Matzav

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, met at ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv with members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on Monday, amid debate stateside about the degree to which the United States should continue to fund the Jewish state.

Critics on the political right say that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, appears to agree with protesters, who call for arms embargoes on Israel and say that the Jewish state engages in genocide. Harris has said repeatedly that she supports Israel’s right to self-defense, even as anti-Israel protesters have disrupted her events.

“I was honored to host the leaders and Congress members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee at the Ministry of Defense headquarters,” Gallant stated. “A year since the launch of the brutal Hamas attack on Oct. 7, Israel is still defending its citizens against enemies on seven different fronts and fighting to ensure the return of 101 hostages.”

Gallant met with Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the committee’s chair and ranking member respectively, as well as members of the House panel.

The panel “has one of the broadest jurisdictions of any committee in Congress” and “is responsible for appropriating funding for most of the functions of the federal government,” according to a site maintained by the panel’s Democrats.

“We held an open discussion on the IDF’s achievements in the southern and northern arenas, the re-establishment of deterrence and the important work that remains ahead of us,” Gallant stated. “We discussed the importance of ongoing U.S. support and critical cooperation between our countries that will ensure Israel’s defensive posture and the defeat of our common enemies, which are led by Iran.”

DeLauro skipped Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s July 24 address to a joint session of Congress, stating that Republicans were trying to “score political points and stoke division” and that Netanyahu “has been indifferent to the loss of Palestinian lives and settler violence.”

She has also accused the Jewish state of an “indiscriminate bombing campaign” and said “the Israeli military targeted a Palestinian displacement camp.”

Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.), who is not a member of the House committee, shared a post about the meeting from Gallant on social media.

“The United States stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel against the forces of evil trying to wipe it off the map,” Alford wrote. “We were honored to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant recently to discuss the critical need for Congress to keep standing by our ally during these volatile times.”

“We cannot allow Iran and its proxies to continue destabilizing the region,” he wrote. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

The Hamas terror organization has managed to increase its fundraising efforts in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom since its terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, according to four reports that the European Leadership Network released this month.

The reports from ELNET, which convenes leaders to foster close relations between Europe and Israel, focus on the activities of Hamas-affiliated fundraising groups in the five countries.

“In all four reports, we have seen increasing levels of operations since Oct. 7,” Daniel Shadmy, an ELNET spokesman, told JNS.

The reports identify some 30 organizations, which operate under “civil fronts,” including nonprofits and lobbying groups, and people affiliated with Hamas who work in Europe.

Hamas’s funding operations are more deeply rooted in the United Kingdom and Germany than in the other countries upon which the report focuses. That makes them “harder to dismantle” in the two countries, according to Shadmy.

Hamas-affiliated groups operate relatively unscathed in Europe, despite European governments and the European Union designating Hamas a terror organization.

One way the groups stay ahead of authorities is by shifting operations to newer organizations, per the ELNET reports.

“One of the key findings of the report is that the Hamas-affiliated network has shut down three older, pan-European organizations, possibly in response to formal designations, and moved their operations to three newer organizations,” Shadmy told JNS.

“The ‘replacement organizations’ were established and are led in whole or in part by the same six individuals who led the initially dissolved groups,” per the reports, which name the six as Adel Abdallah Doghman, Mohammad Hannoun, Majed Al-Zeer, Amin Abou Rashed, Zaher Birawi and Mazen Kahel.

The organizations that make up the “new” circle include the Palestinians in Europe Conference, the European Palestinian Council for Political Relations and the European Palestinians Initiative for National Action.

There is the European failure to enforce penalties on those associated with the terror group, per the reports.

“There is a gap between the sanctions or designations in place and the willingness or operational capability of European governments or the E.U. institutions to enforce them, which leads to this situation,” Shadmy told JNS.

Many of the organizations that ELNET identified are not officially registered, “raising concerns about their transparency, activities and true objectives in Europe,” per the reports.

Some of those activities include lobbying E.U. officials, delivering material support to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, influencing the public via media relations and “legitimizing Hamas-affiliated actors to European policymakers without disclosing their Hamas ties,” the reports state.

ELNET calls on European governments to investigate and shut down the Hamas-affiliated organizations and asks banks and financial institutions to monitor the Hamas-affiliated individuals mentioned in the reports and review their financial activity.

ELNET also hopes that its reports will be a resource for research institutions and think tanks to expose publicly Hamas’s European fundraising.

(JNS)

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that five unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were successfully intercepted by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) over the Mediterranean Sea. The UAVs were neutralized before they could enter Israeli airspace.

“The IDF emphasizes that there is no security threat near Ben Gurion Airport,” an official statement clarified.

Later, it was disclosed by the IDF that the UAVs had originated from Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, flight operations at Ben Gurion Airport were suspended for approximately 30 minutes due to concerns over a potential security threat, which was believed to be related to the UAV launches.

On Saturday, a UAV launched from Lebanon made contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea.

Roughly two hours after the incident, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the UAV had indeed targeted his home, but neither the prime minister nor his wife were present at the time.

Saudi news outlet Al Hadath cited sources who reported that “the target in the attack of the UAV which infiltrated Caesarea from Lebanon was the home of Benjamin Netanyahu.” Following this attack, security measures for high-ranking government officials were elevated.

According to police reports, a hostile UAV breached the airspace over Caesarea and exploded upon impact. “Police officers and bomb disposal experts from the coastal district responded immediately to the various locations. They are conducting searches to ensure the area is safe and to collect evidence, including remains of the weapon used,” the police statement said.

{Matzav.com}

A former U.N. soldier in Southern Lebanon told the Danish tabloid B.T. on Sunday that during his service there 10 years ago, “we were totally subject to Hezbollah.”

The Danish citizen, who the article named “Michael,” was deployed as part of UNTSO (U.N. Truce Supervision Organization), which works closely with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL.

UNTSO is tasked with observing and reporting violations of U.N. Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006 and calls on the Iranian terror proxy to disarm and not venture south of the Litani River, which flows east to west and runs parallel to the Israeli-Lebanon border.

“We were totally subject to Hezbollah,” says Michael. “We clearly had limited freedom of movement. For example, we never operated after dark for fear of Hezbollah. So they had free time in the evening and night hours.”

He emphasized that he was speaking for himself as a private individual and not on behalf of UNTSO. He said when he and his colleagues at UNTSO and UNIFIL would drive around different cities in Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah members would often stop them when they were attempting to enter areas where they believed that Hezbollah might be operating.

“They simply blocked the road. They were not visibly armed but aggressive, and it was quite clear that they were members of Hezbollah. We knew very well who decided things, especially in the Shi’ite cities. They didn’t want us to see what they were doing,” said Michael.

“When we patrolled the Blue Line, we often saw ‘civilians’ very close to the Israeli military installations taking pictures. When that happened, we withdrew and observed from a distance; we were simply instructed to do so,” he added.

They were not allowed to document any of the activities.

“It was forbidden to film and take pictures. And if we did, we could end up with the locals confiscating our cameras. It happened to my colleagues in UNIFIL and UNTSO,” he said.

He also discussed Hezbollah’s control of Southern Lebanon.

“The civilians who did not care about Hezbollah, especially the Christians, were afraid to speak out against them. There was a widespread fear of them. But at the same time, we experienced cooperation with the Shia Muslims. For example, we had a number of interpreters who were indoctrinated into Hezbollah. I ended up throwing one of them out of my car once while he was praising Hassan Nasrallah. I simply didn’t want to listen to it,” he recalled.

Michael described how no actions were taken against the violations of U.N. Resolution 1701.

“We reported daily violations of Resolution 1701 to our superiors, including restrictions on our freedom of movement, and we were instructed to report all violations regardless of number. But nothing ever happened,” he said. “We did not hear back from them, and nothing was initiated. It was wildly frustrating and only confirmed what I had experienced in other countries I was posted to: The U.N. is incompetent.”

Citing security sources, Israel Hayom reported on Sunday that Hezbollah terrorists who have been captured admitted during interrogations that the terror group paid money to UNIFIL in exchange for using their positions in the region.

The sources also said that Hezbollah took control of UNIFIL surveillance cameras in compounds near the Israeli border and utilized them for their own purposes.

These alleged bribes and use of UNIFIL equipment violate its mandate. According to the report, given the accusations that it is collaborating with Hezbollah, Israel will not work with UNIFIL on any future arrangements for Southern Lebanon but with the Lebanese army.

(JNS)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz responded to Donald Trump’s Sunday shift at a McDonald’s in suburban Pennsylvania, pointing out that the former president’s policies have not historically favored workers.

The governor, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, took to X to retweet a news clip of Trump slinging fries.

“This guy spent decades stiffing workers pay, cut overtime benefits for millions of people, and opposed any effort to raise the minimum wage,” he wrote, adding, “You know who has actually worked at McDonald’s, joined workers on picket lines, and fights for working people? @KamalaHarris.”

Decked out in an apron, Trump worked the drive-thru window and manned the fry machine, the station that Harris says she worked when she was in college. Trump has repeatedly, without evidence, accused Harris of making up this biographical detail.

JD Vance took aim at what he called Kamala Harris’ “anti-Christian rhetoric and anti-Christian approach to public policy“ in the GOP vice presidential pick‘s latest play for Christian and Catholic voters.

The Catholic convert said Sunday that he found Harris’ secular platform “really bizarre,” at a rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin. “If Christians get out there and vote, we are going to win, my friends,” he told the crowd.

Vance also lashed out at Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who recently came under fire from Catholic groups who criticized a viral video of her feeding a podcaster a Dorito chip, part of a popular social media trend, as mocking the sacrament of Communion. “When you see an American leader, when you see a surrogate of Kamala Harris, insulting people of the Christian faith, I think that we should say to every single one of those people: You’re fired,” Vance said.

Whitmer has since apologized for the video, saying she would “never do something to denigrate someone’s faith,” and that the clip was “construed as something it was never intended to be.” Read more at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Khaled Masha’al, Hamas’ terror leader currently based abroad, has vowed that the organization will persist in its fight against Israel, despite the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.

During a speech in Istanbul, Turkey, Masha’al affirmed, “Hamas will continue to be faithful to its path, to the path of the martyrs, to its principles, values, and strategy in its leadership and its struggle, and it will not abandon its legacy.”

He went on to declare that the group’s leadership remains committed to halting what he described as acts of aggression. “The Hamas leadership will continue to work to end the aggression,” he stated.

Addressing the residents of Gaza directly, Masha’al assured them, “We will work to remove from you this injustice, to end the aggression and the acts of massacre, in everything we can reach – forcefully, and with a desire in the negotiations, we will search every option, and we will be open to every solution which will ensure our rights and remove the injustice from you, end the aggression, and bring about the removal of the occupation from our land.”

He further stressed Hamas’ dedication to jihad, saying, “When Hamas waved the flag of jihad alongside its brothers in the forces of resistance, it stood by its strategy on this path, until it will return the land and purify Jerusalem and the places holy to Christianity and Islam.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed on Monday that the Terminal High Altitude Defense (THAAD) system has been deployed in Israel.

“We have the ability to put it into operation very quickly and we’re on pace with our expectations,” the Pentagon chief told reporters before arriving in Ukraine for his fourth visit.

Austin approved the deployment of a THAAD battery and “associated crew of U.S. military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1,” the Pentagon announced on Oct. 15.

THAAD is a mobile anti-ballistic missile defense system. U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the deployment, the third since 2019.

Around 100 U.S. soldiers are manning the battery and according to reports on Friday, Jerusalem has requested a second THAAD battery.

“This decision was made as part of the broader adjustments the U.S. military has made in recent months to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told the media on Oct. 15.

Austin spoke to Yoav Gallant, his Israeli counterpart, on Saturday to talk about the latest regional security developments.

“I reviewed wide-ranging U.S. force-posture adjustments, including the recent deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system to reinforce Israel’s defenses in the face of threats from Iran, Lebanese Hizballah, and Iranian proxies,” Austin tweeted following the conversation.

Jerusalem is planning a retaliatory strike against Iran after the Islamic Republic launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state on Oct. 1. Tehran has said that it will respond to any Israeli attack.

Biden told reporters on Friday that he knew how and when Israel will respond against Iran. However, Austin on Monday was more cautious, saying, “It’s hard to say exactly what that (Israel’s) strike will look like,” according to Reuters.

“At the end of the day, that’s an Israeli decision, and whether or not the Israelis believe it’s proportional and how the Iranians perceive it, I mean those may be two different things,” the military leader added.

“We’re going to do—continue to do—everything we can … to dial down the tensions and hopefully get both parties to begin to de-escalate. So, we’ll see what happens,” Austin continued. JNS

{Matzav.com}

Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar, who was killed last week by IDF forces, rejected an offer by Arab negotiators early in the war to flee Gaza in exchange for allowing Egypt to negotiate a hostage deal with Israel on Hamas’s behalf, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“Sinwar clung to the hope that the conflict he ignited might draw in Iran and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, setting off a regional war against Israel,” the Journal reports.

Sinwar survived in Gaza for more than a year until he was eliminated by Israeli forces last Wednesday. He was able to evade Israel’s military thanks to an elaborate tunnel system Hamas constructed under the Gaza Strip that extended between 350 to 450 miles, remarkable given that the entire Strip has an area of only 141 square miles.

After Saleh Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, was killed on Jan. 2 in an Israeli strike in Beirut, Sinwar also dumbed down his communications system to make it more difficult for Israeli forces to track him.

But moving its forces in tandem below ground and above ground, an operational maneuver never before tried in military history, according to IDF Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, Israel began to squeeze Sinwar, eventually driving him from his underground lair.

When in early September Israeli soldiers found six dead hostages in a tunnel in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah in southern Gaza, they also found traces of Sinwar’s DNA.

Sinwar apparently realized that the noose was tightening.

After Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September, Sinwar sent a message to Hamas leaders outside Gaza, telling them the group would now be under greater pressure to compromise and instructing them to resist, according to Arab mediators.

He also told Hamas members that Israel would offer concessions after he was gone, and that the terrorist group would be in a stronger negotiating position.

He also recommended that Hamas appoint a council of leaders to govern and manage the transition after his death, the mediators said.

The IDF killed Sinwar in a firefight in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday. The military announced the positive identification of his remains on Thursday night. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

In an interview with Al Arabiya on Sunday, former U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Biden administration, particularly Vice President Kamala Harris, for their inability to prevent violent conflicts in both Ukraine and the Middle East.

Trump claimed that the war in Gaza would not have occurred if he were still in office.
“If I were President, that war would have never started. You wouldn’t have all those dead people… [and] demolished cities and areas. [We] wouldn’t have had October 7,” he remarked, attributing the escalation of the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon to Iran, which he described as fueling the violence. He referred to the devastation as “terrible.”

Trump further explained that Iran’s involvement in these conflicts was due to their increased financial resources under the current administration.

“Iran funds it, and Iran had no money [when I was President]. They had no money. They had absolutely no money. And I would have made a deal with them, and they wouldn’t have done October 7…They had no money, and Biden allowed them to have $300 billion,” Trump said.

He went on to argue that the lack of respect for President Biden was a key factor in the outbreak of violence.

“[It’s] because they have no respect for Biden, they did it. [The conflicts began] because of October 7. You certainly can’t blame Israel for hitting back. And they hit back hard, much harder than anybody would have thought,” he added.

Reflecting on the success of the Abraham Accords, which were brokered during his presidency and led to normalization between Israel and several Arab nations, Trump expressed his intention to broaden these agreements if he wins another term.

“If I win, that will be an absolute [to just] get everybody in. It’s peace in the Middle East. We need it, and it’s very important, and it will happen,” he told Al Arabiya.

Trump also emphasized the strong ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, praising Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his leadership.

“[I have] so much respect for the King and so much respect for Mohammed [bin Salman] who is doing so great… he’s a real visionary, he’s done things that nobody else would have even thought about,” Trump said.

{Matzav.com}

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s campaign clarified that the vice president does not believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

“The vice president did not and does not agree with the protester,” a campaign official told Israel’s Channel 12 news, a day after a video was published online showing an anti-Israel heckler interrupting Harris at a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee event on Oct. 17.

The keffiyeh-clad man ranted about Israel being genocidal before being escorted by security out of the room.

“I know what you’re speaking of. I want the ceasefire. I want the war to end, and I respect your right to speak, but I am speaking right now,” said Harris in response.

After saying “what about the genocide” and yelling “19,000 children are dead, and you won’t call it a genocide,” the keffiyeh-clad man was removed.

“Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real,” Harris said. “That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real and I respect his voice.”

Former Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren on Sunday called for the White House to state unequivocally that Jerusalem is not committing genocide in Gaza following the incident.

Writing on X, Oren said Harris’s remarks set “a very dangerous precedent.”

“I felt deep shock when I watched the video in which Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed a serious accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” Oren tweeted.

“This is the first time the White House has been linked to a defamation that threatens the legitimacy and security of the State of Israel. I demand that the U.S. administration issue an immediate and unequivocal denial and make it clear in no uncertain terms that there is no place for such baseless accusations, which harm not only Israel but also the relationship between the two countries.” JNS

{Matzav.com}

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The Iraqi government has opted to revoke the broadcasting license of the Saudi-owned MBC television channel following a controversial program that labeled prominent figures in Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as “faces of terrorism.”

The program, aired last Friday on “MBC Weekly,” triggered global attention. Among its topics was Saleh al-Arouri, whom the program identified as “the architect and strategist behind the Hamas movement, responsible for planning terrorist operations, and killed earlier this year in an Israeli strike in Dahieh.”

The broadcast went on to describe Ismail Haniyeh as “yet another figure in the terrorism landscape, eliminated in Tehran,” while Yahya Sinwar was labeled “the latest face of terrorism, the last to be taken down by the world.” The report further depicted Sinwar as “ruthless, known as ‘the butcher of Khan Yunis,’ committing severe atrocities before being killed in an Israeli encounter.”

In response, supporters of Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias in Iraq attacked MBC’s Baghdad office, recording themselves while destroying equipment and wrecking computers in the process.

Announcing the suspension, Iraq’s Communications Commission emphasized its obligation to “warn those who violate national values and public decency,” asserting that MBC had repeatedly crossed the line with its “offensive comments targeting martyrs.”

{Matzav.com}

A survivor of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 Nova music festival massacre, Shirel Golan, took her own life on Sunday, her 22nd birthday. She was found lifeless in the yard of her home in Moshav Porat in central Israel. The exact cause of death was not made public.

She was set to have visited the Kosel in Yerushalayim and the Meoras Hamachpeilah in Chevron with her family.

According to family members, despite suffering from post-trauma, the state failed to provide Shirel with mental health services.

“She said she received no assistance from the state. She said that she only had assistance from the [Tribe of] Nova foundation,” her brother, Eyal, told Israel Hayom.

The Tribe of Nova Foundation was set up following the massacre to provide mental, financial and occupational assistance to survivors, bereaved families and hostages’ families.

More than 380 people were murdered at the music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas overran southern Israel, massacring 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.

“The State of Israel murdered my sister twice. Once in October, mentally, and a second time today, on her 22nd birthday, physically,” Eyal told Israel’s Channel 12 News.

“My mother had to take early retirement to be near her daughter,” he said. “We didn’t move a millimeter from her, and the only time we left her alone was today—and she decided to end her life.”

Eyal said that during the Oct. 7 massacre, Shirel had joined a group of friends in a car to escape. But at some point she got out. Her brother told Yisrael Hayom that she had a bad feeling about being in the vehicle, a “bad intuition.”

“It turned out that later everyone who was in the car was murdered. Eleven people were murdered there. It was a death vehicle. She switched to a police car that rescued her to Kfar Maimon [a town in southern Israel]. And that’s how she was saved,” her brother said.

The last time her brother saw her was during the start of the Sukkot holiday. He asked how she was and she said she was fine.

Eyal said his sister’s death should be a wake-up call.

“We are five siblings, and she was the youngest. The government needs to wake up. If it doesn’t, there will be more cases like this. If the state had provided proper care, this wouldn’t have happened. I’ve lost my sister, but I want to raise an outcry so others don’t lose their loved ones,” he said.

The Israeli Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs issued a statement expressing “deep pain over the untimely death of the Nova survivor, and shares in the grief of the family and the sorrow of the entire Nova community.”

The ministry added that together with partners and the Nova foundation, it provides a “wide variety of answers” for Nova survivors. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

60 Minutes has addressed Donald Trump’s claim that the CBS news program altered its October 7th interview with Vice President Kamala Harris to present her more favorably, while the Trump campaign responded with its own statement.

On Sunday, 60 Minutes issued a statement countering the Republican presidential candidate’s allegations: “Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false.

“60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to Face the Nation that used a longer section of her answer than that on 60 Minutes. Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate, and on point. The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide-ranging 21-minute-long segment. “Remember, Mr. Trump pulled out of his interview with 60 Minutes and the vice president participated. “Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open. If he would like to discuss the issues facing the nation and the Harris interview, we would be happy to have him on 60 Minutes.”

In reply, Trump’s campaign released a statement, with campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt asserting: “60 Minutes just admitted to doing exactly what President Trump accused them of doing. They edited in a different response — from another part of her answer — to make Kamala Harris sound less incoherent than she really was. Their statement is not a denial, it is an admission that they did exactly what they were accused of. This is another reminder of how hopelessly biased 60 Minutes is, and how correct President Trump was to decline their invitation to be subjected to their fake news hackery. Release the transcript!”

Trump has labeled the broadcast a “giant fake news scam,” accusing CBS of attempting to bolster Harris’ image. The accusations surfaced after viewers noticed that Harris provided a different answer to the same question in a teaser clip aired on Face the Nation compared to the 60 Minutes broadcast. The question pertained to the Biden administration’s influence on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the interview, 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker asked Harris, “It seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening.”

In the teaser clip, Harris paused briefly before responding, “The work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”

However, on the 60 Minutes broadcast, her reply was more direct: “We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”

On his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “Her REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY, OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, to make her look better.”

Following this, Trump called for CBS to have its FCC license revoked due to the interview. FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed the idea, stating that Trump’s “threats against free speech are serious and should not be ignored.”

Meanwhile, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley recently commented that the Trump campaign had provided “shifting explanations” regarding why Trump decided to withdraw from his interview with the program.

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Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, saying she dodged questions and didn’t show leadership.

WATCH:

Last week, Israel outlined its terms for ending the war in Lebanon to the United States. According to a report from Barak Ravid in Axios, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer submitted a document last Thursday that detailed a potential diplomatic solution to cease hostilities. The document, intended to allow civilians on both sides to return home, was sent to President Biden’s envoy Amos Hochstein before his trip to Beirut on Monday.

One of Israel’s key conditions, according to the report, is that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) be granted permission to carry out “active enforcement” to ensure Hezbollah does not rearm or rebuild its military infrastructure in southern Lebanon, particularly near the border.

Additionally, Israel is requesting unrestricted access for its air force to operate freely within Lebanese airspace.

These demands stand in direct contrast to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which stipulates that only the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are permitted to operate in southern Lebanon. Both have been unsuccessful in preventing Hezbollah’s activities in the region.

An Israeli official explained to Ravid: “We are talking about 1701 with increased enforcement. Our main message is that if the Lebanese army and UNIFIL do more, the IDF will do less and the other way around.”

A U.S. official remarked that it is highly unlikely Lebanon or the international community would accept Israel’s terms.

Both the White House and the Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment on the matter.

The report also mentions Hochstein’s approach to resolving the conflict, which involves deploying at least 8,000 Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon. Additionally, he seeks to strengthen UNIFIL’s mandate, enabling the organization to assist the Lebanese army in preventing armed groups not controlled by the Lebanese government from positioning themselves near the Israeli border.

{Matzav.com}

On Sunday night, the Israeli Air Force launched a series of precision strikes on multiple locations linked to Hezbollah, targeting assets and infrastructure the terrorist organization relies on to fund its attacks against Israel. The operations were carried out in Beirut, southern Lebanon, and deeper into Lebanese territory.

“These funds, which Hezbollah used for terror activities, were stored by the al-Qard al-Hassan association, which directly funds Hezbollah’s terror activities, including the purchase of weapons and payments to operatives in Hezbollah’s military wing,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) emphasized. “The Hezbollah terrorist organization stores billions of dollars in the association’s branches, including money that was directly held under the name of the terrorist organization.”

Before conducting the strikes, multiple precautions were taken to minimize civilian casualties, with advance warnings provided to local residents through various communication channels.

These latest airstrikes are part of the broader campaign the IDF has been waging to weaken Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and disrupt its military rebuilding efforts.

The al-Qard al-Hassan association, which is managed by Hezbollah, operates as a financial institution with the guise of a social services network. It plays a dual role: providing services to Lebanon’s Shiite population while also serving as a front for money laundering activities that help fund Hezbollah’s operations.

As reported by Kan News, the association provides no-interest loans, adhering to Sharia law. Over the years, this service has attracted many Shiites in Lebanon to align themselves with Hezbollah. For a long time, this so-called “charity fund” allowed the group to obscure the origins of its financial backing. However, in 2007, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Hezbollah, citing its terror financing as the basis for these measures.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Yigal Calek, the famed composer and director of the London School of Jewish Song, has passed away, leaving behind a lasting legacy in the Jewish musical world.

Born in Israel, Yigal’s exceptional ear for music and flamboyant style led him to prominence during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, as he guided the London School of Jewish Song to international fame.

Known for his innovation yet deeply rooted in tradition, Yigal’s compositions beautifully blended the modern with the timeless melodies of Jewish heritage. His choir’s concerts drew packed audiences in cities like London, Paris, Yerushalayim, New York, and Los Angeles, while the choir’s albums became the soundtrack of a generation. Yigal’s tunes were hummed in homes, used in tefillos, danced to at weddings, and played on turntables until they wore out.

A perfectionist by nature, Yigal’s rehearsals were legendary for their rigor, with every note and harmony meticulously practiced. The results were breathtaking, earning him the adoration of audiences worldwide.

Though the London School of Jewish Song eventually disbanded, Yigal occasionally reappeared for tribute performances, but his choir’s official run had come to an end.

In his later years, Yigal faced significant health challenges. In a heartwarming display of admiration and affection, a few of his former choir members arranged an intimate evening of song and nostalgia to uplift their childhood hero during Chanukah 2021.

While Yigal may no longer be with us, his music and impact on Jewish song will resonate for generations to come.

Yehi zichro boruch.