while quietly helping Hamas dig terror tunnels beneath the surface.” JNS

{Matzav.com}

In a powerful Shabbos HaGadol drasha to hundreds of his followers in Elad, the noted Chassidishe rov, Rav Naftali Glanz, turned his focus to a growing and deeply troubling phenomenon within the Torah world: what he calls counterfeit kannaus, or zealotry. Rav Glanz, known for his work in shalom bayis and guiding families with children who have strayed from the derech, did not mince words as he decried the violent actions and misguided fervor displayed by some members of the community.

“I don’t enjoy playing the role of a public rebuker,” Rav Glanz began, “but there are times when silence is no longer an option. An alarming extremism has taken hold among us, led by immature young men, completely lacking any sense of responsibility. They storm the streets in unbridled rage, behaving with a brutality that stands in stark contrast to the refined, dignified conduct expected of bnei Torah and yeshivah students dedicated to the path of Torah and ethics.”

The rov described a recent incident in Bnei Brak, saying: “This week, a group of young men confronted a few IDF soldiers who entered the city. They drove them out with loud insults and hateful slogans. This disgraceful display is one of countless similar instances where youths — lacking any spiritual guidance — cloak themselves in ‘kannaus’ and take the law into their own hands. The holy Divrei Yatziv once told his talmidim: If you suddenly hear the sound of the shofar heralding Moshiach or see all the shevatim of Klal Yisroel gathering to greet him — do not leave your Gemara. Chazal teach that even then, we don’t close our sefarim to greet Moshiach.”

He continued, “The halacha is clear: We do not interrupt children’s Torah learning even to build the Beis HaMikdash. This principle is undisputed. And yet, we witness these 13- and 14-year-olds — who should be immersed in learning — parading through the streets, clashing with police, hurling foul language, and acting with appalling violence. In the name of a false kannaus, zealotry, they are losing all sense of truth and direction.”

Rav Glanz connected this breakdown to troubling patterns he sees in his daily work. “In my role, I am frequently involved in restoring peace between husbands and wives. I hear young yungeleit speak to their wives in ways that are horrifying — their language, their tone, it leaves me stunned. Parents are left wondering how things deteriorated to this point. But they fail to see the connection: these attitudes are born in the streets, among those very displays of so-called ‘kannus.’ When vulgarity and aggression are normalized in protests against innocent people — like those who merely ask them to stop blocking traffic — it should surprise no one when that same rage is turned inward, into their homes.”

He warned that once a person adopts such a toxic mode of speech, they no longer differentiate between a stranger and their own spouse or parent. “We invest so much in mussar and spiritual guidance. We drill in shemiras einayim, in kedushah. And in one thoughtless moment, it’s all thrown away — as young men, supposedly pure of sin, find themselves being dragged away by female officers in humiliating and spiritually dangerous situations.”

The rov shared a story: “This week in Yerushalayim, we lost a simple, beautiful Jew named Reb Yitzchok Eizik Weisel z”l. He was beloved for his endless acts of chesed, always offering rides to strangers, somehow always heading exactly where they needed to go — even if it was another city. But what amazed me most: throughout his life, he never once handed something directly to a woman. On one occasion, seeing a blind woman struggling to cross the street, he wanted to help but wouldn’t take her hand. So, he removed his tallis katan, asked her to hold one end, and he held the other, guiding her across.”

“This,” the rov explained, “is how a simple Jew lives with holiness. Not a rosh yeshiva, not a maggid shiur. Yet he upheld boundaries with dignity and integrity. And then we see these supposed guardians of our faith — storming the streets, dragging young men who haven’t even finished Shas into chaos, exposing them to scenes and behaviors that will haunt their futures, and corrode their marriages and their middos. They cannot foresee the long-term destruction they are sowing.”

Citing a Gemara from Sanhedrin, Rav Glanz taught: “When Pinchas acted zealously, he didn’t rush in with his spear. He first approached Moshe Rabbeinu and confirmed the halacha. Only once Moshe agreed that ‘kana’im pog’im bo‘ applies did Pinchas act. That’s true zealotry — not impulse, but clarity, driven by halacha and yiras Shamayim.

He continued: “Why was Yaakov Avinu angry with Shimon and Levi after they killed Shechem? After all, they were defending their sister’s honor! But Yaakov was upset because they didn’t first seek his counsel. They acted rashly. That’s not the Torah way.

“A true kannai,” the rov explained, “acts only after halachic consultation, never from emotion or fury. And certainly, someone who violates the Torah in their so-called ‘fight against evil’ cannot be considered a kannai. The Chofetz Chaim testified that his rebbi, Rav Leib Stavasher zt”l — the leading kannai of his time — would cry bitterly before waging any battle for Torah, begging Hashem not to let him sin in the process. That is what true zealotry looks like.

“Eliyahu Hanovi,” Rav Glanz added, “was a kannai. He said, ‘Kano kineisi laHashem.’ But what did Hashem answer? ‘Mah lecha po, Eliyahu?’ Chazal say that Hashem wanted to guide him from harshness to mercy. Hashem showed him that ‘not in the wind, not in the noise, not in the fire’ does His presence reside. Only in the still, soft voice — the kol demamah dakah — is the glory of Hashem found. Zealotry born from rage is not divine.”

He went on: “And as we stand on the threshold of Pesach, a time centered around the Leil HaSeder, when every father is commanded to teach his children about Yetzias Mitzrayim, we sadly see this ‘kannus’ rear its head in tragic ways. Some parents, consumed by harsh judgment, turn their children away from the table because they didn’t meet expectations. Instead of drawing them close with warmth and love, they send them into exile on the night meant for belonging.

“I personally,” Rav Glanz shared, “received a request from a young man who asked to join my Seder. I told him that my door is open all year round, but on this night, it is his father’s mitzvah to tell him the story of our geulah. I encouraged him to reconnect with his father. Baruch Hashem, it worked out. But the very fact that such pleas are made breaks the heart. We cannot judge — as Chazal say, ‘Do not judge your fellow until you’ve been in his place’ — but we must talk about how far this path is from the healthy middle road.”

He also spoke of the responsibility of mechanchim. “Teachers and melamdim have a sacred task. And it is all too easy to rashly expel a student for not appearing sincere. But who can predict the outcome? The Tiferes Yisrael writes that someone who is angry and impatient is unfit to teach. How can a student absorb anything from someone they fear? Torah must be taught with gentleness — divrei chachamim b’nachas nishma’im.”

He concluded: “Chazal say to be ‘firm’ with students — but that applies when they’re lazy, not when they’re lost. And even then, the rebuke must come from a place of love, not rage. A rebbi must carry his struggling students with empathy, guiding them under the wings of the Shechinah, so they feel his love is sincere and his direction is only for their good.”

Wrapping up his message, Rav Glanz emphasized, “We are commanded to walk in Hashem’s ways. Even in the Torah’s response to the wicked son at the seder, Hashem left room for connection. As the posuk in Shmuel states: ‘He devises ways so that no one is cast away.’ That is our mission.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

Interior Committee chairman MK Yakov Asher of United Torah Judaism gave an interview to the Israeli Yated, addressing the escalating Draft Law crisis and what it could mean for both the chareidi community and the governing coalition.

Opening the discussion, Asher spoke of the comfort and assurance he receives from the guidance of gedolei Torah.

“Every time I visit the homes of Israel’s gedolei Torah, may they live long, there is not just the knowledge but the feeling that there is someone who takes responsibility for what happens, and that Israel is not widowed,” he shared.

Touching on the tension with the Religious Zionist party, Asher clarified the nature of their alliance.

“We never had an ideological, perspective-based covenant with our Religious Zionist brothers. Now there is a situation in which this sector has suffered very heavy losses, and we all feel their pain, our pain. Despite this, this difficult reality cannot blur even for one moment our viewpoint on how the Torah world should look.”

He then issued a warning to the Religious Zionist community, highlighting the broader political implications.

“Do not make a mistake. There is currently a political war and the chareidi community is a target for the wheel of incitement, but this wheel continues turning and will soon reach you, so long as the goal is to bring down the right-wing government.”

Speaking about the dynamic with the Likud party, Asher emphasized the longstanding values-driven connection between the chareidi and right-wing blocs.

“The partnership with the Right is a partnership based on tradition and values. If the partnership with the Likud breaks apart, it will not be because we are breaking the partnership. In the current situation, where there is no unity on the Left and there is no concrete offer, we will not leave because of an alternative on the Left, but because we cannot continue sitting in a coalition when a sword is held over the lomdei Torah.”

He concluded with a stark message about what might happen if the current government cannot safeguard Torah study.

“If we reach a situation where it becomes clear that we cannot protect the yeshiva students while we are in the current coalition, we will examine other options as well,” he said.

{Matzav.com Israel}

President Donald Trump issued a warning that he will slap China with a 50% hike in tariffs if the Chinese government doesn’t reverse its newly announced 34% retaliatory duty on U.S. goods by today.

“If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

This comes after Trump’s announcement on April 2, when he raised tariffs on China by 34%, adding to the 20% duty he had already put in place earlier during his presidency as part of his broader trade war strategy.

If Trump follows through with this latest threat, Chinese imports would face a cumulative tariff rate of 104% compared to pre-Trump levels.

China fired back with its own move Friday morning, declaring a 34% retaliatory tariff that is scheduled to go into effect on April 10.

“Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!” Trump continued in his message. “Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Kevin Hassett, who heads the National Economic Council, noted that over 50 nations have approached the White House seeking discussions on the tariff issue. Meanwhile, Trump is expected to meet later today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, shortly after enacting a 17% tariff on goods from Israel.

Trump also stated that he’s already held preliminary talks with leaders from Japan as well as other Asian and European countries about potentially renegotiating trade terms. Discussions are still underway, and he’s suggested that tariffs could eventually be reduced if economic conditions worsen.

Speaking earlier on Monday, Trump sought to calm market fears, urging Americans not to overreact. He advised people not to become “Panicans” and instead remain “patient” as the tariff situation unfolds — marking his first direct effort to address concerns from investors.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump has unexpectedly called off a planned White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, as Wall Street entered its third consecutive day of turmoil sparked by his controversial “Liberation Day” tariff initiative.

No reason was provided for the abrupt cancellation of the East Room event, which was scrapped just ahead of Netanyahu’s scheduled arrival. However, a brief Oval Office photo opportunity with both leaders is still expected to occur.

Monday’s markets were volatile, swinging up and down in response to conflicting reports that Trump might postpone the implementation of the new tariffs by three months.

While several global leaders—including those from the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea—have expressed a desire to negotiate in hopes of avoiding the harsh new duties, the White House reported that around 50 nations have reached out to initiate talks. Meanwhile, China continues to pursue an opposing path by responding with tariffs of its own.

{Matzav.com}

Arab news sources claimed that on Sunday night, the Israeli military targeted what was described as a tent used by journalists at the Nasser Hospital located in Khan Yunis.

These reports stated that the attack resulted in the deaths of two individuals from Gaza and left nine others wounded. Among the injured was Hassan Aslih, a so-called journalist who worked as a freelancer for international media outlets and had ties to Hamas.

Aslih was previously identified as one of the media figures present during the October 7 terrorist rampage near the Gaza border. He crossed into Israeli territory without press identification gear, recorded footage of a burning IDF tank, and reportedly entered Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

Following that, Aslih shared a tweet featuring an image of himself within Israel, captioned, “Live from the towns of the Gaza Strip,” and included a photograph of himself near the destroyed tank.

On Monday, the Israeli military issued a statement: “Overnight, the IDF and ISA struck the Hamas terrorist Hassan Abdel Fattah Mohammed Aslih in the Khan Yunis area who operates under the guise of a journalist and owns a press company.”

“Aslih, a terrorist in Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade, infiltrated Israeli territory and participated in the murderous massacre carried out by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7th. During the massacre, he documented and uploaded footage of looting, arson, and murder to social media.”

The statement went on to explain that, “Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.”

It concluded with the assurance: “The IDF and ISA will continue to operate to remove any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel and IDF troops.”

In a related incident reported last week, the Israeli army and Shin Bet disclosed that they had eliminated Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Awad, a high-ranking operative within the Gaza-based Military Intelligence network, closely linked to senior figures in the Palestinian Mujahideen terrorist organization.

On October 7, Awad was one of the commanders who repeatedly entered the Israeli community of Nir Oz. Authorities believe he played a leading role in the horrific acts committed there, which included the kidnappings and murders of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas. Additionally, he was said to be involved in the seizure and eventual burial of Gad and Judi Lynn Weinstein, and he participated in the abduction of several Thai nationals, according to the official statement.

{Matzav.com}

Elon Musk has made a strong statement warning against uncontrolled large-scale immigration, claiming it can dismantle nations—despite his active backing of the expansive H-1B visa system that brings in skilled and semi-skilled foreign workers.

“Mass immigration is insane and will lead to the destruction of any country that allows unfettered mass immigration,” Musk declared in a video interview he posted to his X account on April 5. “The country will simply cease to exist.”

He elaborated further on his stance by stating: “At the end of the day, it is a numbers game, a numbers situation. If there are a billion people in the world, and let’s say you’re a country of, you know, 50 million, 60 million … even for a country like the United States, which is 350 million, given that there are 8 billion people in the world, it only takes a few percent of the rest of the world to move to the country, to where it is no longer that country.

“It’s not geography — the country is its people. This is a fundamental concept that should be really obvious … If you teleported a bunch of people from some other part of the world to Italy, where the Italian people are no longer because they’ve been teleported to America, then the geographic region would no longer be Italy. It would be that other country.

“A country is its people, not its geography.”

Musk’s remarks are not rooted in the kind of ethnic nationalism that’s common among certain populations, such as Hindu nationalists in India or identity-based movements across Europe.

Rather, his viewpoint is shaped by a desire to protect what he sees as the unique cultural fabric of the United States—a society built on innovation, individual freedom, and an entrepreneurial spirit, all of which he believes are at risk under conditions of unregulated mass immigration.

At the same time, Musk remains an outspoken proponent of the H-1B visa pipeline, which supplies his companies like Tesla with foreign talent while helping him secure greater business access to India’s booming automobile market. Though critics say that programs like H-1B erode the integrity and long-term strength of America’s professional workforce, they are still considerably narrower in scope than President Joe Biden’s approach, which has effectively welcomed more than 9 million migrants from the southern border.

{Matzav.com}

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that President Donald Trump was “violating the fundamental rights of people in order to punish them.”

Partial transcript as follows:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You saw Jon Karl’s piece about the president’s retribution campaign, he promised to be the retribution during the campaign. We’re seeing these moves against universities. We’re seeing these moves against law firms. You took the Senate floor to protest. What should these law firms and universities do?

BOOKER: Well, first and foremost, you’re calling retribution, but it’s something far worse than that. If you look around the world, from Viktor Orban, to Vladimir Putin, this is not what democratic leaders do. This is really a violation of our constitutional principles, that he’s using that power of that office, not to advance noble causes that could help the American people, whether I disagree with them or not, that’s what a president is called to do, do what they think is in the best interests of the public at large. What this president is instead doing is violating our constitutional principles, violating the fundamental rights of people in order to punish them, to carry out his own retribution plan.

You know, John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Donald Trump is now saying, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for Donald Trump to make amends. He is trying to hurt people, to make them cower to him and offer him tribute in order to not violate the Constitution and hurt them economically. This is something that should not just be about a bunch of law firms. This is something that should ultimately be about Americans.

And every American right now should be sitting back – I don’t care if you’re a Republican, Democrat or independent, and should ask yourself, when is it enough? When has he crossed my line when it comes to my love of this country? Is it bad enough that he’s putting on the biggest tax on Americans that I’ve ever seen through these tariffs, which are taxes on Americans? Is that enough? Is it enough when he’s threatening the health care of tens of millions of Americans, disabled children or elders? Is that enough? Is that crossing my line? Or will it pay for his tax cuts?

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The European Union has proposed eliminating tariffs on industrial goods in a reciprocal deal with the Trump administration, following Washington’s move to introduce 20% tariffs last week.

“We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods as we have successfully done with many other trading partners,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.

“Because Europe is always ready for a good deal. So we keep it on the table,” she stated during a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Markets around the world have seen sharp declines since Trump declared April 2 as “Liberation Day,” unveiling a new 10% universal tariff rate, with even steeper import duties scheduled to kick in on April 9.

{Matzav.com}

U.S. stock markets made a significant turnaround this morning, climbing sharply after a statement from White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett during an interview indicated that President Donald Trump was weighing a temporary 90-day halt on tariffs for all nations except China.

As of 10:25 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average had climbed by 333.50 points, or 0.87%, to reach 38,614.49. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 advanced 79.99 points, or 1.69%, landing at 5,154.07, and the Nasdaq Composite surged by 362.69 points, or 2.33%, bringing it to 15,950.47.

{Matzav.com}

Democratic political consultant James Carville drew a controversial comparison on his “Politicon” podcast Friday, likening individuals and organizations aligning with President Donald Trump’s administration to those who sided with the Nazis during World War II.

Carville expressed frustration with law firms and corporations supporting Trump, saying, “How disgraced must these law firms feel now? How disgraced must these companies that are sucking up to him – that are giving him tens of millions of dollars for access. Do you know what’s going to happen? Do you know how this ends? Do you know these collaborators, what the country is going to feel towards collaborators with this regime? Maybe you need to go in history and see what happened in August of 1944 after Paris was liberated. They didn’t take very kindly to the collaborators. No. It was not a very pretty sight in the streets of Paris.”

He went on to clarify that he wasn’t calling for violent or humiliating punishment, but pointed to history as a warning. “I’m not saying that these people should be placed in pajamas and have their head shaved, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and spit on. I’m not saying that, but I’m saying that that did happen. And I’m saying that these people betrayed the French nation in the same way that I think that these law firms and these giant corporate conglomerates are betraying the United States. What their comeuppance is I can only guess. I don’t believe in any kind of, don’t believe you should assault anybody.”

{Matzav.com}

U.S. stocks took a sharp tumble on Monday morning as market losses around the world deepened. The downturn followed President Trump’s weekend remarks indicating that his administration’s controversial “reciprocal” tariffs aren’t likely to be lifted in the near future.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 1,323 points, a fall of 3.3%, building on last week’s dramatic two-day slide of nearly 4,000 points.

The S&P 500 shed 3.5%, slipping into bear market territory, while the Nasdaq 100 also took a hit, falling 3.8%.

“The uncertainty of trading partner retaliation is still weighing on the markets,” Richard Saperstein, chief investment officer at Treasury Partners, wrote in a client note.

He continued, “Markets won’t rebound until tariffs are negotiated and reduced, until valuations move even lower to very compelling levels, and until fundamentals improve and none of these factors are in the cards at this time.”

Hopes had been high among investors that other countries would move swiftly to the bargaining table, helping the U.S. steer clear of the fallout from Trump’s aggressive new tariff structure — which includes a standard 10% import tax and significantly steeper penalties for certain countries. Economists have cautioned that these measures could spark renewed inflation.

When questioned over the weekend about the widespread sell-off in international markets, Trump replied, “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”

Adding to investor unease, major financial institutions such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have revised their forecasts, increasing the probability of a recession to 60% and 45%, respectively.

At the same time, the threat of retaliatory action by America’s trade partners added to the volatility, particularly after China imposed a retaliatory tariff of 34% on U.S. goods on Friday.

Analysts say these tariffs could deal a serious blow to American businesses with substantial domestic production, including consumer giants like Coca-Cola.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump remained unyielding in his stance on tariffs Monday morning, even as financial markets reacted sharply, with futures for major indexes taking a steep dive.

“Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place,” he posted on Truth Social shortly before 7 a.m.

The president also aimed his ire at China, issuing a pointed response to Beijing’s retaliatory move following his announcement of a sweeping new tariff policy dubbed “Liberation Day.”

“This is despite the fact that the biggest abuser of them all, China, whose markets are crashing, just raised its Tariffs by 34%, on top of its long term ridiculously high Tariffs (Plus!), not acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate,” Trump said.

“They’ve made enough, for decades, taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA! Our past ‘leaders’ are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The market responded with alarm. By Monday, futures tied to the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average had plunged over 20% from recent highs.

Since Trump unveiled his latest round of tariffs, the S&P 500 has seen a sharp decline of 10.5% over two trading sessions, wiping out nearly $5 trillion in market capitalization — its worst back-to-back daily drop since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

In remarks to reporters late Sunday, Trump made it clear that market turbulence was a price worth paying and said he would not reenter talks with China until the issue of America’s trade imbalance was resolved.

{Matzav.com}

A new poll suggests Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez holds a strong early lead over Sen. Chuck Schumer in a potential 2028 Democratic primary matchup in New York, with results showing her ahead by a wide margin.

The survey, commissioned by the progressive research group Data for Progress and shared exclusively with POLITICO, found that 55 percent of likely Democratic voters either support or are inclined to support Ocasio-Cortez, while 36 percent expressed support or leanings toward Schumer. Another 9 percent said they remain undecided.

The results come at a time when Schumer’s popularity within his party appears to have declined, particularly following his vote to move forward a Republican-backed funding bill last month—legislation that helped avoid a government shutdown. The release of the poll by Data for Progress signals that progressive advocacy groups are still pressing Schumer to adopt a more combative posture toward President Donald Trump.

“This poll really does show that Democrats are united in just wanting to stand up, wanting to fight, wanting to see someone taking a stand for them,” said Danielle Deiseroth, executive director of Data for Progress.

Deiseroth also pointed to her organization’s history of taking on entrenched Democratic leaders, saying the group “has a long tradition of wanting to challenge the status quo of Democratic Party leadership.” She noted that in 2021, her team published data revealing then-Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s vulnerability to a primary opponent—a forecast that proved prescient when Sinema later switched her registration to independent and opted not to seek reelection.

Still, the implications of this latest poll for the 2028 primary remain uncertain, as early polling rarely translates directly into election outcomes. Ocasio-Cortez has yet to publicly commit to running for Senate, while Schumer has already taken the formal step of filing for reelection.

Schumer, defending his decision to back the Republican funding measure, has maintained that the alternative—a government shutdown—would have empowered Trump and his ally Elon Musk even further. Despite pressure from some liberal lawmakers and grassroots groups urging him to be more forceful in opposing Trump or to resign from Senate leadership, Schumer has held his caucus together and, for now, faces no internal challenge to his role as minority leader.

The Data for Progress poll surveyed 770 likely Democratic voters in late March using text messaging and web panels. The poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

{Matzav.com}

During a visit to Texas, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promoted the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine as the most reliable method to stop measles from spreading. He traveled there to offer comfort to the grieving family of an 8-year-old girl who died from the illness.

“I came to¬ Gaines County, Texas, today to comfort the Hildebrand family after the loss of their 8-year-old daughter Daisy,” Kennedy shared on X. “My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief.”

Kennedy also noted that he had been in contact with Texas officials and assured them of federal support while encouraging the use of the MMR vaccine.

“The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,” Kennedy wrote in his post. “I’ve spoken to Governor Abbott, and I’ve offered HHS’ continued support. At his request, we have redeployed CDC teams to Texas. We will continue to follow Texas’ lead and to offer similar resources to other affected jurisdictions.”

If confirmed, this would mark only the second measles-related death in the United States since 2015. According to The New York Times, the young girl passed away early Thursday morning from “measles pulmonary failure.” The hospital confirmed that she had not received the MMR vaccine and had no preexisting conditions.

The first fatality from the current outbreak happened in late February. At that time, Kennedy, despite his background of skepticism toward vaccines, made comments that appeared to minimize the scale of the situation.

“We are following the measles epidemic every day,” Kennedy said at the time. “Incidentally, there have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country. Last year, there were 16. So it’s not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year.”

Since then, Kennedy has drawn criticism from some corners for what they see as a lack of strong messaging about the proven effectiveness and safety of the MMR vaccine.

{Matzav.com}

The head of the Shin Bet’s Jewish Department announced on Sunday that he would be stepping aside temporarily while an internal probe is carried out into comments that were reportedly made by him and came to light over the weekend.

In a message sent to staff within his division, he expressed remorse, stating: “I am sorry from the depths of my heart for the style of the things that were said, which do not characterize how I deal with the many other bodies with whom we collaborate.”

He further wrote: “I totally discredit the attempt to create an appearance of work that violates the law or the values of restraint of power and statesmanship. I misspoke in a way that does not match the agency’s values and my own, and therefore, to allow for a thorough examination and through my dedication to leading by example, I suspend myself from my position as the head of the department until the completion of the thorough examination of the issue.”

Concurrently, the director of the Shin Bet has launched a formal review of the situation. He reached out to the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and extended an invitation to the Subcommittee for Intelligence and Secret Services to visit the Jewish Department. The purpose of the visit would be to provide a detailed briefing on the unit’s work and oversight structures.

The Shin Bet issued a statement underscoring that “all operations in the various realms that the organization oversees are in line with the law.”

Audio clips released this past weekend captured comments made by A., the leader of the Jewish Department within the Shin Bet, referring to detainees from Judea and Samaria as “idiots” and admitting to holding them for several days without solid evidence. In the exchange, which was uncovered by Kan TV, the official is heard instructing the Judea and Samaria Police Central Unit’s commander, Avishi Moalem, to “Put them in detention cells, with mice.”

The official went on to say, “We always want to arrest them for interrogation, as much as possible. See how ISA conducts investigations with them. We arrest those idiots even without evidence for a few days.”

In response, Moalem cautioned: “They will tear us apart for this.” The official responded: “It is under the aegis of the head of the ISA and Defense Minister.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

An Israeli national named Gil Itamar was taken hostage over the weekend in Nigeria and later freed in a successful operation conducted by the Nigerian military, with support and coordination from Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Fortunately, the individual was recovered unharmed.

While Nigerian police reported that the abduction occurred while the Israeli was being accompanied by military personnel, that version of events was quickly disputed by the country’s army.

“Contrary to the police’s claim, the Israeli was alone in his vehicle, without any military escort or driver at the time of his abduction,” the Nigerian army told local news outlets.

Following the operation, Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement confirming its involvement: “The Israeli Embassy in Nigeria and the Department for Israelis Abroad handled the rescue of an Israeli citizen in the northeastern part of the country. The citizen is safe.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced on Sunday that, despite American attempts to reach out, no direct diplomatic exchanges have taken place between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

In remarks to the official news agency of Iran’s parliament, later quoted by Russia’s TASS, Araqchi made clear, “We have expressed our point of view, so we adhere to diplomacy and the path of negotiations, but only indirectly. Of course, it must be recognized that not a single negotiation stage has taken place so far.”

He also made it clear that comparisons between any future deal and the 2003 disarmament accord Libya signed are unfounded and irrelevant in the current context. “The United States can only dream,” Araqchi said, firmly rejecting the notion of a Libyan-style agreement, which had required Tripoli to surrender its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

The statements follow a recent rebuff by Iran of a proposal by President Donald Trump to engage in face-to-face discussions. Trump’s offer was reportedly conveyed in a letter sent directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump has issued stern warnings in recent days, cautioning Iran that failure to cooperate on nuclear negotiations could bring serious consequences. “Bad things” would occur, he said, if Iran refuses to come to terms.

He later escalated his rhetoric, warning, “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing — and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”

In what appeared to be a show of readiness and resolve, Iran’s government-aligned publication, the Tehran Times, posted on X that its missile systems were primed for deployment: “Iran’s missiles are loaded onto launchers in all underground missile cities and are ready for launch.”

Last week, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a sharp rebuke, warning the United States not to follow through on its threats. If it did, he warned, America would be dealt “a strong blow.”

Despite these heated exchanges, President Trump told reporters just a few days later aboard Air Force One that he still believes direct engagement is the most productive path forward. “It’s better if we have direct talks. I think it goes faster and you understand the other side a lot better than if you go through intermediators,” he said.

He continued, “They wanted to use intermediators. I don’t think that’s necessarily true anymore. I think they’re concerned. I think they feel vulnerable and I don’t want them to feel that way.”

{Matzav.com}