Matzav

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday that he abruptly cut off a meeting with the head of Lebanon’s military after the officer declined to describe Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, a stance Graham said makes cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces untenable.

In a message posted to social media, the South Carolina Republican recounted a brief exchange with Lebanese Chief of Defense Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, explaining why the discussion ended almost as soon as it began. “I just had a very brief meeting with the Lebanese Chief of Defense General Rodolphe Haykal. I asked him point blank if he believes Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. He said, ‘No, not in the context of Lebanon.’ With that, I ended the meeting,” Graham wrote.

Graham followed up by stressing his own position on the Iran-backed group, saying there is no ambiguity about its record. “They are clearly a terrorist organization. Hezbollah has American blood on its hands. Just ask the U.S. Marines,” he added.

The senator noted that Washington’s view of Hezbollah has been consistent across party lines for decades. He pointed out that the group has “been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by both Republican and Democrat administrations since 1997 – for good reason.”

Because of the response he received, Graham said he doubts whether Lebanon’s military can be trusted as a partner. “As long as this attitude exists from the Lebanese Armed Forces, I don’t think we have a reliable partner in them. I am tired of the double speak in the Middle East. Too much is at stake,” he concluded.

The remarks come against the backdrop of a U.S.-supported ceasefire arrangement between Israel and Lebanon that obligates Hezbollah to dismantle its armed presence, beginning in areas south of the river near Israel’s border.

In August of last year, Lebanon’s government tasked the Lebanese Armed Forces with preparing a plan to ensure that the state would hold exclusive control over weapons by the end of the year.

Hezbollah has openly rejected that initiative, denouncing the government’s proposal and repeatedly insisting it will not relinquish its arsenal.

The group’s leader, Naim Qassem, recently reinforced that position, declaring that Hezbollah will not surrender its weapons and warning that doing so would amount to “the end of Lebanon.”

A newly released briefing from a well-known nonpartisan research and policy organization raises what it describes as significant ethical and national security issues involving Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, focusing on her relationships with individuals and groups connected to designated foreign terrorist organizations, Fox News reports.

According to the document, published by the advocacy and policy arm of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, the concerns stem from a broad review of Tlaib’s public conduct and political operations. “The conduct of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, including her rhetoric, affiliations, campaign infrastructure, and ideological alignment with certain individuals and organizations, raises serious concerns about potential risks to the ethical and institutional integrity of the United States government,” the report states.

The briefing outlines what it characterizes as a consistent pattern in Tlaib’s activities, pointing to episodes that include participation in events where convicted terrorists were present, as well as substantial campaign expenditures directed to activists and networks it says are linked to Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

A significant portion of the document examines Tlaib’s campaign finances, asserting that her political operation directed hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-Israel activists. The report claims that nearly $600,000 was paid between 2020 and 2025 to Unbought Power, a consulting firm led by Rasha Mubarak.

Mubarak, the briefing notes, has previously drawn scrutiny because of past associations with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, identified in the 2009 Holy Land Foundation case as an unindicted co-conspirator, and with the Alliance for Global Justice, an organization that has been investigated over alleged ties to Samidoun, a group linked to the PFLP.

The report also highlights Tlaib’s appearances at public events alongside controversial figures. It cites a conference where she shared a platform with Wisam Rafeedie, described in the briefing as a convicted PFLP operative, who defended the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack as “resistance.”

Summarizing its assessment, the document states: “Through public endorsement, co-sponsorship, and amplification, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has consistently engaged with a range of organizations known to maintain operational or ideological ties to terrorist networks.” It continues, “Tlaib has engaged with and disseminated the messaging of these groups and has shared related content on social media platforms, has participated in events organized by these groups, and has referenced their terminology and conceptual frameworks in official congressional communications.”

The briefing notes that allegations of sympathy toward hostile foreign actors are not new for the Michigan congresswoman, pointing out that the House of Representatives has already taken formal action against her on two occasions.

In November 2023, Tlaib was censured for promoting what were described as false narratives about the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. Another resolution followed in September 2025 after her participation in the “People’s Conference for Palestine,” an event where speakers were accused of having “whitewashed” convicted Hamas financiers.

ISGAP Action also revisits Tlaib’s past remarks, asserting that she has repeatedly used antisemitic language. The report references an August 2021 appearance in which Tlaib spoke of “people behind the curtain” profiting from “racism” from “Gaza to Detroit.”

Beyond documenting concerns, the briefing urges concrete steps by federal authorities. It calls for a formal congressional investigation into Tlaib’s actions, including a review of statements it says echo terrorist messaging, her presence at events honoring convicted terrorists, and a comprehensive examination of her campaign fundraising sources.

The document further recommends that the Justice Department’s National Security Division evaluate whether Tlaib or those associated with her have violated 18 U.S. Code §2339B, which bans providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations.

In addition, the report urges the Federal Election Commission to conduct a detailed forensic audit of Tlaib’s campaign finances, with particular attention to donations originating from individuals allegedly connected to terrorist networks.

Concluding its assessment, the briefing warns of broader implications. “Tlaib’s conduct demonstrates how extremist ideologies can infiltrate mainstream democratic institutions,” the report concludes. “If left unchecked, her actions will continue to legitimize hate.”

The document also references a separate ISGAP Action report issued last year that examined what it described as a long-term effort by the Muslim Brotherhood to “transform Western society from within” and to infiltrate American institutions.

That earlier report stated, “The election and re-election of congresswomen such as Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who have openly defended positions aligned with Brotherhood perspectives on Israel, counterterrorism, and international relations, demonstrates the intersection of identity politics and Brotherhood narratives.”

It added, “While neither congresswoman has a documented formal affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, both have appeared at events organized by Brotherhood-aligned organizations, have received campaign support from Brotherhood-aligned donors, and have consistently advocated positions aligned with Brotherhood objectives.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump on Thursday is set to launch TrumpRx.gov, a government website aimed at helping Americans purchase medications at discounted prices, capping his nearly year-long pressure campaign to extract pricing concessions from pharmaceutical companies.

The scheduled 7 p.m. event, announced by the White House, has been one of Trump’s top political priorities ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The president and his aides have used tariff threats, promised expedited federal drug reviews and other leverage in negotiations with drug-company executives, while also pressing foreign leaders to raise their own countries’ drug prices to help absorb global research and development costs.

As part of the initiative, pharmaceutical companies have agreed to list their drugs on TrumpRx.gov, which officials say will connect shoppers to discounts offered by the companies and help them purchase medications without using insurance. The White House has described the site as a central feature of the administration’s drug-pricing push, and the president is slated to demonstrate the site’s functionality with aides Thursday evening in an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Trump has portrayed the effort – which he has branded as “Most Favored Nation” – as one of his signature policy accomplishments, often appearing alongside pharmaceutical executives to showcase price concessions his administration secured. Trump has also called on Congress to codify the program, including it as a key plank in his “Great Healthcare Plan” proposal released in January.

“This is the biggest thing ever to happen on drug prices … it’s going to reduce the cost of health care because health care is probably 50 percent drugs, right?” Trump said at a political rally in North Carolina in December. “This achievement alone should win us the midterms.”

Spending on prescription drugs, which has accounted for about 9 percent of U.S. health care spending in recent years, has continued to rise despite pledges from Democratic and Republican presidents to bring it down. Trump has said that his first-term announcement that drug prices briefly inched down ranks among his proudest moments as president.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Thursday’s planned event. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X that Trump would be joined by Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services, and Joe Gebbia, director of the National Design Studio, a new administration initiative to improve government websites.

The launch of TrumpRx.gov comes more than 12 years after the debut of Healthcare.gov, a signature initiative of President Barack Obama and Democrats designed to help Americans shop for health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act. That website’s launch was memorably rocky – only six people successfully signed up for health plans on the website’s first day, according to internal Obama administration notes obtained by congressional Republicans – a failure that became a political liability for the Obama administration.

Trump has sought to avoid a similar fate with his site, which is a much smaller undertaking, and to ensure the initiative delivers visible political payoff. The president and drug company leaders have previewed the site by focusing on savings for popular drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, which often carries a list price of $1,000 per month and is commonly used for weight-loss. Ozempic’s list price would drop to $350 when purchased through the new website, officials have said.

“TrumpRx doesn’t sell medications,” according to a description on the website. “Instead, it connects patients directly with the best prices, increasing transparency and cutting out costly third-party markups.”

Some Democrats and health policy experts have acknowledged that Trump’s new initiative could lower drug prices for some Americans and expand access to medications. But many have said that the public pledges remain too vague to gauge the program’s full impact, and some experts have warned that the program is likely to be constrained by the courts. They also have noted that TrumpRx’s focus on cutting “list prices” for drugs may obscure that many Americans already can obtain discounts and rebates that lower the cost of their medication. Novo Nordisk, for example, already offers Ozempic available at significant discounts through its own website.

The website “could have some impact, but it is far from revolutionary,” Craig Garthwaite, director of health care at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, wrote in an email. He added that the program sidesteps bigger challenges in America’s health system. “For most brand name medications, patients simply can’t afford to pay cash out of pocket. That is what insurance is for!”

Others, including former federal officials, have questioned the legality of the expedited Food and Drug Administration reviews that have been promised to some participating drug companies, warning that rushing those reviews could be illegal and dangerous.

Congressional Democrats also have demanded answers from pharmaceutical companies on the terms of their participation, their future pricing predictions and their work to help set up TrumpRx.gov.

“The Administration has yet to provide any public information that the announcements will result in any real savings for consumers,” Sen. Ron Wyden (Oregon) and three other top Democrats on congressional committees that oversee parts of the U.S. health system said in a joint statement in December. “In fact, economists have questioned whether consumers will see any meaningful benefits. The public deserves answers on this and a better understanding of what this means for their everyday costs.”

Two-thirds of Americans say that they worry about paying for health care, including the cost of health insurance and prescription drugs, according to a KFF poll released last Thursday. Health care costs also represented Americans’ top financial worry, surpassing utilities, food, and rent or mortgage.

Most Americans (55 percent) also said that their health care costs had increased in the past year, KFF found. A similar percentage (56 percent) say that they expect health care to become less affordable in the future.

While Democrats generally have the edge on health care issues, holding a 16-percentage-point edge on which party that Americans trust to address the Affordable Care Act (42-26), the advantage is narrower on drug costs – an issue that Trump has relentlessly campaigned on – with Democrats holding a five-point edge on Republicans (35-30).

White House officials said in December that the National Design Studio had taken the lead on setting up TrumpRx.gov.

“The site has come together at record time. There’s been extensive testing by many people, and there will continue to be so that [when] we launch the site. It’s ready to go and ready for prime time,” a senior administration official told reporters on a press call, speaking on condition of anonymity to preview a forthcoming announcement.

Mark Cuban, a founder of Cost Plus Drugs, a website that offers similar services to TrumpRx.gov, said he welcomed the new site.

“I don’t think it solves the ultimate problem of how the system is designed, but I think it’s something that we obviously agree on,” Cuban, a frequent Trump critic, said at a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing in October.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

{Matzav.com}

What once took Monica Seiter hours of manual reviews can now be resolved with the press of a button and a few prompts.

As director of payroll at Lindenwood University in St. Louis, Seiter uses Payroll Agent, an AI-powered assistant in the management software Workday, to automate the payroll process. (Workday lists The Washington Post as a client.) Some of her favorite features include automated scans to find missing data ahead of payday, and notifications to managers about minimum wage increases that could impact Lindenwood’s budget.

Payroll Agent is just one of many AI tools released last year, joining a wave of AI-powered products designed to automate HR processes. The developers behind these tools, commonly referred to as AI agents, promise efficiency and precise information for managers when conducting performance reviews or evaluating who is eligible for a raise or promotion. But by partially automating HR functions, organizations are calling on AI to help steer one of the most consequential relationships between employers and employees, one where a deft human touch was long considered a requirement.

“People don’t want to be judged by a black box,” said John McCarthy, a professor researching workplaces and emerging technologies at Cornell University. “Sometimes, even the people using or deploying these systems don’t know what’s in the black box.”

While companies like Workday are rolling out narrow AI agents designed for specific tasks, managers are already using general-purpose models such as ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini to inform high-stakes calls. More than 60 percent of managers say they use these tools to inform decisions on their employees, according to a June survey by ResumeBuilder, including to draft performance reviews. Of these, over half said they use AI to help determine raises, promotions and even layoffs.

Industry reports suggest that when used correctly, automating certain HR tasks can lead to significant time savings for managers – up to 25 percent – according to one analysis by consulting firm Bain & Company. But as companies race to integrate AI, critics worry that untrained managers could use it irresponsibly. The ResumeBuilder survey found that only one third of managers who used AI to manage people had received formal instruction on how to do so, and around 20 percent often allowed AI to make decisions without human input.

“It’s a wild, wild west out there,” said Stacie Haller, chief career adviser at ResumeBuilder, adding that AI-assisted decision-making at work could expose companies to legal action, including wrongful dismissal cases.

“If you are let go and it was based on some AI evaluation, I guarantee you there are going to be lawsuits, because today people bring up lawsuits when they feel they’re unfairly fired anyway,” she said.

For Workday, the answer is for a person to have a final say and remain accountable, even if they tapped an AI agent for help, explained Aashna Kircher, a group general manager for HR products at the company.

“AI can’t make decisions around people’s performance,” she said. “We are very much anchored on having a human in the loop and amplifying potential, not replacing human judgment.”

When used responsibly, AI agents could even help improve transparency, says Maria Colacurcio, CEO of Syndio, a company developing workplace equity solutions. In October, Syndio released its own AI agent called Syndi, which provides hiring managers with salary offer recommendations for individual job candidates based on internal pay policies, market rates and company targets. Agents like Syndi are designed to explain each recommendation, a step Colacurcio says is essential for maintaining trust.

“The real value of AI is helping leaders make good decisions with better confidence. And when you’ve got that clear and consistent reasoning, the people who are on the receiving end feel respected,” Colacurcio said.

Even when AI agents are transparent about how a recommendation was formulated, a human arbiter will still likely be required to make most decisions. In processes like performance feedback, soft skills that are harder to quantify might slip past what algorithms are ready to reward, said John Hausknecht, a human resources professor at Cornell. Recognizing qualities like congeniality and willingness to train colleagues, or context from workers’ personal lives, is one area where human managers still have an edge over machines.

“There’s a ‘what’ and a ‘how’,” Hausknecht said. Evaluating what an employee has produced can be relatively easy for automation to capture, “but how they got there, and did they take the right steps and build the right relationships along the way, I still think has that judgmental quality that’s hard to get away from.”

The Washington Post · Tristan Bove 

The United Arab Emirates has drawn up preliminary plans for a large temporary housing site intended to accommodate thousands of displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza under Israeli military control, according to a planning map reviewed by Reuters and officials familiar with the proposal, Times of Israel reports.

The map outlines the location of a project labeled the “UAE Temporary Emirates Housing Complex,” which would be built near Rafah, a city that once had roughly 250,000 residents but has since been largely destroyed and emptied during Israeli military operations.

An Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that the UAE has yet to make a final determination on whether it will finance the initial phase of the housing project in the Rafah area.

Rafah, located close to the Egyptian border, is viewed as the likely starting point for Gaza’s reconstruction under a postwar framework envisioned by US President Donald Trump, aimed at stabilizing the coastal territory after two years of intense fighting. International donors have been hesitant to pledge support, citing concerns that unresolved disputes over disarming Hamas could derail the plan and return the region to full-scale war.

Diplomats cautioned that the Emirati proposal faces political hurdles, noting that many Palestinians may resist relocating to an area controlled by Israel while most of Gaza’s civilian population remains in zones administered by Hamas.

According to four diplomats briefed on the matter, Trump’s plan includes a US-led multinational mission for Gaza operating out of southern Israel, where Emirati representatives have discussed building temporary housing and supplying basic services in Rafah.

The planning map places the proposed UAE housing site near the “Yellow Line” established under an October ceasefire to mark the boundary between Israeli-held territory and areas controlled by Hamas.

Responding to questions about the report, an Emirati official said the country “remains committed to scaling up its humanitarian efforts to support Palestinians in Gaza,” without confirming whether the housing complex would move forward.

One diplomat said Israeli forces have already cleared a broad corridor stretching from the Mediterranean coast toward Rafah, potentially enabling temporary housing initiatives such as the one under consideration by the UAE.

Diplomats said the Emirati plan closely resembles a US concept for temporary housing in Israeli-controlled parts of Gaza. That American proposal was initially described as “Alternative Safe Communities” and has more recently been referred to as “Planned Communities.”

A US official said the UAE has been coordinating its initiative with Washington, the Board of Peace — a new international body created by Trump — and a US-supported Palestinian committee intended to oversee governance in Gaza.

“We continue to be impressed with the UAE’s efforts for bringing a better life for Gazans in Gaza,” the official said.

US officials have privately expressed hope that developing housing in Israeli-controlled areas could help advance the disarmament of Hamas by encouraging civilians to move out of Hamas-run zones, thereby weakening the group’s hold over the population.

Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East analyst at The Soufan Center, said the “Alternative Safe Communities” concept was meant to gradually “choking Hamas off,” but warned that limited projects would not be sufficient.

“Only a couple of housing projects is not going to defeat Hamas. You need to do a lot… to have an effect,” he said.

The UAE, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 under a Trump-brokered agreement, views Hamas and other Islamist movements as destabilizing forces in the region.

The four diplomats questioned whether large numbers of Palestinians would agree to relocate to Israeli-controlled territory and warned that such plans could entrench a lasting geographic split within Gaza.

Unlike earlier US proposals, however, the diplomats noted that the Emirati plan targets land where no residential neighborhoods previously existed.

Israeli forces currently control about 53 percent of Gaza, including the southern area encompassing the devastated city of Rafah. Hamas governs the remainder of the Strip, where nearly all of Gaza’s roughly two million residents are crowded into tent camps or living amid the ruins of destroyed communities.

Foreign diplomats and humanitarian officials argue that aid and shelter should prioritize areas with the largest civilian populations. By contrast, diplomats estimate that only about 20,000 Palestinians are currently living in parts of Gaza under Israeli military control.

{Matzav.com}

State prosecutors on Thursday filed indictments against Bezalel Zini, the brother of David Zini, along with two additional suspects, accusing them of operating as part of a large-scale network that smuggled cigarettes into the Gaza Strip during the war.

All three defendants were charged with aiding the enemy in wartime, as well as fraud and bribery offenses, in addition to violations of Israel’s counterterrorism statutes. A day earlier, prosecutors brought charges against 12 other alleged members of the same ring, among them several IDF reservists.

The Shin Bet said Wednesday that over the course of the fighting — and “and even more so since the beginning of the ceasefire” — Hamas has sought to rebuild its military strength and consolidate control in Gaza using funds generated through smuggled merchandise.

According to the indictments, during August and September 2025 the suspects trafficked 26 crates of cigarettes into Gaza, with an estimated total value of NIS 3.9 million ($1.25 million). Prosecutors said this shipment represented only a fraction of the illegal activity carried out by the group.

Zini, who served as an IDF reservist responsible for logistics for demolition forces in Gaza, is accused of exploiting his access to the Strip to smuggle 14 crates of cigarettes from Israel into Gaza over three separate trips, netting roughly NIS 365,000 ($117,405).

He was indicted in the Beersheba District Court together with Aviel Ben David, another reservist from his unit, and Amir Dov Halperin, an associate of Ben David. Prosecutors allege the three participated in cigarette smuggling operations on five occasions.

Court documents state that Zini commanded a team within the IDF’s Gaza Division that operated heavy engineering machinery in the Strip, a role that authorized him to escort convoys of equipment into Gaza.

According to the charges, both Zini and Ben David received NIS 15,000 ($4,800) each for their participation. Prosecutors said Menachem Abutbul, who was indicted on Wednesday, transferred the contraband near Kibbutz Sufa into Zini’s vehicle, after which Zini and Ben David drove into Gaza and unloaded the goods.

Authorities said an additional 13 suspects are expected to face indictments in the coming days.

Investigators allege the smuggling ring brought a wide range of items into Gaza, including cigarettes, iPhones, batteries, telecommunications cables and vehicle parts, with a combined value running into the millions of shekels. Some of the items are categorized as “dual-use,” meaning they could be repurposed by Hamas for terror-related activities.

David Zini, the Shin Bet chief, is not suspected of any involvement in the affair. The investigation is being handled by the Israel Police rather than the Shin Bet because of the familial connection to one of the suspects.

During the war, Israel prohibited the entry of cigarettes and other tobacco products into Gaza, citing concerns that smuggled goods command high prices on the black market and generate significant tax revenue for Hamas.

In indictments filed Wednesday against other alleged participants, prosecutors said the defendants acted “to smuggle prohibited goods into the Strip in a systematic and sophisticated manner, exploiting vulnerabilities at crossing points and military activity in the area, while presenting false representations of entry into the Strip as part of legitimate security activity.”

“Smuggling constitutes a significant threat to the security of the State of Israel, as it assists Hamas’s survival and governance,” the Shin Bet said. “It also poses a threat stemming from the possibility of using smuggling routes as a platform to advance offensive military activity in Israel and against our forces in the Gaza Strip.”

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu used a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Thursday to again reject personal responsibility for the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, arguing that the intelligence he received did not point to an impending invasion and that earlier efforts to deter Hamas were blocked by senior defense officials.

Leaks from the meeting to Hebrew-language media said Netanyahu told lawmakers that although “there was a serious intelligence failure” ahead of the attack, “there was no treason.”

When questioned by a committee member about allegations of treason — including claims circulated publicly by Netanyahu’s son, Yair — the prime minister said his aim was to clear away the “cloud of treason” hanging over the events of October 7.

During the discussion, Netanyahu also reportedly accused former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of falsifying the protocol of a meeting held early on the morning of October 7, shortly before the Hamas assault that sparked two years of fighting in Gaza.

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu said that no one at the time believed Hamas was about to launch an attack that day.

The prime minister pointed to a series of conversations with senior figures, including Bar, former defense minister Benny Gantz and former prime minister Naftali Bennett, which he said demonstrated that they, too, believed Hamas was deterred. Reports did not specify when those discussions took place.

Netanyahu further claimed that he sought to assassinate Hamas leaders in 2014 but was blocked by the security establishment. Channel 12 reported last week, however, that Netanyahu rejected 11 opportunities to kill Gaza Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the months preceding October 7.

Netanyahu also told committee members that Bar altered a document from the early hours of October 7 by adding language stating that he had instructed that the prime minister be updated. Bar resigned last year after Netanyahu moved to dismiss him in a dispute that ultimately reached the High Court of Justice.

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu alleged that Bar retroactively changed a clause in the protocol of a Shin Bet meeting held early that morning, before the Hamas invasion, inserting wording indicating that Netanyahu was to be informed of developments. Channel 12 reported, however, that the meeting minutes were entered into Shin Bet systems at 6:06 a.m. with the instruction included, and that Netanyahu’s military secretary was updated by the Shin Bet chief’s bureau chief at 6:13 a.m. — about 16 minutes before Hamas-led terrorists breached the border.

Official minutes from Thursday’s session released by the Knesset Spokesman’s Office said Netanyahu presented lawmakers with materials he had previously submitted to the State Comptroller regarding the period leading up to October 7.

In December, the High Court of Justice ordered the comptroller to suspend his October 7 investigation following petitions arguing that the probe was fundamentally flawed, could compromise evidence and investigative procedures, and that only a state commission of inquiry was suitable to examine the disaster.

The Knesset spokesman said Netanyahu attended the five-hour closed meeting and “responded at length to committee members’ questions,” with the discussion centering on the comptroller’s now-halted investigation.

According to the spokesman, Netanyahu presented “materials relating to the question of when Hamas decided to turn the idea of an attack into an operational plan, and whether internal divisions within Israel were connected to that decision.”

Netanyahu described the High Court’s decision to freeze the comptroller’s investigation just six days after his own testimony as having “unusual timing,” the Knesset spokesman said.

“After two years in which the media has been rewriting history in real time, the prime minister came to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and set the historical record,” said committee chairman Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, a close ally of Netanyahu. “Sometimes the truth is also an option. The question that should concern every household in Israel is why the High Court of Justice halted the state comptroller’s review process.”

Members of the opposition Yesh Atid party walked out of the meeting in protest, with the faction posting on X that it would “not participate in this media circus, which is intended to evade responsibility and turn the committee into an empty PR show.”

“Netanyahu arrived with pre-prepared messages from his office in a desperate attempt to engineer public perception and rewrite history, but no spin will blur the failure: 2,000 Israelis murdered, communities conquered, children burned, and citizens kidnapped on his watch,” the party said. “The faction members will continue to fight against his failed government so that such a debacle never happens again.”

Yesh Atid MK Moshe Tur-Paz wrote on X that Netanyahu had told the committee two months before October 7 that “Hamas is deterred.”

Opposition figures Benny Gantz, Avigdor Liberman and Gadi Eisenkot all sharply criticized Netanyahu on Thursday, accusing him of trying to absolve himself of responsibility for the most severe intelligence and strategic failure in Israel’s history.

Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff and defense minister, wrote on X that in 2014, “when I presented the option of conquering Gaza,” Netanyahu leaked the proposal to the media “to frighten the public.”

“When I proposed taking control of the Netzarim Corridor — you were afraid,” Gantz added, referring to the strip dividing the Gaza Strip. “When I spoke about replacing Hamas, you preferred separation and leaving ‘Hamas deterred and weakened.’”

Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of having a “selective memory” regarding the period before and after October 7.

“In October 2023, we voted together on the decision to destroy Hamas’s rule,” Eisenkot wrote Thursday. “I left the cabinet in June 2024 because you refused to advance its destruction. You are still failing at this task. You are running away.”

Liberman said Netanyahu’s claim that no one anticipated the October 7 attack was false, stating that “as defense minister, in December 2016, I personally handed him a severe warning document that described exactly the scenario that ultimately occurred.”

“He received it, he knew — and he chose to ignore it,” Liberman said. “Unfortunately, Netanyahu is once again fleeing from the truth.”

{Matzav.com}

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday endorsed Gov. Kathy Hochul for another term, giving the governor support from a prominent progressive figure as she confronts a primary challenge from the left in her race for a second full term.

Writing in an op-ed published by The Nation, Mamdani, a Democrat, acknowledged his disagreements with Hochul but said he has “come to trust Governor Hochul as someone willing to engage in an honest dialogue that leads to results.”

The endorsement underscores an unlikely partnership between two Democrats who represent different wings of the party, with Mamdani a young democratic socialist who campaigned on sweeping change and Hochul a centrist, self-described “mom governor” from Buffalo.

Hochul had previously backed Mamdani in his mayoral run, providing him with establishment support, and the two have aligned on issues such as affordability and child care. At the same time, the governor has distanced herself from parts of Mamdani’s platform, including his push to raise taxes on the wealthy, casting herself as a moderating influence on his new administration.

In a statement responding to the endorsement, Hochul thanked Mamdani for his cooperation, saying, “I know that he’ll stand strong alongside me as we fight against Donald Trump’s attacks on this state.”

Mamdani’s support could help Hochul blunt criticism from the left ahead of the June Democratic primary. Her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, is challenging her with a progressive campaign that mirrors Mamdani’s approach and seeks to channel the energy that helped propel the mayor to office and national attention.

Following Mamdani’s endorsement, Delgado issued a statement accusing Hochul of falling short on key commitments, saying she “has broken a lot of promises” and has not embraced tax hikes on the wealthy or other progressive priorities. He added that he is the “partner for any leader who also values these critical measures.”

Republicans and other critics on the right are expected to use the endorsement to argue that Democrats have veered too far left. Bruce Blakeman, a Long Island county official running for governor, has already signaled that line of attack.

“New Yorkers who want a check on Mamdani and Hochul’s radicalism have one choice: elect Bruce Blakeman Governor in November and vote Republican at all levels of government,” said David Laska, a spokesperson for the NYGOP.

Hochul previously served as lieutenant governor under Andrew Cuomo and stepped into the governor’s office in 2021 after Cuomo resigned amid multiple sexual harassment allegations and the near certainty of impeachment. She went on to become the first woman elected governor of New York the following year, defeating Lee Zeldin, now the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in a closely fought contest that tightened as Zeldin focused on public safety issues.

{Matzav.com}

Ukraine and Russia agreed to exchange prisoners as the warring parties pressed ahead with “detailed and productive” negotiations to end the four-year conflict, according to President Donald Trump’s special envoy.

The two sides will swap 314 prisoners in the first such exchange in five months, Steve Witkoff said in a post on platform X on Thursday. He cited progress in three-way discussions in Abu Dhabi, with results expected “in the coming weeks.”

“This outcome was achieved from peace talks that have been detailed and productive,” Witkoff, who was joined in the United Arab Emirates by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, said. “While significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangible results and advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this week called the negotiating round a test of the Kremlin’s commitment to the process after Russian forces unleashed the biggest missile-and-drone attack on Kyiv this year, plunging the capital further into darkness.

The assaults on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have left large swathes of the country without heating, power and water as temperatures fell to -25C (-13F) this week.

The head of Ukraine’s delegation, national security chief Rustem Umerov, called the talks in Abu Dhabi “meaningful and productive” late Wednesday. Discussions were ongoing as of noon Thursday, according to an Umerov aide.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said the discussions had not yet yielded a conclusion.

Negotiations zeroed in on the issue that’s proved the most implacable in the talks: territory. Russia has insisted on seizing control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, including parts that its forces have failed to take since fighting there began in 2014.

(c) 2026, Bloomberg · Daryna Krasnolutska 

Iran’s Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian government, reported that the Khorramshahr-4 missile has been stationed for the first time inside underground IRGC installations known in Iran as “missile cities.” The report described the move as a significant step aimed at boosting the effectiveness and preparedness of Iran’s ballistic missile forces, noting that the missile is among the most advanced and powerful in the country’s inventory.

Fars claimed the missile is capable of reaching speeds of up to 16 times the speed of sound, translating to tens of thousands of kilometers per hour outside the atmosphere and roughly Mach 8 while flying within it. Based on those figures, the agency said the missile’s flight time to targets in Israel would be approximately 10 to 12 minutes after launch.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2019414551402631402

The Khorramshahr-4, which was first publicly unveiled in May 2023 and is also referred to as “Kheiber,” is categorized as a medium-range ballistic missile. Open-source assessments describe it as a single-stage, liquid-fueled system with a declared operational range of about 2,000 kilometers, putting much of the Middle East within its reach.

According to the report, the missile is also designed to carry a particularly heavy payload, with estimates placing the warhead weight between 1.5 and 1.8 tons.

The decision to house the missile in fortified underground complexes is intended to provide the Revolutionary Guards with a “second strike” capability and improve survivability should Iran’s nuclear or missile infrastructure come under a preemptive attack.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu briefed the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee behind closed doors on Thursday on security and diplomatic matters, but the discussion quickly devolved into a tense showdown with opposition lawmakers.

In the course of the session, Netanyahu disclosed that at 5:15 a.m. on October 7, 2023, the Shin Bet (ISA) circulated a formal document summarizing all alerts received overnight from the Gaza Strip. He said the paper did not reach his office until 9:47 a.m., more than four hours after it had been issued.

Netanyahu asserted that the original version of the document contained no directive to notify the Prime Minister. He said that only in more recent Shin Bet submissions did an instruction to inform him suddenly appear, alleging that the agency retroactively inserted that directive. The document bears the signature of then–Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

The Prime Minister added that he forwarded these findings to State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman as part of the ongoing probes into the October 7 events, saying Englman was “amazed” by what he saw. Members of the committee were also described as reacting with disbelief.

Earlier in the briefing, Netanyahu read aloud excerpts from previous Cabinet meeting protocols and argued that former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had repeatedly prevented large-scale operations in the Gaza Strip.

“Bennett always opposed the occupation of Gaza,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying as he cited the protocols.

The atmosphere deteriorated further when several opposition lawmakers walked out of the meeting, voicing sharp criticism. “Is this why we came to the session? To hear Bibi reading us protocols from the Cabinet against Bennett, [Gadi] Eisenkot, and [Benny] Gantz?”

“Does he think we’re stupid? They didn’t even let us ask a single question.”

{Matzav.com}

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday was presented with a draft provisional constitution for the proposed “State of Palestine,” a move that advances the Palestinian leadership’s ongoing campaign to lay the groundwork for independent statehood.

The effort traces back to August, when Abbas approved the creation of a panel of legal and policy experts charged with drafting a constitutional framework. The proposed document is designed to serve as the legal foundation for a transition from the existing Palestinian Authority to the institutions of a sovereign state.

Those involved in drafting the text say it is rooted in the 1988 Palestinian declaration of independence and sets out core principles such as the right of return, commitment to international law, United Nations resolutions, global human rights conventions, and agreements concluded by the Palestine Liberation Organization or under the banner of the “State of Palestine.”

In the written authorization launching the initiative, Abbas said the provisional constitution is intended to anchor a democratic system based on the rule of law, a clear separation of powers, and safeguards for civil rights and personal freedoms.

Upon receiving the draft, Abbas proclaimed 2026 the “Year of Democracy,” outlining plans for a broad slate of elections throughout the year. These would include voting for the Palestinian National Council both within the Palestinian territories and among Palestinians abroad, local municipal elections, and the convening of the eighth congress of the Fatah movement.

Abbas instructed that the draft constitution first be distributed to members of the PLO Executive Committee for examination. After that review, the document will be released publicly to invite feedback and suggested revisions.

Officials say the push to advance a constitutional framework comes amid mounting international pressure on the Palestinian Authority. The United States and several European governments have urged sweeping institutional reforms, linking them to any future role the Authority might play in governing the Gaza Strip and in shaping political arrangements after the war concludes.

Nearly two decades after a deadly terrorist attack in Nachal Telem, a military court in Judea on Thursday imposed three life sentences on terrorist Ali Dandis, bringing a measure of judicial closure to a case that has haunted the families of the victims for 19 years. Alongside the prison terms, the court ordered Dandis to pay an unprecedented 5.2 million shekels in compensation to the families of slain soldiers David Rubin and Achikam Amichai.

The ruling stems from a 2007 attack in which Rubin and Amichai, both off-duty IDF soldiers, were hiking in Nachal Telem in Judea when they were ambushed. The assault was carried out by a terrorist cell composed of members of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, according to the indictment.

During the exchange of gunfire at the scene, one of the terrorists was killed, while Dandis and another accomplice managed to flee. The two later surrendered to the Palestinian Authority, where they were placed in what was described as “protective custody.”

Court documents revealed that this arrangement did not halt Dandis’s activities. Even while incarcerated in a Palestinian Authority prison, he continued to direct terrorist cells, procure weapons, and orchestrate additional attacks, including a shooting at a bus in the Hebron Hills, all while supposedly under official supervision.

Dandis remained beyond Israel’s reach for years and was apprehended only about a year ago, after leaving the PA facility, in a coordinated operation involving the Shin Bet, the Yamam, and the Israel Defense Forces. The court adopted the prosecution’s arguments in full, citing both the double murder and Dandis’s ongoing terror activity over two decades in handing down the severe sentence.

Attorney Chaim Bleicher of the Honenu organization, which represents and supports the bereaved families, responded sharply to the verdict: “Despite the verdict, the circle has not yet closed. There is another terrorist still in ‘protective custody’ under the Palestinian Authority who has yet to face justice. While the punishment of the terrorist is necessary, it is not enough to eradicate terrorism. The State of Israel must dry up the terrorist breeding ground – the Palestinian Authority, which continues to encourage terrorism, pay salaries to terrorists, and educate for terror. We await the day when the State of Israel will hold accountable and eliminate all terrorists and their handlers.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is pressing city prosecutors to abandon attempted murder charges against a man who was shot by police after allegedly advancing toward officers with a knife during what relatives describe as a severe mental health episode.

The incident unfolded on January 26 in a Queens residence, according to body camera footage released by the New York Police Department. Officers were dispatched following a 911 call from family members who said 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty was in the midst of a psychiatric emergency and needed to be taken to a medical facility. During the call, a relative reported that Chakraborty had thrown a glass against a wall. When police arrived, they were allowed inside by a woman at the door, at which point Chakraborty appeared behind her holding a large kitchen knife. As the woman extended her arm in front of him, officers drew their weapons and issued commands.

Video from the encounter shows officers shutting the front door, placing it between themselves and Chakraborty. Despite the barrier, authorities say Chakraborty continued to press forward and attempt to push through the door, leading one of the officers to fire four shots.

Chakraborty was rushed to a hospital and remains in intensive care, where he is listed in stable but critical condition.

In the aftermath, the Queens District Attorney’s Office moved to pursue criminal charges against Chakraborty, who family members say has schizophrenia. Relatives have objected strongly, insisting they called for medical help, not law enforcement action, and arguing that police responses intensified an already fragile situation.

“Rather than de-escalate the situation, the officer instead further escalated by drawing his gun and yelling orders at Jabez,” the family wrote. “Within a minute of NYPD’s arrival, Jabez was shot multiple times and almost killed, while he was calmly eating food just minutes earlier.”

Mamdani, who centered his mayoral campaign on reforming how the city handles mental health emergencies, echoed the family’s objections and said prosecution is not the appropriate response in this case.

“In viewing this footage, it is clear to me that what Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution from a district attorney, and we are talking about a family that is enduring the kind of pain that no family should and an individual that has lived with schizophrenia for many years,” Mamdani said.

“A person experiencing a mental health episode does not always have to be served first or exclusively by a police officer. It is important for us to have all of the options available,” Mamdani continued.

{Matzav.com}

1[Video below.] The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday sharply criticized comments made by Dr. Mehmet Oz in a recent interview, accusing him of promoting harmful stereotypes about Hasidic Jews and warning that such language can worsen the current climate of antisemitism. The organization circulated excerpts from a two-week-old appearance Oz made on Epoch Times’ “American Thought Leaders,” saying the remarks risk fueling discrimination.

The comments came as Oz, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, was speaking about investigations into healthcare fraud in Minnesota. In trying to show that fraud cases are not confined to a single state, Oz referenced the Hasidic community in New York in a manner the ADL said unfairly cast them in a negative light, suggesting they were “foreign, criminal, or ‘not real Americans.’”

“Casting Hasidic Jews as foreign, criminal, or ‘not real Americans’ is straight out of the antisemitic playbook,” the ADL wrote on X. “This kind of rhetoric fuels harmful stereotypes and discrimination. Falsely blaming New York’s Hasidic population directly contributes to the climate in which the city just reported a 182 % year-over-year spike in antisemitic hate crimes in January. Words matter, and public officials must do better.”

Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, a former Republican Senate nominee in Pennsylvania, and a self-described secular Muslim, has taken on a more visible role in public policy discussions in recent years. Advocacy groups said that while he appeared to be drawing comparisons between states, his choice to single out New York’s Hasidic community drew particular concern.

Civil rights advocates have long warned that comments made by prominent figures about minority groups can shape public attitudes and, in some cases, contribute to discrimination or violence. The ADL said its response reflects broader concerns that even remarks made weeks earlier can take on renewed significance as antisemitic incidents continue to rise across the country.

WATCH:

Casting Hasidic Jews as foreign, criminal, or “not real Americans” is straight out of the antisemitic playbook. This kind of rhetoric fuels harmful stereotypes and discrimination. Falsely blaming New York’s Hasidic population directly contributes to the climate in which the city… pic.twitter.com/pD0t1bWRSN

— ADL (@ADL) February 5, 2026

Veteran composer Rav Hillel Paley delivered a sharp and emotional critique of contemporary wedding music in a rare radio interview, warning that celebrations in the frum community have veered far from their spiritual roots and, in many cases, have become deeply inappropriate.

Speaking with Reb Menachem Stein on the Sichat HaYom program on Israel’s Kol Chai Radio, Rav Paley said that weddings today often resemble “a disco of chaos,” arguing that much of the current music has lost any connection to Yiddishkeit or kedusha. “A wedding has become a nightmare,” he said. “People are just waiting for the music to stop so they can escape and go home.”

Rav Paley sharply criticized what he described as shallow hit songs that take pesukim from sacred texts and turn them into mockery. He said he is disturbed by scenes in which yeshiva bochurim remove their jackets and yarmulkas and engage in frenzied dancing that runs completely counter to the values they are supposed to represent. “This music is a desecration,” he said. “It would be better to sing about oranges than to turn holy pesukim into a joke.” He added that even in the broader public, many people prefer authentic Jewish melodies over what he called cheap imitations.

During the broadcast, Rabbi Stein cited guidance from Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, who advised bochurim to study mussar works for a few minutes before attending a wedding in order to remember their purpose and responsibility. Addressing drunkenness and unruly behavior on the dance floor, Rav Hirsch was quoted as saying, “A ben Torah must remember who he is and not behave like a wild, uncivilized person at a wedding celebration.”

Rabbi Stein reinforced Rav Paley’s message, noting that some roshei yeshiva refuse to enter wedding halls until what he termed “the wild singer” is removed from the stage. Together, they decried a situation in which parents spend enormous sums of money only to see their children’s weddings turned into what they called a circus. “Parents are paying a fortune so that someone can ruin the wedding and middlemen can take over the event,” they said, urging families to take responsibility and demand music that is appropriate, dignified, and worthy of the occasion.

In closing, Rav Paley issued a direct appeal to yeshiva students, calling on them to recognize their own value and stop chasing cheap trends that embarrass the Torah world. “When we truly understand our worth and the holiness of marriage,” he said, “this kind of music will naturally lose its appeal, and souls will once again know how to rejoice in a genuine way.”

Arad Mayor Yair Maayan ignited a major political and communal storm in a blunt radio interview in which he said the city has no interest in welcoming additional chassidic groups beyond the existing Gerer community, while also exposing what he described as severe anti-chareidi hostility within the city.

Speaking on the Bonim Atid program on Kol Chai Radio with hosts Chanoch Rapoport and Yisrael Melman, Maayan addressed Arad’s rapid development, tensions between different populations, and his long-term vision for the city. During the interview, he recounted disturbing incidents of hatred directed at chareidim. “Today someone sent me a message saying there are cockroaches everywhere,” he said. “I asked, where? He told me, no, I’m calling the religious people cockroaches. That’s horrific antisemitism. It’s a disgrace and a shame.”

Maayan, who was elected about two years ago, said he deliberately changed the city’s approach toward the Gerer community, the largest and most established chassidic group in Arad. He sharply criticized previous municipal leadership, accusing them of racism and illegal discrimination. “The prior administration acted with racism and unlawful discrimination and diverted funds away from chareidi education,” he charged. To address housing needs and reduce friction in mixed neighborhoods, Maayan announced plans for a new chareidi neighborhood comprising roughly 2,000 housing units.

Addressing claims surrounding a recent land tender won by developers identified with Ger, Maayan rejected allegations of improper coordination. “I assume that in the chassidus, many miracles happen,” he said sarcastically. “So it turned out that no one competed with anyone else over the same plot.”

Asked whether Arad plans to open its doors to additional chareidi communities, Maayan delivered his most controversial statement of the interview. “Here in Arad, we’re satisfied with Ger,” he said. “We don’t want any other chassidic groups here. Other communities should go to Kesif.”

Beyond the chareidi issue, Maayan outlined an ambitious plan to double Arad’s population to 50,000 residents within five years through large-scale residential construction involving thousands of housing units. He also announced plans for an advanced medical center in the city and said the government is expected to approve the construction of a new airport in the Negev region near Beit Kama as early as Sunday.

Maayan concluded the interview with a sharp message aimed at residents he accused of inciting hatred against chareidim. “People like that — antisemites — don’t belong living in the Land of Israel at all,” he said. “We hope their hatred will push them to leave the city and the country.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump used his address at the 74th National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning to argue that his presidency has strengthened religion’s role in American public life, telling attendees that no previous president has done more for people of faith. Speaking to a packed audience at the Washington Hilton, Trump praised religious freedom, highlighted policy achievements, and accused Democrats of pushing faith to the margins.

Calling the event a cherished national custom, Trump told the crowd, “This is a beautiful American tradition, and it’s a true honor to be back,” noting that he has participated in the breakfast nearly every year.

He described the gathering as a rare pause from the demands of office, saying it offers a moment to reflect amid constant pressure, and quipped that he needs “all the help I can get.”

In remarks broadcast live on Newsmax, Trump declared that religion in the United States is experiencing a resurgence, saying it is “back now, hotter than ever before,” and credited his administration’s policies with bringing faith back into the public square.

While conceding personal imperfections, Trump said his record shows tangible achievements for religious Americans after what he described as years of being overlooked.

“I’ve done more for religion than any other president,” Trump said, arguing that many modern presidents have effectively “bailed out” on faith, opting for neutrality or even opposition.

He went further in his criticism of the opposition party, stating bluntly, “The Democrats are against [religion],” and questioned how “a person of faith can vote for a Democrat.”

As an example, Trump pointed to voter ID laws, which he said enjoy overwhelming support among Americans of all backgrounds, including religious voters.

Referring to polling data, he said support for such laws exceeds 90 percent and framed the requirement as basic common sense.

“When you go to the polls, you show who you are,” Trump said.

“They don’t want to approve it. Everyone’s trying to figure out why.”

He accused Democrats of blocking voter ID measures for political reasons, despite broad public backing.

Trump also used the speech to praise congressional Republicans, singling out House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and GOP lawmakers for pushing conservative goals through a closely divided Congress.

Joking about placing late-night calls to persuade hesitant members, Trump said Republicans eventually come together and “always get there.”

Turning briefly to other topics, Trump cited achievements beyond religious policy, including rebuilding the military, expanding domestic energy production, and restoring American influence abroad.

He described the current economic climate as one of historic investment and momentum, calling it a “tremendous success.”

In closing, Trump thanked the bipartisan leaders of the National Prayer Breakfast and stressed the importance of keeping faith central to the nation’s character.

“We have a great country,” he said. “And when you put religion back where it belongs, everything else gets stronger.”

The National Prayer Breakfast, an annual Washington tradition, brings together elected officials, religious leaders, and public figures for reflection and prayer—an event Trump said continues to play a vital role in the country’s future.

{Matzav.com}

A Jewish woman who, as a young girl, refused to present flowers to Adolf Hitler during the opening ceremony of the Berlin Olympics has passed away at the age of 102. Mrs. Yocheved Gold a”h, sister of two prominent rabbonim from the Neuwirth family, passed away after a life that spanned Nazi Germany, the Holocaust era, and the entire history of the State of Israel.

Yocheved was 13 years old when she entered Berlin’s Olympic Stadium in August 1936 to watch the opening ceremony of the Games. Because she looked German, she was asked to join a group of children selected to hand flowers to Hitler, who had been appointed chancellor of Germany three years earlier. She refused.

“I saw him face to face and I was a little afraid,” she later recalled. “That I, a Jew, should give Hitler flowers? I refused.”

By the time of the 1936 Olympics, Germany under Hitler had already enacted sweeping legal discrimination against Jews, effectively pushing them out of public life. The passage of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935 stripped Jews of German citizenship, barred them from most professions, and isolated them socially and economically.

Yocheved was born in 1923 in the town of Halberstadt in central Germany. Her father, Rabbi Dr. Aharon Neuwirth, served as a rov and dayan in several communities, including Mainz, Halberstadt, Berlin, and Amsterdam. Her mother was Mrs. Sara Chaya Neuwirth.

In 1938, when Yocheved was about 15, she witnessed the destruction of shuls during Kristallnacht. A year later, at the age of 16, she fled to Haifa in Mandatory Palestine, leaving her parents behind in Europe.

She managed to maintain correspondence with her parents until the final year of World War II, when their letters suddenly stopped. “I was sure they had been killed,” she later said. Unexpectedly, her parents survived the war and the Holocaust.

According to Yocheved’s own testimony in interviews and accounts recorded in the sefer Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasa, written by her brother Hagaon Rav Yehoshua Neuwirth, her parents were saved through a series of extraordinary events. One such incident occurred when her father went to a pharmacy for treatment. Because it was Shabbos, he refrained from taking the medication that night. The substance later turned out to be rat poison.

Rav Yehoshua Neuwirth, who headed Yeshivas Chochmat Shlomo, was niftar in 2013. He was widely known as the author of the aformentioned Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah, a foundational and widely used work on the halachos of Shabbos.

Another brother, Rav Reuven Yosef Raphael Neuwirth, was renowned for running one of the most prominent free-loan funds in the chareidi world. He passed away nine months ago at the age of 94.

Yocheved spent the rest of her life in Israel. She was among the founding members of Kibbutz Sa’ad, located near the Gaza border. In 1942, she married Shmuel Gold, one of the kibbutz’s founders. He died in 1961 at the age of 40.

Over the course of decades, Yocheved worked in a wide range of administrative and organizational roles at the kibbutz. She was eventually appointed as the kibbutz nurse, despite lacking formal medical training, and held the position for approximately 40 years before retiring at age 69.

Remarkably, she lived through every major war fought by Israel since its founding, including the War of Independence and later conflicts in Gaza. On October 7, 2023, she spent 30 hours in a fortified safe room with her son during the Hamas attack. She was later evacuated to a hotel near the Dead Sea but insisted on returning home.

“I’m not willing to die in a hotel,” she told her family. “Take me back home. If I die, I will die there.”

She returned to Kibbutz Sa’ad at the age of 100. She passed away at 102, leaving behind children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

Yehi zichrah boruch.

{Matzav.com}

[COMMUNICATED]

Three kedoshei elyon had one common concept when it came to learning Torah – they were the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh (Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar 1696-1743) when he came to Eretz Yisroel; the Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto 1707-1746) when he lived in Padua, Italy;  and Hagaon, Harav Chaim Volozhiner, (1749-1821) the famous talmid of the Gaon of Vilna.

They each had a yeshiva with ‘around-the-clock’ Torah learning, 24-hours a day, so that there would be no minute when the sound of Torah learning would not be heard in this world. The 24-hour period would be divided into shifts, and as one ended the next would begin.

Torah-24

A “Torah-24” Center has been opened in Yerushalayim and the Nasi is Maran Sar Hatorah, Harav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l.

Under ONE ROOF, from 6:00 am – 6:00 am, 10 kollelim fill successive learning shifts. Each kollel focuses on a specific area of in-depth Torah study. The “Torah-24” Kollelim include: Boker (Gemora), Yerushalmi, Bavli, Zeraim-Taharot, Dalet Chelkei Shulchan Aruch, Erev (Gemora), Chatzos- Zohar/Kabbolah, Erev Shabbos (Chumash / Medrash b’iyun). 

Already there are 52 avreichim metzuyonim, and a large number of candidates are vying for the remaining slots in the kollelim. All the avreichim are required to take rigorous monthly tests.

Endorsements & Letters

Endorsements include Maranan Hagaonim shlit”a: Harav Gershon Edelstein, Harav Berel Povarsky, Harav Shimon Badani, Harav Dovid Cohen, Harav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi, Harav Chaim Feinstein, Harav Shimon Galai, Harav Shraga Shteinman.

Letters of support-encouragement have been received from Maranan Hagaonim, shlit”a: Hamekubal Harav David Bazri, Hamashpia Hagadol Reb Elimelech Biderman, Hamekubal Harav Yaakov Meir Schechter, Harav Moishe Sternbuch, Harav Yitzchak Tuvia Weiss.

For more “Torah-24” information click on: www.torah-24.com or call 718-766-5022