Matzav

LISTEN:

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced on Tuesday morning the identities of four soldiers from the 92nd Battalion, Kfir Brigade, who lost their lives during combat operations in northern Gaza.

The soldiers were: Staff Sergeant Orr Katz, 20, from Ma’ale Adumim; Staff Sergeant Nave Yair Asulin, 21, from Carmit; Staff Sergeant Gary Lalhruaikima Zolat, 21, from Afula; and Staff Sergeant Ofir Eliyahu, 20, from Holon.

The total count of fallen IDF soldiers since the onset of the war now stands at 787.

In an additional announcement, the IDF confirmed that Major (Res.) Itamar Levin Fridman, a squad commander in the ‘LOTAR Eilat’ Unit, was also killed during an operation in northern Gaza.

Major Fridman, aged 34 and a resident of Eilat, lost his life after his unit was struck by anti-tank fire during a clash with Hamas militants in Jabalia. He leaves behind a wife and two children. His levayah is scheduled for Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. at the military cemetery in Eilat.

Also on Friday, it was reported that Guy Shabtai, who was seriously injured in a battle in Lebanon two weeks prior, succumbed to his injuries. Shabtai, aged 39, was a resident of Yerushalayim and taught at the Chorev school in Yerushalayim.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Melania Trump declined an invitation to visit the White House on Wednesday for a meeting with Jill Biden, choosing instead to forgo the customary gathering. Her decision comes in light of the Biden administration’s previous search of Mar-a-Lago as part of an investigation into classified materials.

“She ain’t going,” a source close to Melania told The Post. “Jill Biden’s husband authorized the FBI snooping through her underwear drawer. The Bidens are disgusting,” the source added.

“Jill Biden isn’t someone Melania needs to meet,” the source stated further.

Meanwhile, Melania’s husband, President-elect Donald Trump, is set to meet with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Wednesday for a traditional postelection visit.

Normally, the outgoing first lady invites her successor to the White House for tea and a tour.

Following her husband’s 2016 election victory, Melania visited the White House and was given a tour by then-First Lady Michelle Obama. When Trump lost his reelection bid in 2020, however, he did not invite the Bidens to the White House before the Democrat’s inauguration, breaking a longstanding precedent, according to reports at the time.

The Post has reached out to both the Trump campaign and the White House for comment regarding Melania’s choice to decline the meeting.

The FBI executed a search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in August 2022 as part of its investigation into his handling of classified documents from his time in the White House.

Melania, now 54, has publicly expressed her frustration about the raid.

“Yeah, it made me angry,” she shared on “Fox and Friends” during a September interview, describing it as an “invasion of privacy.”

During the search, FBI agents reportedly inspected Melania’s personal wardrobe, searched her 78-year-old husband’s office, and even went through one of her son Barron’s rooms.

“I saw unpleasant stuff that nobody wants to see,” Melania said, reflecting on her experience returning to her residence post-search. “And you get angry because, you know, nobody should be putting up with that kind of stuff.”

In July, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case involving Trump’s classified documents.

{Matzav.com}

All are asked to daven for Rav Yehoshua Kalish, beloved rov of the Harborview Bais Medrash in Lawrence, New York, and longtime R”M at Yeshiva Derech Ayson in Far Rockaway.

Rav Kalish is now in critical condition and in need of rachamei shomayim.

Rav Kalish has been a source of guidance and strength to so many, and outstanding talmid chochom and maggid shiur who has been a rebbi and rov to thousands.

Please daven for Rav Yehoshua ben Breindel.

{Matzav.com}

In a surprising development, CNN host Chris Wallace is leaving the network to pursue opportunities on an independent platform, news that broke on Monday.

The 77-year-old journalist discussed his plans in an interview with the Daily Beast, marking the end of his three-year stint with CNN.

Explaining his decision, he shared his interest in exploring streaming or podcasting, saying, according to the outlet, that’s “where the action seems to be.”

Wallace’s departure coincides with the conclusion of his CNN contract, following nearly two decades at Fox News prior to joining CNN.

“This is the first time in 55 years I’ve been between jobs,” he reportedly remarked. “I am actually excited and liberated by that.”

While CNN executives were interested in retaining Wallace, son of the legendary Mike Wallace, he decided to step away before any contract discussions began.

“I have nothing but positive things to say. CNN has been very good to me,” he said to the Daily Beast.

CNN CEO and Chairman Mark Thompson also praised Wallace’s tenure, stating, “Chris Wallace is one of the most respected political journalists in the news business with a unique track record across radio, print, broadcast television, cable television and streaming.”

“We want to thank him for the dedication and wisdom he’s brought to all his work at CNN and to wish him the very best for the future,” Thompson added in a statement.

Beginning his career at a local Chicago station in the early 1970s, Wallace said he has no intention of becoming “a hard-right or hard-left advocate.”

“It’s just absent from my DNA,” he reportedly said, noting that he’s still deciding on the specific streaming or podcast format he’ll pursue.

On election night, Wallace was quick to observe that Vice President Kamala Harris would need extraordinary circumstances to win against Donald Trump as the initial exit polls began to come in.

{Matzav.com}

Carol Folt, president of the University of Southern California, has revealed plans to resign from her administrative role at the end of the school year for a return to teaching.

“Serving as the 12th president of the University of Southern California is one of the greatest privileges of my life,” she said in an announcement on Nov. 8. “Over the last five years, we have created a forward-looking vision that will serve our students, faculty and staff well as they look to better the country and the world.”

In June, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into USC for potential violations of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In August, Folt received a plan for how to address campus antisemitism.

Suzanne Nora Johnson, chair of the school’s Board of Trustees, said “I offer our deep appreciation of Carol Folt, as well as our admiration for her exceptional tenure as the 12th president of USC.”

Folt stated that “looking forward, I am enthusiastic about exploring opportunities ahead as a tenured faculty member.”

Johnson wrote that “Carol’s leadership skills, and her innate ability to connect with community members on a personal level, have been on display throughout her tenure.”

(JNS)

President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Republican Senator Marco Rubio as the next Secretary of State, according to a report from The New York Times that cites three sources familiar with the decision.

This anticipated appointment highlights an intriguing turn in the relationship between the two politicians, as Trump once famously referred to Rubio as “Little Marco” during the 2016 presidential primaries.

Rubio, known for his firm stance on foreign policy and his strong support for Israel, is expected to play a significant role in shaping the international strategies of the upcoming administration.

His appointment would bring a seasoned perspective to the State Department, particularly in areas concerning the Middle East and U.S. relations with its allies.

As a prominent advocate for a robust American presence on the world stage, Rubio has often taken a hawkish approach to U.S. foreign policy. His record in the Senate has underscored a commitment to bolstering the country’s defense capabilities and reinforcing strategic alliances. His support for Israel has been unwavering, aligning closely with Trump’s promise to strengthen the bond between the U.S. and Israel.

Should the appointment be confirmed, Rubio is expected to begin shaping foreign policy as soon as Trump takes office in January.

{Matzav.com}

President-elect Donald Trump has named Representative Mike Waltz as his choice for the position of White House national security adviser for his upcoming administration.

Waltz, a former Green Beret with combat experience, was asked by Trump, 78, on Monday to take on the role as his primary national security adviser, a source revealed to The Post.

The Wall Street Journal initially reported on Trump’s decision to select the Florida Republican for this influential White House position.

This role doesn’t require Senate approval, meaning Waltz will be able to begin his duties immediately after Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

At 50, Waltz has been vocal about the threat posed by China, especially in his role on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“The Chinese are on the march,” he warned during a “Fox & Friends” appearance last year. “We need to understand that within the next few years, they may make a move the likes of which we have never seen in the world.”

As a member of the House China Task Force, Waltz has raised concerns about the U.S. military’s preparedness for a potential conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific, emphasizing in a May 2023 interview that American warships are considerably older than those in China’s navy.

He has also been highly critical of the Harris-Biden administration’s response to the Chinese spy balloon incident last year, describing it as a wake-up call for America’s security.

“The Chinese spy balloon has drastically changed Americans’ sense of security,” he wrote in a February 2023 op-ed, likening the episode to the Soviet Union’s launch of the first satellite in 1957.

Additionally, Waltz, who represents Florida’s 6th Congressional District, has condemned the Harris-Biden administration’s approach to Iran’s attempts to target Trump.

“These plots from Iran are ongoing. And when [President Joe] Biden says nothing, [Vice President Kamala] Harris says nothing, the [Justice Department] tries to bury it, what message does Iran get? They get that we can keep trying to take Trump out and have no consequences,” Waltz stated on “Sunday Morning Futures” with Fox News in August.

“They’re trying to kill him. And we know from the intelligence community Iran doesn’t want Trump back,” he continued.

Waltz has criticized federal agencies’ handling of the investigation into the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, suggesting delays in determining whether 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks acted independently.

“We’ve heard both the Secret Service and the FBI kind of phrase it in different ways — that everything they’ve seen he acted alone and that they have yet to find any co-conspirator … I find that hard to believe, and I want to see where’s the proof,” he told The Post in August.

“This isn’t an isolated incident that we could just take years to really take our time and unpack,” Waltz said. “There are ongoing threats as we speak. So yeah, I’m frustrated at how slow and how little we’ve learned.”

As Trump’s national security adviser, Waltz will likely tackle issues including the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and Israel’s battle against Hamas and Hezbollah in the Middle East.

While initially a staunch advocate for U.S. military support to Ukraine, Waltz has recently questioned whether continued aid is truly aligned with “America’s interest,” per Reuters.

Waltz has hinted that these resources might be better allocated toward countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. In an NPR interview this month, he described Trump’s commitment to launching peace talks between Ukraine and Russia as “perfectly reasonable” and suggested that, if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to end his aggression, the U.S. could “take the handcuffs off of the long-range weapons we provided Ukraine.”

Waltz, like Trump, has advocated for greater defense spending from NATO allies. His 27-year service in the U.S. Army and National Guard only ended during his second term in Congress. Waltz’s military experience includes combat tours across Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa.

Additionally, he has served as a defense policy director for former Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.

{Matzav.com}

President-elect Donald Trump’s newly appointed border czar, Tom Homan, has staunchly defended plans to expel millions of migrants from the United States, stating on Monday, “I don’t care what people think of me.”

Homan made this statement during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Fox News after Trump announced that the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement would lead efforts to secure the U.S. border in his upcoming administration.

“Frankly, I don’t care what people think about me, especially in the left,” Homan said when asked how he intended to respond to critics of Trump’s border policies.

“I don’t care what anybody’s opinions are on illegal immigration. When you create a crisis this big, all these other bad things happen. That’s why we have to secure the border.”

He continued, “I don’t care if you’re Republican or Democrat or independent; border security is national security. We should all be on the same side on that.”

As a former police officer and Border Patrol agent known for his tough approach, Homan reiterated Trump’s intent to carry out widespread deportations, emphasizing his focus on “public safety threats and national security threats” as well as conducting worksite inspections.

“I’ve been clear. President Trump’s been clear. Public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority because they have to be; they pose the most danger in this country,” he explained.

Homan, who had previously stated that ICE would carry out the deportations “in a humane manner,” added that he was fully prepared to tackle what he considers a crisis created by the Biden administration.

“I’ve been on this network for years complaining about what this administration did to this border. I’ve been yelling and screaming about it and what they need to do to fix it. So when the president asked me, ‘Would you come back and fix it?’ Of course. I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t,” he told the outlet.

“I’m honored the president asked me to come back and help solve this national security crisis, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Homan added, “I think the calling is clear. I’ve got to go back and help because every morning … I’m frustrated with what this [Biden] administration did to the most secure border in my lifetime, so I’m going to go back and do what I can to fix it.”

Trump announced on Sunday night that Homan would be joining his administration when he resumes office in January, assigning him the responsibility of removing illegal migrants.

“I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation’s Borders (‘The Border Czar’), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders. Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin.”

WATCH:

Over a year after the massacre of October 7, new details have emerged revealing that the ISA (Shin Bet) warned Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of unusual activity by Hamas just moments before the attacks began that Simchas Torah morning.

As reported by Ayala Hasson on Kan News, the head of the ISA chief’s office contacted the prime minister’s military secretary at 6:19 a.m. on October 7, informing him for the first time about unusual occurrences in Gaza the previous night.

Hasson further disclosed that the military secretary was briefed on the activation of numerous Israeli SIM cards within Gaza and the movement of Hamas operatives into underground bunkers. Their discussion, which lasted around six minutes, concluded with an agreement to conduct a situational assessment at 8:00 a.m.

Following this, General Avi Gil, the military secretary, called the head of the chief of staff’s office. During their call at 6:29 a.m., a missile barrage targeted southern Israel.

According to the report, General Gil, who learned of the situation only ten minutes before it unfolded, initially believed it to be an unusual, isolated incident but quickly urged that the situational assessment be held sooner than initially scheduled.

{Matzav.com Israel}

A video circulating on social media captured a troubling incident where two individuals on a motorcycle were seen swiping a kippah off the head of a Jewish man as he crossed a street in Staten Island.

The Staten Island Shomrim Safety Patrol, which shared the footage on the social media platform X, stated, “Help us apprehend these individuals. Wanted for a despicable act of pushing a Kippah off a Jewish man’s head. If you can identify them or have any information, call @NYPD121Pct detective squad 718-697-8712 or call us 718-370-2121. #YourCityYourCall.”

WATCH:

Police in Antwerp, Belgium, arrested six people on Sunday, including a 17-year-old, on suspicion of conspiring to attack Jews from the city’s heavily Charedi community.

The suspects were apprehended after exchanging messages on social media following the assault of dozens of Israelis in Holland’s capital of Amsterdam, Belgian police officials told De Morgen daily on Monday.

The incident in Antwerp coincided with concern that the assaults in the Netherlands—the country’s biggest series of antisemitic assaults in decades—mark the beginning of a new wave of coordinated attacks by Muslims in Europe against their Jewish neighbors.

“Some young individuals agreed to perpetrate a similar action in Antwerp in the Jewish Quarter, which is why we heightened security,” the city’s police commissioner Wouter Bruyns told De Morgen.

Following the arrests, footage of the beating of a haredi Jew in Antwerp in October surfaced on social media on Sunday. It shows three males following a Charedi male, shouting “Free Palestine” and beating him.

The victim is 14 years old, according to Michael Freilich, a Jewish federal lawmaker from Antwerp. The family did not file a police complaint “as this is a regular occurrence in town,” he told JNS on Monday.

The teenager received bruises from the beating. His family has decided to file a police complaint following the video’s surfacing, Freilich said.

Separately, the Dutch parliament is set to hold an emergency debate on Tuesday on last week’s assaults in Amsterdam. At least 100 young Muslim men participated in the preplanned attacks on Israeli soccer fans leaving a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local Ajax team. Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog called the event a “pogrom,” as did many local Jews including Herman Loonstein, a prominent lawyer.

Geert Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom, the largest party in the Netherlands and part of the ruling coalition, demanded that the perpetrators be deported. He also demanded an emergency debate to discuss how the assaults were made possible and again after hearing that all 62 detainees in police custody were arrested before or after the assaults, but none during them. He also called the incident a “pogrom.”

Israel’s National Security Council on Sunday advised Israelis not to travel to international soccer matches in Europe this week. Kan News reported Friday that the Mossad intelligence service had warned Dutch authorities of a threat to Israelis and Jews in the Netherlands ahead of the soccer game.

But Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel denied this on Monday, the AD news site reported.

The Israeli national team will compete against France in Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, on Thursday, in a UEFA Nations League match.

‘They were waiting for us’

As many as 2,000 Israelis returned to Israel on eight emergency flights out of Amsterdam over the weekend, El Al, Israel’s flag carrier airline, reported.

The assaults, which Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Dick Schoof reportedly both said were a source of “shame,” featured scenes that many found reminiscent of the wholesale persecution of Jews before and during the Holocaust. Many critics of the incidents noted they happened on the eve of the anniversary of the Kristallnacht Nazi pogroms of 1938 in the Third Reich.

Some victims were made to beg for mercy on their knees and say “Free Palestine.” Others, including at least one woman, were set upon by men without any verbal exchange. At least one man jumped into a canal to escape his attackers; another was hit by a vehicle in a suspected car-ramming. According to reports, attackers asked to check the passports of people they confronted on the street to see if they were Israeli.

About 25 people were injured in the assaults, with their injuries ranging from moderate to minor.

One victim, an IDF reservist who recently fought Hamas in Gaza, told Israel’s Channel 12 on Monday that he and his friend Ben tried to flee their attackers by entering a bar but were “kicked out.”

They ordered a taxi via Uber, he said, “but from an alleyway, another group of 10 men ran to us with clubs. They punched Ben and clubbed him in his back. I went berserk and jumped at them, but they busted me up. Broke my teeth. I feared for my life. I saw they were waiting for us at every corner. It was all planned.”

The perpetrators belonged primarily to six groups in the Netherlands, according to a Nov. 8 report by the Network Contagion Research Institute, or NCRI, a nonprofit that deals with identifying and forecasting the threat and spread of misinformation and disinformation across social-media platforms.

The dominant group identified as PGNL, a Dutch-language acronym for “The Palestinian Community in the Netherlands.”

It is headed by Ayman Nejmeh, whom NCRI said was managing PGNL social media. According to his social media profiles, he is a Syrian-born former teacher for UNRWA, the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, which has been thoroughly infiltrated by Hamas and, according to Israel, was complicit in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacres in the northwestern Negev. Nejmeh removed the UNRWA affiliation from his social media accounts following the assaults in Amsterdam.

ELNET, the European Leadership Network—a pro-Israel nonprofit—identified PGNL in a report published last month as one of 15 entities it described as composed of “Hamas-affiliated individuals and organizations in Europe” connected to Hamas representative Amin Abu Rashed, head of the Conference of Palestinians in Europe.

Contacted by JNS for a reaction, Nejmeh did not immediately reply to a request for comment about the allegations regarding the Hamas affiliation, and about his ties to UNRWA.

‘Sharing photos of their Jew hunt’

On Sunday, Dutch police arrested dozens of people for attending an unauthorized anti-Israel protest at Dam Square, the site where many of the assaults on Israeli soccer fans happened. Among the detainees was Jazie Veldhuyzen, a member of the Amsterdam City Council.

Protesters splintered off from the protest into the Nieuwndijk shopping street. Shopkeepers held up cell phone screens displaying the PLO flag in solidarity with the marchers, Bart Schut, the deputy editor-in-chief of the NIW Dutch-Jewish weekly, documented, including at the Ici Paris XL outlet store.

In the Dutch media, prominent opinion shapers downplayed the incident and noted disruptive behavior by Maccabi fans in the days before the match. Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla at a press conference said Maccabi fans damaged a taxi cab and stole a Palestinian flag from a building facade. Fans were filmed chanting, “Let the IDF win” and “F**k the Arabs.”

Marcel van Roosmalen, a columnist for the high-brow NRC daily, penned an op-ed titled “Shameless” in which he argued that if the assaults were a “pogrom, then what’s happening in Gaza is a genocide.” But he also urged left-wing politicians to condemn the violence against Israelis, in which we “clearly know who the perpetrators are: They are sharing photos of their Jew hunt.”

Veldhuyzen, the councilman for the BIJ1 party, which says it promotes anti-racist policies but has often been accused of espousing antisemitism, blamed the Maccabi fans for the assault against them.

“Video footage of armed Maccabi-hooligans, attacking people from Amsterdam that look like Arabs or Muslims with metal pipes, stones and fireworks. All under the protection of the Dutch police. Here you have your ‘victims,’” he wrote on X. He was referencing footage showing men running, some holding elongated objects, in the center of Amsterdam, near where Arab men had attacked the Israelis.

It is not clear whether the footage was taken before or after the assaults by the Muslims began and who is seen carrying elongated objects in it.

Following the Hamas-led onslaught on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and abducted another 251, the IDF went to war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s critics in Europe have accused it of perpetrating genocide, including at weekly rallies in European capitals that have featured numerous calls for violence against Israelis and Jews. Several countries reported an explosion in recorded antisemitic incidents. In the Netherlands, the Center for Information and Documentation recorded an increase of 245% in antisemitic incidents in 2023 over 2022.

(JNS)

Hillel Neuer of UN Watch explains what will change regarding the UN with the upcoming Trump administration.

On Sunday, The Israel Democracy Index (IDI) published the results of a new survey indicating that most Israeli Arabs believe Israel’s response to the Iranian ballistic missile barrage on October 1st was too weak.

While in total, 41% of Israelis believed the response was “appropriately strong,” among Arab respondents that number was only 31%.  Meanwhile, 45% of Arab respondents believed Israel’s response was “too weak.”

Interestingly, these numbers align closer with respondents from the Israeli right, 51% of whom agreed the response to too weak.  Only 32% of centrist Israeli’s and 28% of leftist Israelis believed the response was too weak.

Another interesting result of the survey was the breakdown between Jews and Arabs regarding the elimination of Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar.  While 62.5% of Jews believe Sinwar’s elimination brings Israel closer to achieving it’s war goals, only 21% of Arab Israelis agreed.  However, a significant majority of Arabs (67%) believe Sinwar’s elimination allows greater flexibility in negotiations, while among Jews, that number was closer to fifty-fifty (53.5%).

{Matzav.com} 

President-elect Donald Trump has appointed former New York Republican Representative Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency, The Post has exclusively learned.

Zeldin, age 44, previously served four terms representing eastern Long Island in Congress as a Republican before narrowly losing the 2022 New York gubernatorial race to Democrat Kathy Hochul. He is now set to play a significant role in advancing Trump’s pro-energy production and deregulatory initiatives.

“I am deeply honored to have been asked by President Trump to serve in his Cabinet. As EPA Administrator, we will restore American energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, make the United States the global leader of Artificial Intelligence advancement, and slash the red tape holding back American workers from upward economic mobility,” Zeldin stated to The Post.

“We will accomplish all this while conserving our environment, protecting access to clean air and water, and keeping the American people healthy. I look forward to contributing to President Trump’s agenda to build a more prosperous future for our nation.”

Under the leadership of outgoing President Biden, the EPA implemented stricter vehicle emissions guidelines in March aimed at requiring half of new car sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030. This regulation is expected to be among the first that Trump’s administration will seek to overturn.

The EPA regulates critical sectors across the economy by managing the environmental impacts of business activities, and Zeldin is anticipated to be central in executing Trump’s plans to reverse Biden’s restrictions on fossil fuels.

During his term, Biden halted additional permits for liquefied natural gas exports, blocked or delayed the development of new oil and gas pipelines, and worked to restrict new drilling permits on federal lands. Many of these efforts are expected to be promptly rescinded under the incoming administration.

Trump confirmed his intention to nominate Zeldin, who will require confirmation by the Republican-majority Senate, in a separate statement.

“Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies. He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump said.

“He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”

Trump continued, “I have known Lee Zeldin for a long time, and have watched him handle, brilliantly, some extremely difficult and complex situations. I am very proud to have him in the Trump Administration, where he will quickly prove to be a great contributor!”

Zeldin’s political career includes efforts to protect Long Island from the risks posed by harmful dredging materials, making him potentially more palatable to some Democrats than other potential nominees.

Joining him in the Cabinet will be Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY), whom Trump announced Sunday as his choice for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Both Zeldin and Stefanik were part of Trump’s honorary defense team during his first impeachment proceedings in 2020.

{Matzav.com}

At least two Israelis were lightly injured in a terrorist vehicular assault at a military checkpoint near Beit Lechem in Yehuda on Monday evening, according to initial reports

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on X that “during IDF operations in the Al-Khader area of ​​the Etzion Brigade, a Palestinian vehicle broke through a roadblock and carried out a car-ramming attack. The vehicle fled, many forces are conducting a chase and searches in the area.”

On Wednesday, two Israels were lightly wounded in a combined car-ramming and stabbing attack at a bus stop near the town of Shiloh in the Shomron. The terrorist was killed on the scene by an armed civilian.

On Nov. 3, Hamas terrorists opened fire toward the Shahak Industrial Park near the community of Shaked in northern Shomron. No casualties were reported in the attack on the industrial zone, which is located some five miles west of Jenin, a hotbed of Palestinian terrorism.

In the first six months of 2024, Yehuda and Shomron saw more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to data made public by Rescuers Without Borders.

During that period, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases of rock-throwing, 456 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 299 explosive charges and 109 shootings.

Terrorists murdered 14 people and wounded more than 155 others in Yehuda and Shomron between January and July, the rescue group said.

(JNS)

Knesset member Ofer Cassif, the lone Jew among the mostly Arab Hadash-Ta’al Party’s four lawmakers, will be banned from participating in plenary and committee meetings until May 2025 because of his incessant incitement against Israel, the parliament’s Ethics Committee decided on Monday.

The Ethics Committee, which is composed of four members of Knesset from the coalition and opposition, also voted to cut Cassif’s salary for two weeks during his suspension.

Cassif’s suspension, which will take effect on Tuesday, is one of the most severe sanctions imposed by the committee in recent years.

In February, Israeli lawmakers voted against revoking Cassif’s Knesset membership over his public support for the charges of genocide that South Africa lodged against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

Eighty-five MKs voted in favor of ousting Cassif, below the 90 needed in the 120-member legislature. The opposition Yesh Atid Party lead by Yair Lapid and National Unity chaired by Benny Gantz did not back the initiative.

Yisrael Beitenu’s MK Oded Forer initiated the impeachment attempt. The move was announced after Cassif signed a petition in support of the South African case against the Jewish state and claimed that members of the government were calling for ethnic cleansing and even genocide.

“MK Cassif’s treasonous words can no longer be heard while the blood of our soldiers and citizens screams from the ground,” Forer said.

Late last year, Cassif was suspended from the Knesset for 45 days for anti-Israel comments he made in the wake of Hamas’s’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

The Ethics Committee based Monday’s decision on remarks Cassif made that drew a connection between the Holocaust and “current government policy in times of war.”

It referred to a statement by Cassif in an Oct. 15 interview with Irish journalist Finian Cunningham, in which he accused the government led by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of exploiting the Hamas terrorist attacks to implement a “final solution” to wipe out Palestinian Arabs.

The “final solution” typically refers to Germany’s effort to annihilate world Jewry during the Holocaust.

Cassif caused a firestorm in November 2022 by declaring that Aryeh Shchupak, 16, was a “victim of the occupation” after he was murdered in a terrorist bombing in Jerusalem.

Earlier that month, Cassif asserted that Jews living in Judea and Samaria were liable for Palestinian attacks against them as they are not innocent civilians. “They live as a thorn in the throats of the Palestinians,” he said, adding that Palestinian attacks were “not terror.”

In 2021, in a Facebook post marking Palestinian Prisoners Day, Cassif referred to Palestinian terrorists in Israeli jails as “political prisoners.” He also shared an image of a prison cell with the caption: “May all the captives be released!”

(JNS)

President-elect Donald Trump is preparing the U.S. government to adopt a more permissive stance toward cryptocurrency, eyeing a roster of industry-friendly candidates for key posts while his top advisers consult crypto executives on potential changes to federal policy.

By pursuing a more lenient regulatory environment, Trump aims to fulfill his campaign promise to transform the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet” – a declaration that once rankled consumer watchdogs even as it earned the industry’s robust support and generous political donations.

The early discussions have centered on a set of financial regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump’s aides have considered a mix of current regulators, former federal officials and financial industry executives for important leadership posts, many of whom have publicly expressed pro-crypto views, according to five people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the deliberations, cautioning the process is still early and the list of candidates is changing.

These appointments are critical: Under Trump, the chair of the SEC and other agencies have the power to determine whether crypto will become a larger, more formalized part of the financial system. The choice has vast implications for the global economy, and the stakes are high, as evidenced by the 2022 collapse of the crypto giant FTX – and the risks it raised about a catastrophic contagion.

Some of the names under consideration for the SEC and other positions include Daniel Gallagher, a former SEC official now at the financial technology firm Robinhood, which offers crypto wallets as well as stock trading; and Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, two Republican commissioners at the agency, the people said.

A Republican donor, Gallagher previously has faulted the SEC for taking a “scorched earth” approach to crypto. Peirce and Uyeda, meanwhile, have criticized their agency for policy and enforcement actions taken under President Joe Biden. Peirce is seen as a potential interim chair of the SEC, once Trump takes over the White House, who could later lead a federal task force on crypto policy.

“The commission’s war on crypto must end, including crypto enforcement actions solely based on a failure to register with no allegation of fraud or harm,” Uyeda told Fox Business this month. “President Trump and the American electorate have sent a clear message. Starting in 2025, the SEC’s role is to carry out that mandate.”

Trump aides have also eyed Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner who aided on Trump’s last transition, and Chris Giancarlo, a former GOP commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to the people familiar with the matter.

The candidate selected for the SEC is set to replace its current chairman, Gary Gensler, whom Trump promised to “fire” in an appearance at a major bitcoin conference this summer. Under Gensler, the SEC has aggressively cracked down on crypto companies, filing fraud charges against the leader of FTX and levying a vast array of allegations against Binance, another trading platform, over its business practices. The agency has also sparred in court with Coinbase and Kraken, two other crypto exchanges, and Ripple, which launched the XRP token, for allegedly failing to adhere to federal law requiring registration of their platforms or tokens – charges they each deny.

“His days are numbered,” said Brad Garlinghouse, the chief executive of Ripple, adding that the company has “been in touch” with the Trump transition team. “I think it’s clear this is an area they intend to continue to focus on. I think Trump and a bunch of people realize there’s a new set of technologies that are likely to define the next couple of decades.”

Broadly, crypto supporters say Gensler has wrongly stretched the law out of a personal distaste for digital assets – and they expect his successor to reverse course on some of the federal enforcement actions now underway. But it remains unclear if Trump can or will actually fire the sitting SEC chairman, rather than demote him to a commissioner while turning over the agency to a new leader. Fully ousting Gensler – a Senate-confirmed regulator – could trigger a novel and complicated legal battle over the president’s authorities, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

Gensler, for his part, has not said explicitly if he intends to step down on his own after the change in administration, though top SEC officials often do. A spokeswoman declined to comment.

A spokesman for the Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment on Trump’s plans for crypto.

No matter the outcome, the early signs suggest a dramatic change in the way Washington approaches cryptocurrency, a shift that underscores the industry’s rapid ascent into one of the most prolific donors in American politics – having helped to elect dozens of friendly candidates to Congress while donating heavily in support of Trump’s bid for the White House.

Industry executives say they mostly seek regulatory clarity, since Congress has failed to pass a single, comprehensive law governing their products and services – rules that would determine, for example, when crypto is a security or currency, which the investor protections should apply, and which agency would regulate the industry and its offerings.

“A lot of industry, I think a lot of companies, say they want to be regulated when their objective is actually anything but,” said Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer for Coinbase. With crypto, he said, the situation is different: “There is specific legislation in the Congress right now that we believe would protect investors, and frankly, resolve some of the ambiguities.”

But the political blitz has troubled some Democrats on Capitol Hill, who say the legislative solutions backed by the crypto industry could actually leave millions of Americans with fewer protections – increasing the risks of loss and fraud, while posing new threats to the financial system.

“It means that people are going to be more vulnerable to an industry that is rife with fraud, abuse, market manipulation and cyber breaches,” said Patrick Woodall, the managing director for policy at Americans for Financial Reform, which advocates for stronger financial regulations. “This is an industry that is extremely volatile, where people take big losses, where market manipulation by insiders is very prevalent.”

To win the industry’s favor, Trump appeared in July at a national bitcoin gathering in Nashville, unfurling a pro-crypto agenda he would pursue if he returned to the Oval Office. He promised to advance crypto policies “written by people who love your industry,” and predicted bitcoin would surge under his watch. (The price of a single bitcoin soared past $83,000 on Monday, a spike that began shortly after the election.)

Trump’s unqualified support marked a stark departure from his first time in office, when he dismissed crypto as a “scam.” But he ultimately came to embrace the industry as it showered him with public praise and financial support, even helping to launch his own crypto venture in the weeks before winning the presidency. A handful of crypto magnates – including Marco Santori, the chief legal officer at Kraken, and David Bailey, who hosted the crypto conference in Nashville – later joined Trump at his election night party in Florida, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Bailey did not respond to a request for comment. Kraken declined comment, as did Santori, one of the crypto executives in conversation with aides to Trump’s transition about a possible role.

In preparation for his return to the White House, Trump has surrounded himself with prominent crypto supporters, including Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest tech allies and financiers, and Howard Lutnick, who boasts close ties to the embattled cryptocurrency Tether. Lutnick serves as co-chair of the presidential transition process, and Bailey, who helped introduce Trump to the bitcoin community, similarly remains engaged.

Lutnick’s involvement in particular has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest – since he is helping to select potential leaders for prime federal roles could directly affect his business as the chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street firm. With Tether, for example, Lutnick has publicly acknowledged that he manages “many, many of their assets.” The currency is facing potential sanctions by the Treasury Department.

Lutnick has conducted some of the outreach to the crypto industry alongside other Trump aides including Michael Kratsios, who previously served as the White House’s chief technology officer, according to one of the people familiar with crypto planning. The officials have spoken with at least one major crypto firm about serving on a newly formed presidential council on digital currencies, which Trump promised to launch if he won, one person familiar with the matter said.

Another believed that the incoming administration intends to staff a top crypto aide at the National Economic Council, a key policy arm at the White House. Beyond that, the incoming administration must fill a bevy of key roles: In addition to the SEC, Trump must tap leaders for the CFTC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), all of which oversee elements of crypto, including its relationship to the banking system.

Some crypto executives said they also talked to Trump’s aides about the possibility of early executive orders or other presidential directives that might help the industry, perhaps by clarifying regulatory authorities between federal agencies or studies that would identify ways the government could further grow the crypto ecosystem. They likened it to a similar set of orders issued by Trump in his first term, which laid out the administration’s regulatory approach to the financial system under the law known as Dodd-Frank.

A few of the conversations date back to the campaign, and it is unclear if Trump plans to act on them as he prepares to return to office. Many observers do expect Trump to follow through on his pledge to create a national reserve for cryptocurrency, preventing the U.S. government from selling off bitcoin and other tokens it has seized in past criminal investigations.

“President Trump has the House and Senate. He has a mandate,” Bailey said on X last week, though the Associated Press by Monday had not yet called a set of remaining House races, leaving party control of the chamber in doubt. “The environment is there for us to get this done in first 100 days.”

(c) Washington Post

Eric Gonzalez, the district attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y., announced 25 counts against Taylor Pelton, Samuel Seligson and Gabriel Schubiner in connection with incidents of anti-Israel, antisemitic vandalism this summer at the homes of board members of the Brooklyn Museum.

The two men and one woman face charges of making a terroristic threat as a hate crime; making a terroristic threat; third- and fourth-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime; third- and fourth-degree criminal mischief; making graffiti; possession of graffiti instruments; and fifth-degree conspiracy.

“Acts of vandalism that target individuals in their own homes are a deeply disturbing violation meant to intimidate, terrorize and instill fear,” Gonzalez said on Monday. “These defendants allegedly targeted museum board members with threats and antisemitic graffiti based on their perceived heritage.”

Graffiti at the homes in mid-June included “Brooklyn Museum, blood on your hands,” an anarchist symbol and inverted red triangles used by Hamas to identify targets for terrorism.

Gonzalez stated that “these actions are not protests; they are hate crimes, and we are deeply committed to holding accountable anyone who uses such unlawful tactics in Brooklyn.”

(JNS)

An Israel Defense Forces reservist was killed fighting Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip, the military announced on Monday evening.

IDF Maj. (res.) Itamar Levin Fridman, 34, from the Red Sea city of Eilat, served as a commander in his hometown’s Lotar counter-terrorism unit, a special forces team whose mission is to protect the safety of residents and tourists in southern Israel, and specializes in the rescue of hostages.

Fridman was killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Palestinian terrorists.

The military launched a major operation in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia in early October, following indications of a Hamas resurgence there.

On Friday, the army announced that Master Sgt. (res.) Guy Shabtay, 39, of the Alon Brigade’s 8207th Battalion, from Jerusalem, succumbed after being wounded while fighting in Southern Lebanon two weeks earlier.

On Thursday, IDF Sgt. Ariel Sosnov Sasonov, 20, from the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion, was killed by a Lebanese rocket in northern Israel.

The IDF military death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of the ground operation there on Oct. 27, 2023, stands at 369, while the official figure for all fronts since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre is 783.

Additionally, Ch. Insp. Arnon Zamora, a member of the Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was fatally wounded during a hostage rescue mission in Gaza in June, and civilian defense contractor Liron Yitzhak was mortally wounded in the Strip in May.

(JNS)