Matzav

LONDON – The president was fine with it a year ago. Now it’s “GREAT STUPIDITY.”

President Donald Trump told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in February that he was on board with a deal the United Kingdom had reached with the island nation of Mauritius over ownership of the Chagos Archipelago, a remote string of atolls in the Indian Ocean, including Diego Garcia – home to a base for U.S. bomber aircraft.

“I have a feeling it is going to work out very well,” Trump said to cameras in an amicable Oval Office meeting with Starmer. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the “historic” agreement.

On Tuesday, however, Trump seized on the deal to justify his effort to seize Greenland, describing the U.K. agreement as a disqualifying example of international idiocy.

Trump’s quest for Greenland, the vast Arctic territory long controlled by Denmark, a NATO ally, has become a bitter, high-stakes transatlantic contretemps, surging from fringe strategic fancy to a Category 5 geopolitical hurricane.

With Trump displaying aggressive territorial ambitions, he highlighted the Chagos Islands agreement – which grants the nation of Mauritius sovereignty over the contested archipelago but guarantees Britain and the United States a 99-year lock on a joint air base there – as a contemptible example of “total weakness.”

“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius,” Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday. “The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”

Trump’s sharp reversal and astonishing rebuke of the U.K., which is often described as America’s closest ally, managed to stupefy British officials who are mostly numbed to serial shocks from this White House.

Trump’s expansionist moves – from taking “control” of Venezuela to risking the transatlantic alliance in his grab for Greenland – contrast sharply with Britain’s recent history of unwinding imperial legacies from Hong Kong to Africa.

“The contrast could not be more stark between the United Kingdom negotiating a deal to implement international law and President Trump being unable to understand why any country would comply with the law at the global level when it goes against its immediate interest,” said Marc Weller, a law professor at Cambridge University and head of international law at Chatham House, a foreign policy think tank.

“The United Kingdom has done its very best to absorb the many upsets in the relationship between London and Washington,” Weller said. “Now we have arrived at a breaking point. With the Greenland episode, the British government is slowly realizing that it needs to stand up for principles.”

The whiplash criticism, delivered as Trump prepared to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was all the more shocking given London’s assiduous work to preserve the “special relationship” through the tumultuous first year of Trump’s second presidency. This included inviting Trump for a historic second state visit with royal trappings.

“You can certainly say that no one saw this one coming,” said a person familiar with the deliberations in the Starmer government who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “Keir spent a lot of time getting buy-in from the Trump team [on the Chagos Islands agreement] and felt it was fairly settled.”

The timing is particularly awkward for Starmer, the Labour Party prime minister, who has made cultivating Trump a centerpiece of his foreign policy despite their ideological differences.

Starmer traveled to meet the president at Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland in July, enduring criticism for not forcefully condemning what critics called Trump’s authoritarian tendencies. Since then, Starmer has carefully calibrated his language on contentious issues including tariffs and Venezuela.

The prime minister has been more forceful on Greenland. Starmer’s office also pushed back Tuesday on Trump’s Chagos Islands blast, but cautiously and emphasizing Trump’s U-turn on the issue. Officials pointed out that Britain said publicly it would execute the agreement only with U.S. approval.

“Our position hasn’t changed on Diego Garcia or on the treaty that’s been signed,” a spokesman told the BBC. “The U.S. supports the deal, and the president explicitly recognized its strength last year.”

Privately, British and European diplomats said they hoped this was another example of Trump’s ferocious rhetoric being more spleen venting or negotiation framing than a lasting policy shift. Starmer had no plans to travel to Davos, where heads of state will be lining up to meet Trump, but the two will talk soon, the person familiar with government deliberations said.

“They talk often,” this person said. “That has been invaluable in the last year.”

Trump’s criticism, however, could mark a widening gap between a president eager to change the map in his favor and a weakening onetime colonizer now doubling down on international law.

London’s return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 was in fulfillment of treaty terms between the two countries. Government lawyers advised the past two U.K. governments that they were at risk of losing access to the Chagos Islands entirely by defying a growing international consensus against British control.

The Chagos Islands dispute dates to the final years of Britain’s empire. In 1965, as its colony of Mauritius moved toward independence, the U.K. carved off the Chagos to form the British Indian Ocean Territory, a move later judged unlawful.

Britain forcibly removed more than 1,000 residents to clear the way for a joint U.K.-U.S. military base on the southernmost island, Diego Garcia, which became a key U.S. strategic hub during the Cold War and after.

Mauritius challenged British control for decades. In 2019, the International Court of Justice ruled that the U.K.’s continued administration was illegal, and the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly backed Mauritius’s claim. The two countries reached an agreement in 2024 to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius while guaranteeing long-term U.K.-U.S. access to Diego Garcia under a lease extending into the next century.

Britain agreed to pay an average of a billion pounds a year for the lease (about $1.35 billion).

The negotiations were launched under then-Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who later served briefly as a Conservative prime minister. But her Tory party, along with hard-liners in Washington, have criticized the deal for possibly giving a foothold in the region to China, a key trading partner of Mauritius.

Many analysts say those fears are overblown, given the remoteness of the islands and the continued presence of the British and American militaries.

“I think it was the most strategically clever agreement Britain could have made,” said Darshana Baruah, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore. “It secures complete operational jurisdiction and continued operations in the same way things have been working for the next 99 years.”

Trump’s sudden fixation on big countries dominating weaker places, such as Greenland, where they have military facilities is a departure from international norms, Baruah said.

“There are many, many countries that have bases in other nations with just agreements in place,” she said. “This argument that you must have sovereignty to protect it is new.”

The immediate future of the Chagos deal remains uncertain. Starmer slowed final negotiations in January 2025 to await the Trump administration’s review, and the agreement still requires final parliamentary ratification. Supporters fear that Trump’s public opposition could provide cover for the British government to abandon the deal.

Doing so would probably expose Britain to international condemnation, undermine its claims to respect international law, and potentially intensify competing claims over other British territories, including with Argentina over the Falkland Islands and with Spain over Gibraltar. Buenos Aires has already cited Britain’s willingness to negotiate over Chagos as precedent for talks on the Falklands.

The Chagos episode also puts pressure on Britain to choose between alignment with the U.S. and closer integration with Europe – a choice Starmer has sought to avoid.

The prime minister has pursued a post-Brexit “reset” with the European Union while maintaining that the U.S. relationship remains paramount. But as Trump’s territorial ambitions grow and his attacks on European allies multiply, that balancing act is growing more precarious.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), visiting London, sought to provide reassurance, telling GB News that the U.S.-U.K. special relationship is “critically important, not just for our countries, but, of course, for the entire world.”

But Johnson, along with the Congress he helps lead, may wield no influence over Trump’s territorial appetites.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post · Steve Hendrix 

{Matzav.com}

Stocks took a beating Tuesday as renewed trade tensions spilled into global markets.

The sell-off accelerated as the day progressed, with the S&P 500 index down 1.9 percent as of midafternoon. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index had shed 2.1 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average had tumbled 830 points, or 1.6 percent.

The trade-induced volatility, following months of relative calm, came after President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on countries that oppose U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland. As global leaders met in Davos, Switzerland, Trump unleashed early-morning social media posts and threatened a steep tariff on French wine and champagne, adding to broader concerns about his demand for U.S. control of the Danish territory.

“The fear trade is absolutely on right now,” said D.C.-based investment analyst Michael Farr, calling the White House’s pressure on Greenland “unprecedented.”

The Cboe Volatility Index, known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” surged 26 percent. The dollar lost nearly 1 percent, and Treasury bond prices dropped – signs of decreased confidence in U.S. markets.

Meanwhile, investors sought refuge in gold, a safe-haven asset, which jumped 3.6 percent to roughly $4,760 per troy ounce. Meanwhile silver soared 8 percent to a record high, then retreated; as of midafternoon it was trading near $94, up 6.6 percent.

International markets suffered, too. European stocks sank, with indexes tied to Britain, Germany and France each falling between 1 and 2 percent before recovering somewhat.

The downturn in European stocks comes after Trump threatened over the weekend to impose 25 percent tariffs on eight European nations including Denmark, Norway, Germany and Britain unless they acquiesce to his demand that the U.S. acquire Greenland.

On Monday night, Trump sounded off on social media. He bashed Britain for handing over sovereignty of the island of Diego Garcia, the site of a U.S. military base and the largest of the Chagos Islands. Britain in 2024 said it would cede sovereignty over the archipelago to Mauritius, with the U.S. and Britain retaining operational control of the base.

On Monday evening, he also threatened France with 200 percent tariffs on wine and champagne after French President Emmanuel Macron declined to join Trump’s “Board of Peace” initiative concerning Israel and Gaza.

Although the timeline for these tariffs is unclear, several European winemakers sold off. LVMH, the Paris-based luxury goods conglomerate that owns Hennessy, Dom Pérignon and Moët & Chandon, sank more than 5 percent Tuesday. The liquor and wine purveyor Rémy Cointreau lost roughly 4 percent.

It remains to be seen how Europe will respond, and what that will mean for U.S. markets and the economy. Chief among investors’ fears is a European Union policy known as the Anti-Coercion Instrument – also called Europe’s “bazooka” – that would impose a 30 percent tariff on exports to the United States.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brushed off those concerns in a television interview Tuesday.

“Well, having worked with the Europeans, my guess is their next move will be to form a working group. The dreaded European working group,” Bessent said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Markets were unsettled in Asia, too, as Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 1.1 percent and bond prices dropped there.

China’s stocks largely held up as trade tensions focused on Europe; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which tracks a number of companies on the Chinese mainland, had fallen by a meager 0.3 percent by midmorning Tuesday.

Analysts gave a mixed outlook for markets in 2026, with tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty competing with factors such as lower interest rates that could prop up stocks.

Comerica Wealth Management chief investment officer Eric Teal said he sees more storm clouds on the horizon for U.S. stocks, especially given how high stock valuations were at the end of 2025. Markets in 2026 have already been disrupted by geopolitical disturbances, once again calling into question where the effective tariff rate will fall, while the closely watched midterm elections could also bring uncertainty.

None of those factors “bode particularly well for robust market gains,” Teal said in a note to investors, as he recommended that investors diversify their holdings and “play defense.”

Still others believe that trade tensions could settle down. Trading volatility remains far lower than it was last April, when the Trump administration squared off in a trade dispute with China. And the Supreme Court is still considering whether the administration’s “reciprocal” tariffs are legal, a decision that could refund billions to U.S. companies depending on the outcome.

Some investors have grown accustomed to tariff-related uncertainty over the past year.

“Since April 2025, we have seen repeated tariff threats and counter-threats that ultimately have proven to be the opening bids in negotiations that have brought compromise,” said Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo.

The tech sector, whose speculative investment timelines mean it tends to fare the worst in a sell-off, could also offset losses in other areas. Wedbush managing director Dan Ives, a longtime booster of tech stocks, said he believes last year’s artificial-intelligence-driven rally could continue to buoy markets, with Tuesday’s slump representing a buying opportunity.

“Our view is, just like over the last year, the bark will be worse than the bite on this issue and tariff threats as negotiations take place and tensions ultimately calm down between Trump and EU leaders,” Ives said in an email.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

{Matzav.com}

A frightening antisemitic attack nearly ended in tragedy when a group of frum teenage boys in Melbourne were chased by a vehicle whose occupants attempted to ram them, screaming Nazi slurs and threats, in an incident that left the local Jewish community deeply shaken.

The episode unfolded yesterday in the St. Kilda East neighborhood, just a short distance—approximately 100 meters—from the Adas Yisroel shul, a landmark that itself was targeted in a Molotov cocktail arson attack more than a year ago.

Footage from nearby security cameras, later circulated by local media, shows the boys standing at a crosswalk when a white SUV pulled up close to them, drawing their attention.

Sensing danger, the boys immediately fled, sprinting across the street in an effort to get away. Moments later, the video shows the vehicle executing a sudden U-turn and accelerating toward them, narrowly missing one of the teens.

During the chaos, one of the boys succeeded in capturing the vehicle’s license plate. Members of the Jewish community later reported that the SUV had been stolen.

Chaim Klein, whose son was among the teens and who is part of the Adas Yisroel kehillah, recounted what his child told him after the ordeal. He said the attackers yelled “Heil Hitler,” made a Nazi salute, and issued stabbing threats as they pursued the boys for several minutes.

“They were forced to run and hide, while the passengers chased them in the car, searched for them and tried to drive towards them,” Klein told the local Herald Sun. “This was a deliberate and targeted act of intimidation and hatred that put young lives in immediate danger and left the community shaken.”

{Matzav.com}

Dear Matzav Inbox,

Every so often, a familiar wave of anxiety ripples through the community, as it did today. A blogger is coming. An outsider is asking questions. Someone with a camera, a notebook, or a following wants to see Lakewood — and suddenly the instinct is to retreat, to warn, to clamp down, to treat the visit as a threat rather than an opportunity.

Why?

Why are we so frightened of being seen?

If someone wants to come to Lakewood, let them come. And instead of scrambling behind the scenes or whispering about damage control, why don’t we do the most obvious, intelligent, and self-respecting thing possible: show them who we actually are.

Show them Bais Medrash Govoah, not as a buzzword or a caricature, but as the largest Talmudic academy in the country. Let them see thousands of young men learning with seriousness, discipline, and purpose, from early morning until late at night. Let them understand that this is not some fringe phenomenon, but a sustained commitment to Torah that defines an entire town.

Show them the community that exists around it — families raising children with values, schools educating tens of thousands of students, shuls full on weekday mornings. Show them neighborhoods that function, systems that work, and a population that is invested in the future of its children.

Take them down Avenue of the States. Show them the businesses, the commerce, the jobs, the storefronts, the offices, and the economic activity that supports not only our own community but the broader township as well. Let them see that Lakewood is not a burden, but a contributor, socially, economically, and civically.

And then show them what almost never gets photographed.

Show them the chesed. The charities. The volunteer organizations. The endless web of quiet generosity that steps in long before government agencies do — meals delivered without fanfare, funds raised overnight for families in crisis, medical advocacy, Bikur Cholim, gemachs of every kind. Show them the infrastructure of responsibility that exists because we believe in taking care of our own.

What exactly are we afraid they’ll uncover?

If we believe in what we are building here — and we should — then fear is not a strategy. Silence is not strength. And treating every outsider as an enemy only guarantees that the story will be written without us.

There will always be people who come with preconceived notions. There will always be critics who arrive determined to find fault. But hiding doesn’t disarm them. It empowers them. When we refuse to engage, we leave the field open to ignorance, rumor, and narrative-building by those who don’t know us and don’t care to.

We don’t need to posture or perform. We don’t need talking points or defensive statements. We need confidence…calm, intelligent confidence. We need to answer questions honestly, clearly, and like mentchen who are comfortable in their own skin.

Outsiders will talk whether we invite them or not. Bloggers will write whether we cooperate or not. The only choice we have is whether the picture they paint is based on speculation — or reality.

Lakewood is not perfect. No community is. But it is real, vibrant, productive, and deeply rooted in values that have sustained our people for centuries. That is not something to hide from. It is something to stand behind.

Stop being scared. Stop acting as if visibility is a threat. It isn’t.

Open the door. Walk them through. Let them see the truth …. not the version whispered about by people who have never set foot here, but the one lived every day by tens of thousands of families.

If we have nothing to hide, then we have nothing to fear.

Sincerely,

Y. B. H.

To submit a letter to appear on Matzav.com, email MatzavInbox@gmail.com

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On the eve of the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, new figures spotlight the scale of the administration’s immigration enforcement, even as Trump publicly praised what he described as a year of major accomplishments. An analysis highlighted by The New York Times reports that roughly 540,000 immigrants have been removed during Trump’s first year back in office.

According to the breakdown, about 230,000 individuals were arrested and deported from within the United States, approximately 270,000 were expelled after being caught at the border, and around 40,000 opted to accept financial assistance to leave voluntarily under a self-deportation program.

Taken together, those categories put the total number of removals at an estimated 540,000 since Trump returned to the White House.

“The number of deportations from interior arrests since Mr. Trump took office is already higher than the total during the entire four years of the Biden administration,” the Times analysis read. “It offers the clearest measure of the impact of Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown and expansive efforts to fulfill his campaign promise to deport millions of people.
“At the same time, the number of people trying to cross the Southwest border has fallen to record lows. As a result, far fewer people were arrested and deported from the border than in the preceding few years.”

Separate data released by Department of Homeland Security in December pointed to even larger overall numbers, stating that more than 2.5 million immigrants had departed the country amid the administration’s enforcement push. That total included an estimated 1.9 million self-deportations alongside more than 622,000 formal deportations.

“In less than a year, President Trump has delivered some of the most historic and consequential achievements in presidential history — and this administration is just getting started,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making America safe again and putting the American people first. In record-time we have secured the border, taken the fight to cartels, and arrested thousands upon thousands of criminal illegal aliens. Though 2025 was historic, we won’t rest until the job is done.”

The DHS summary also laid out several headline indicators, including a steep year-over-year drop in border crossings, a sharp decline in daily apprehensions at the Southwest border, seven consecutive months in which Border Patrol released no migrants into the country, and a total number of apprehensions far below averages recorded during the prior administration.

Republican leaders echoed that message. “Just one year into his second term, President Trump has delivered more results for the American people than any president in history,” said Joe Gruters, chair of the Republican National Committee. “He’s reversing the damage of Biden’s far-left agenda by bringing prices down, unleashing American energy, securing the border, and rebuilding our military.
“Families are finally getting relief, our communities are safer, and America is respected again on the world stage. President Trump is putting America first every single day, and this is only the beginning — the best is still ahead.”

Independent analyses have pointed to a concurrent decline in the population living in the country without legal status. A report from the Congressional Budget Office estimated that number fell by roughly 360,000 over the past year, while research from the Brookings Institution suggested the overall foreign-born population may have dropped by as many as 295,000.

These developments come amid demonstrations in Minnesota, where leftist “agitators” have protested Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.

“In Minnesota, there is too much media attention on ICE, who have removed some of the worst murderers and criminals in the World, people let into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden’s horrendous Open Border Policy, and not enough attention paid to the staggering sums of money stolen from the State by corrupt Minnesota politicians!” Trump wrote Monday in a Truth Social post.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump this afternoon that U.S. intelligence agencies believe they have identified where the body of Israeli soldier St.-Sgt.-Maj. Ran Gvili is being held in the Gaza Strip, speaking during a press conference in Washington, DC.

“We got the 28 hostages; they have one left, that we think we know where it is. Amazing,” Trump said.

Gvili is believed to be the final Israeli hostage still in Gaza. He was taken on October 7 during fierce fighting at Kibbutz Alumim, where he was battling Hamas terrorists as part of the IDF’s Golani Brigade.

In a December interview with Ma’ariv, Gvili’s mother, Talik, shared information she said was based on intelligence assessments. “The intelligence is that Ran was not killed on the spot,” she said.

“We know he was wounded in the heroic battle at Kibbutz Alumim, hit by a bullet in his hand and shoulder area. Intelligence believes he didn’t receive medical treatment and therefore didn’t survive,” she added.

{Matzav.com}

Habochur Naftali Tzvi Kramer z”l, an 18-year-old talmid from the Satmar Yeshiva in Komemiyus, was killed in a horrific traffic accident while returning from a protest against post-mortem examinations.

Naftali Tzvi, a resident of Yerushalayim, was struck at the entrance to Moshav Komemiyus as he was making his way back to the yeshiva together with fellow bochurim. He passed away just weeks before his 18th birthday.

According to details released for publication, the accident occurred on Route 3533. Witnesses reported that a Metropoline bus transporting chareidi girls was traveling at high speed. Students walking along the side of the road stated that the bus struck Naftali Tzvias they were proceeding together on the shoulder. However, authorities have not established clear evidence that the driver acted intentionally.

Askani Shimon Shisha, together with ZAKA volunteers, has been working to ensure that the body is released without being transferred to the forensic institute.

Naftali Tzvihad returned from a protest opposing autopsies, which he attended in accordance with the directives of his rabbanim.

Naftali Tzvi was born in Yerushalayim on 27 Shevat 5768 to his father, Reb Yissachar Dov Kramer, a respected Satmar chassid, and his mother, Mrs. Bracha Beila Kramer, daughter of Rav Menashe Gottlieb. He was raised in a home steeped in Torah and chassidus.

He studied at the Satmar Talmud Torah in Yerushalayim, continued on to the Yeitev Lev Satmar Yeshiva L’tzeirim, and later joined the Satmar Yeshiva Gedolah, Yeitev Lev D’Rabbeinu Yoel, in Komemiyus.

Friends described him as an elevated and refined young man, devoted to avodas Hashem and meticulous in his conduct. “He would spend a full hour preparing himself before tefillah, with seriousness and focus,” one friend said. “He was noble, gentle, and always greeted others with a warm smile.”

Just a month ago, Naftali Tzviwas seen davening Shacharis alongside Rav Chaim Tzvi Teitelbaum, son of the Satmar Rebbe, during a visit to the yeshiva for the inauguration of a new mikvah.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

Rabbi Moshe Itach, a father of three who heads an educational framework for children with high-functioning autism, described the terrifying hours he endured after learning that his young son had been present at the Yerushalayim daycare where a fatal incident unfolded. Speaking with Kan Moreshet, he recounted how the family struggled to locate their child amid widespread confusion.

“My wife called me in the middle of the day to say there had been an incident at our son’s nursery and that six children had been taken to hospital. We didn’t know who had taken them, where they were taken, or what condition our child was in,” he said. For roughly two hours, the family went from hospital to hospital across the city, desperate for answers.

“Those were two hours of complete uncertainty. You hear rumors, people are talking about infants in serious condition, and you don’t know where your child is. In the end, we discovered he was at Shaare Zedek. Thank God, he’s fine,” Itach added, expressing visible relief.

Even as he spoke of his own son’s safety, Itach emphasized the broader national grief that followed the incident. “Yesterday, Klal Yisroel lost two children. It’s an unimaginable tragedy. It’s hard even to think about it. There are no words that can comfort parents who have lost an infant,” he said.

Responding to criticism directed at the daycare’s employees, Itach said he felt compelled to speak up on their behalf. “I know the head teacher, the caregivers, and the assistants. These are devoted women who chose this profession out of a sense of mission – not out of necessity. My son was happy to go to the nursery and happy to come home. That is not something to be taken for granted.”

He also pointed to structural problems that place families and caregivers in an untenable position. “The state makes staffing difficult, the pay is low, and parents – especially young couples studying in yeshiva – are often forced to choose between cost and safety. It’s an impossible situation,” he said.

Concluding his remarks, Itach called on parents to engage in honest self-examination. “Every father and mother needs to ask themselves: Where am I sending my child in the morning? Is this a place I can truly trust? This isn’t about blame. It’s about responsibility.”

{Matzav.com}

Another Rosh Chodesh morning at the Kosel unfolded amid tension and frustration, as regular mispallelim reported preferential treatment for a Reform women’s group, while hundreds of people were delayed or blocked from entering the plaza.

According to on-site reports, the arrival of the group that identifies itself as Women of the Wall created a charged atmosphere from the early morning hours. Journalist Nati Kalish, reporting live from the scene, said many mispallelim were forced to wait extended periods before being allowed into the plaza.

Kalish described unusually long security checks. “A line of at least an hour, and even more, in the morning cold,” he said, explaining that guards allowed mispallelim through one at a time while carefully inspecting every item. He claimed the delays were intentional, aimed at keeping the plaza relatively empty during the group’s prayer.

Much of the anger, according to the report, stemmed from how the Reform group was brought into the compound. “They go in first, bypass the line and simply enter,” Kalish said, adding, “It’s infuriating to see people in their 60s and 70s standing in the cold and waiting, while they walk straight through as if the place belongs to them.”

Witnesses also reported pushing and confrontations during the prayer itself. Accounts from the Lev Center said the group positioned itself near the partition, used loudspeakers, and prayed loudly. “The goal is one thing—to disrupt and to harm the sanctity of the Kosel,” Kalish said, adding that there were also incidents of violence directed at ushers.

Kalish reported that the group remained at the site for roughly an hour and a half to two hours before leaving under escort. “They’re treated with respect here,” he said, noting that only after their departure did services for regular mispallelim return to normal. Among other things, the coffee stand in the plaza was reportedly shut down while the group was present. “On Rosh Chodesh they don’t serve coffee to mispallelim out of fear of ‘unusual incidents.’ Only after they left did everything reopen.”

He also described the reaction of regular mispallelim . Many, he said, stood davening with their hands over their ears. “Hundreds of people are literally blocking their ears just so they can concentrate on tefillah and not hear the shouting,” Kalish said. He noted that about 100 yeshiva bochurim from abroad arrived later in the morning, singing and davening loudly, which largely drowned out the voices of the radical, controversial group.

The broadcast ended with a public call to attend the Kosel in large numbers next Rosh Chodesh, for the month of Adar. “The more Jews who come to daven, the less chance they’ll be able to get in,” the hosts said, calling the situation “a scandal that repeats itself every month” and urging those responsible for managing the site to intervene and safeguard the sanctity of the holy place.

The mother of Leah Goloventzitz a”h, who died in the tragic incident at a daycare in Romema, issued a public statement distancing her family from violent demonstrations linked to the debate over the proposed autopsy of her daughter’s body.

In a personal message addressed directly to the public, Brocha Goloventzitz wrote that the family is enduring an unbearable loss and, amid their grief, is also being forced to contend with rumors, interpretations, and misinformation circulating online and in public discourse.

She said that over the past 24 hours, the family’s tragedy has been tied to violent protests surrounding the intention to conduct an autopsy, stressing unequivocally that such actions do not reflect the family’s path or beliefs.

The mother emphasized that aside from those directly involved, no one truly knows the facts that led to Leah’s passing. She noted that the family has been exposed to headlines, images, and statements taken out of context, some of which are based on partial or incorrect information that does not represent the full reality.

Addressing the decision to oppose an autopsy, she wrote that the considerations and steps taken by the family after the incident are not known to the public. Those decisions, she said, were made only after thorough consultations and careful deliberation, including receiving information from police and medical professionals. She added that even the family itself does not yet know the complete picture, describing days without sleep or appetite as they struggle to understand what truly happened.

In closing, Leah’s mother appealed to the public to act with ahavas Yisroel, to halt the spread of unverified information, and to allow the family to mourn their devastating loss without the addition of unnecessary pain.

Earlier today, Israel’s High Court ruled that an autopsy would not be performed on the two toddlers who passed away.

{Matzav.com}

Drivers across New York City racked up an unprecedented number of summonses last year for blocking off parking spaces with traffic cones, a tactic that has drawn growing enforcement even as many residents say the chronic parking shortage helps explain why the practice persists, the NY Post reports.

According to a New York Post review of municipal records, the Sanitation Department issued 533 violations in 2025 for illegally obstructing streets or sidewalks with cones. That enforcement followed 7,208 separate complaints filed through the city’s 311 system, also the highest total on record.

The number of tickets climbed steadily over recent years. More than 530 summonses were written last year, mostly in Queens, marking an increase of nearly 6% over 2024, when 470 were issued. That figure was almost double the 287 tickets handed out in 2023 and roughly nine times higher than the 60 issued in 2022.

City data show that Queens accounted for more than 70% of all cone-related violations last year, with 380 tickets issued boroughwide. Since 2020, 1,376 summonses have been written citywide for the offense, and roughly 1,000 of them were issued in Queens alone.

Queens Councilwoman Joann Ariola has pointed to weak enforcement combined with shrinking parking availability — including the loss of spaces to bike lanes and restrictive parking regulations — as major factors behind the rise in illegal space-saving.

“It’s been happening for years,” said Alex, a 21-year-old Queens driver, referring to the practice of using cones to hold parking spots.

Despite that, he said he understands why people do it.

“It’s so hard to park around here,” he said, “I understand people using cones to save parking spots.”

Sanitation Department officials told The Post that traffic cones placed on public streets or sidewalks are considered illegal obstructions and can result in administrative summonses, with repeat violations carrying fines of up to $200.

Yet enforcement remains limited. More than 25,000 complaints related to cones have been logged with 311 since 2020, but summonses were issued in just over 5% of those cases, according to the Post’s analysis.

“In order for us to issue a summons for this, the owner of the cones has to acknowledge that the cones are theirs,” a Sanitation Department representative said.

“We do investigate complaints for this by visiting the home and speaking with the homeowner. If they claim ownership of the cones, we will issue a summons for street obstruction. … If they do not claim the cones as their own, we will simply take them away.”

{Matzav.com}

European governments are weighing an aggressive trade response to President Donald Trump’s warnings of sweeping tariffs if an agreement is not reached to transfer Greenland to the United States, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cautioned Tuesday that such a move would be a serious mistake. Speaking in Davos, Bessent said it would be “unwise” for Europe to answer Washington with retaliatory measures.

According to a report by CNBC, France urged the European Union during an emergency meeting in Brussels on Sunday to consider activating the bloc’s so-called Anti-Coercion Instrument, a powerful mechanism described by officials as a trade “bazooka” intended to deter economic pressure from abroad.

The Anti-Coercion Instrument was created to counter what the EU defines as economic coercion—actions designed to force policy changes that could disrupt trade or investment flows.

Possible countermeasures under the instrument could extend beyond tariffs to include steps involving “trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights” and restrictions on public procurement, in addition to actions in financial and trade markets—an array of options European officials have characterized as a nuclear option.

Bessent, attending the World Economic Forum, warned that deploying such tools in response to Trump’s tariff threats would be “very unwise,” adding that “everybody should take the president at his word.”

Rather than retaliating immediately, Bessent said governments and businesses should “let things play out” following Trump’s tariff warnings, according to remarks reported Tuesday by The Guardian.

He pointed to last year’s trade clash between the United States and China, noting that Trump’s “liberation day” tariff announcement initially sent shockwaves through global markets before several companies ultimately reached trade agreements.

By late 2025, markets had rebounded to record levels, a recovery driven in part by rapid growth in artificial intelligence.

“The worst thing countries can do is escalate against the United States,” Bessent said.

Within Europe, there is no unified stance on using the Anti-Coercion Instrument. Germany, whose economy relies heavily on exports, is among the countries opposed to triggering it, according to Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at Teneo, who spoke to CNBC.

Industries seen as most vulnerable to Trump’s proposed tariffs include automakers such as BMW in Germany and Stellantis in Milan, along with major pharmaceutical companies including Novo Nordisk and Roche in Switzerland.

Despite internal divisions, Germany and France on Monday urged the EU to deliver a “clear” response to Trump’s threats, The Financial Times reported.

“We will not be blackmailed,” German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said.

Three EU officials familiar with the discussions said European Commission staff have drafted retaliation scenarios but are refraining from deploying the Anti-Coercion Instrument for now, hoping diplomacy during this week’s meetings with Trump in Davos will yield progress.

“Our number one priority now is to really engage and cooperate and have a good dialogue with U.S. counterparts,” European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen told the Financial Times.

“At the same time, we have also tools at our disposal here. We have prepared also for that,” Virkkunen said.

Virkkunen added that the Anti-Coercion Instrument could also be used to restrict American technology companies’ access to the EU’s internal market, emphasizing that Europe represents the largest market for several major tech firms.

European leaders are also seeking to convince Trump that they are prepared to shoulder more responsibility for Arctic security, pointing to proposals by Denmark and Greenland for a NATO mission on the island similar to existing efforts to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea from Russian and Chinese threats.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would deploy the “full strength of government at home and abroad” to uphold international law, describing Trump’s tariff threats as “completely wrong.”

Financial markets have reacted sharply to the escalating rhetoric. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were expected to open Tuesday down 378 points.

European equities fell broadly on Monday, while investors sought safety in gold and silver, which climbed to new highs just days after surpassing previous records.

The exchange of threats has unfolded alongside heightened security activity in the Arctic. Denmark confirmed Monday that it had dispatched additional troops to Greenland, as Trump again declined to rule out the use of military force to assert control over the island.

Danish officials said a “substantial contribution” of soldiers, along with the head of the country’s army, had been sent to Greenland, including deployments to the capital, Nuuk, and to Kangerlussuaq.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump said he chose to make private messages public from French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte because they underscored his argument, while also disclosing that he spent Monday intervening to stop a prison break in Syria involving European terrorists.

The messages, which Trump shared on Truth Social, included warm praise from Macron and Rutte for actions Trump took in Syria, along with appeals for engagement over his push to bring Greenland under U.S. control. The posts appeared just hours before global leaders convene for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“It just made my point. They’re saying, ‘Oh gee, let’s have dinner, let’s do this, let’s do that.’ It just made my point,” Trump told The NY Post, referring to the private outreach that followed his warning of 10% tariffs, set to take effect February 1, against eight European countries opposing his Greenland initiative.

Trump said the compliments from Macron and Rutte stemmed from efforts he took behind the scenes in Syria. “I did a great job. You know what I did? I stopped a prison break,” he said.

“Oh, we did a good job with Syria. They had a prison break. European prisoners were breaking and I got it stopped. That was yesterday,” Trump added.

“European terrorists were in prison. They had a prison break. And working with the government of Syria and the new leader of Syria, they captured all the prisoners, put them back to jail, and these were the worst terrorists in the world, all from Europe.”

The attempted breakout took place at Al-Shaddadi prison in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province amid clashes as forces loyal to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa moved against the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group that had long been backed by the U.S. and had guarded the detained extremists for years.

The confrontation concluded Sunday with the Kurdish faction agreeing to give up its regional autonomy and cede control of detention sites holding roughly 8,000 Islamic State fighters. Syria’s Interior Ministry said Monday that 81 of the 120 ISIS prisoners who escaped had been recaptured, according to Al Jazeera.

Trump’s decision to publicize the messages offered a rare glimpse into private diplomatic channels as he ramped up pressure on European allies to compel Denmark to relinquish control of Greenland, the world’s largest island.

In his message, Emmanuel Macron wrote: “My friend, We are totally in line on Syria[.] We can do great things on Iran[.] I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland[.] Let us try to build great things: 1) i [sic] can set up a g7 meeting after Davos in Paris on thursday afternoon. I can invite the ukrainians, the danish, the syrians and the russians in the margins 2) let us have a dinner together in Paris together on thursday before you go back to the us.”

Mark Rutte wrote: “Mr. President, dear Donald — what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible. I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine. I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Can’t wait to see you.”

{Matzav.com}

President Trump escalated his public pressure campaign over Greenland on Tuesday, posting AI-generated images that depict the territory as part of the United States while also releasing screenshots of flattering private messages he says he received from European leaders ahead of this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos.

One of the images, posted early Tuesday on Truth Social, shows Trump placing a U.S. flag on Greenland, with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio standing behind him. A sign in the image labels Greenland as a “US territory est. 2026.”

In another AI-created image shared by the president, several European leaders — including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — are shown gathered in the Oval Office around a map depicting Greenland, Canada, and Venezuela as incorporated into the United States.

The posts came as Trump intensified his rhetoric about Greenland, stating Tuesday that there was “no going back” on his objective and declining to rule out the use of force to take control of the strategically located Arctic island.

Trump, who is scheduled to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this week, also published screenshots of text messages from Macron and Rutte that he said praised his recent foreign policy actions, including developments related to Syria.

“My friend, we are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran,” Macron tells Trump, according to one of the screenshots shared by the president.

In the same exchange, Macron voices reservations about Trump’s interest in annexing Greenland but also discusses plans for a G7 meeting in Paris on Thursday involving Ukraine, Denmark, Syria, and Russia, and proposes a dinner with Trump in Paris before the president returns to the United States.

“Mr President, dear Donald — what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible,” Rutte writes in another message, according to a screenshot posted by Trump.

“I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine. I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Can’t wait to see you. Yours, Mark,” the message continues.

The burst of provocative posts followed Trump’s warning that additional tariffs could be imposed on European countries if they attempt to block his efforts to acquire Greenland from Denmark.

A day earlier, Trump also cautioned France that it could face a 200% tariff on wine and champagne if Macron refuses to participate in his proposed “Board of Peace” initiative aimed at rebuilding Gaza.

{Matzav.com}

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was questioned about possible ties to China during the vetting process for vice president, according to a report published by CNN, which examined how the Democratic campaign screened potential running mates.

The report follows disclosures by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who wrote in his forthcoming memoir, Where We Keep the Light, that the campaign team of then–Vice President Kamala Harris asked whether he had ever acted as an agent for Israel.

According to four people familiar with the process who spoke to CNN, Harris’ aides closely reviewed Walz’s history of frequent travel to China prior to his entry into public office as part of that vetting.

In his book, Shapiro wrote that he was offended by the question posed by the campaign’s top lawyer and believed it was raised solely because he is Jewish.

Shapiro added that the exchange “said a lot about some of the people around the VP.”

He also disclosed that he was asked directly by attorney Dana Remus, “Have you ever communicated with an undercover agent of Israel?”

Shapiro said he replied sarcastically, “If they were undercover, I responded, ‘How the hell would I know?’”

Four individuals involved in the vetting process told CNN that questions about serving as a foreign agent are routinely included on standard forms completed by politicians being considered for senior roles, including government appointments.

“The crux of vetting is asking uncomfortable and even farfetched questions, especially ones that could be raised by your opponents,” a person close to Remus told CNN.

“Have you ever had an affair? Have you ever embezzled state funds? Have you ever been an agent for another country?” the person added.

“The point isn’t that you believe any of it to be true,” the same source said. “It’s that the subject needs to be on record with definitive answers.”

Another aide involved in the process told CNN that, “Pulling punches would have been a disservice to both the nominee and her potential running mate.”

Harris aides also told CNN that Walz was informed in advance about the nature of the questioning in order to fully explain how the vetting process operated.

According to aides cited in the report, both Shapiro and Walz denied being foreign agents when the questions were put to them.

As the deadly daycare incident in Yerushalayim’s Romema neighborhood continues to send shockwaves through the medical community, Dr. Yechiel Schlesinger offered new insight into the puzzling disparity in outcomes among the infants who were exposed.

Speaking Monday evening with journalist Avi Mimran on Kol Chai’s main news program, Dr. Schlesinger, director of the Wilf Children’s Hospital at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, described the critical moments when two infants were rushed to the hospital in extremely grave condition, undergoing advanced resuscitation efforts upon arrival. Despite prolonged attempts, doctors were unable to save one of the infants, while the second remains in critical condition as medical teams fight to stabilize him in intensive care.

Sharing details from inside the emergency room, Dr. Schlesinger said, “Two infants arrived to us while undergoing resuscitation. One infant, sadly, our efforts were unsuccessful and we were forced to pronounce his death quite quickly.” He added that there was a brief glimmer of hope in the second case, after doctors were able to restore a heartbeat. “He is currently hospitalized in our pediatric intensive care unit, in critical condition and receiving intensive treatment,” Schlesinger said, stressing that the child remains in “very real, immediate life-threatening danger.”

The cause of the sudden system collapse among the infants remains unknown. Dr. Schlesinger explained that in such an unusual and severe incident, doctors’ first suspicion is environmental poisoning, including exposure to toxic gases or pesticides. However, early laboratory findings surprised the medical teams. “We checked carbon monoxide levels and they were normal. That rules out poisoning of that type,” he said, adding that tests for pesticide exposure have also not yielded definitive findings. Physicians are now examining other possibilities, including contamination through food or bottles, though Schlesinger cautioned that “it is still far too early to determine” the cause.

While the battle continues to save the critically ill infant, Shaare Zedek also treated approximately 15 additional children who had been present in the same building in Romema. Dr. Schlesinger sought to reassure the public, saying all of those children are considered to be in mild condition. Some showed very slight respiratory symptoms, while others were brought in mainly for evaluation and monitoring. “At this stage, it does not appear that any of them are in danger,” he said, though he emphasized that doctors are proceeding cautiously. “We will keep them under observation overnight to be one hundred percent certain.”

The stark contrast between the two infants who collapsed suddenly and the rest of the children who were only lightly affected has raised troubling questions among medical staff. Dr. Schlesinger said it is not yet clear whether all of the children were exposed to the same trigger, but he outlined several possible explanations for the dramatic difference in severity. “In the infants who were critically ill, there was a sudden and complete collapse. In the others, it was much milder,” he said, suggesting that the most severely affected infants may have been closer to the source of danger, or that their younger age made them significantly more vulnerable and sensitive to whatever caused the incident.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled Tuesday afternoon that no autopsies will be performed on the bodies of the two toddlers who died in the Romema daycare tragedy, accepting the appeal filed by ZAKA and the bereaved families. Following the decision, demonstrations that erupted across the country are expected to wind down.

In a unanimous decision by a three-justice panel, the court overturned an earlier ruling by a lower court and instructed the state not to proceed with autopsies on the bodies of Aharon Katz a”h and Leah Tzipora Goloventzitz a”h. The judges determined that, under the circumstances, alternative investigative measures were sufficient and that the bodies should be released for burial.

The High Court hearing took place amid heightened tensions. Outside the courthouse and at multiple locations nationwide, clashes were reported as protesters demanded the cancellation of the autopsies. Attorney Dror Shosheim, representing the families on behalf of ZAKA, presented the parents’ position, emphasizing the severe religious and emotional harm that would be caused by postmortem examinations. After hearing the state’s arguments, the judges concluded that non-invasive alternatives could meet investigative needs.

Following the ruling, Attorney Shosheim said, “This is an important decision that reflects human sensitivity and respect for the deceased. We thank the judges for recognizing the gravity of the moment and the families’ pain.”

With the decision made public, crowds that had gathered in chareidi population centers began dispersing. Highway 4, which had been closed for hours near Bnei Brak, gradually reopened to traffic, as did major intersections in Yerushalayim and Beit Shemesh. Police are now coordinating the orderly release of the bodies for the levayos, expected to take place later today.

Despite the families’ legal victory on the autopsy issue, the criminal investigation continues. Authorities will now seek to establish the circumstances of death based on evidence from the scene, caregiver testimony, and external CT scans already performed, without the pathological findings of a full autopsy.

The daycare owner and a caregiver remain in custody on suspicion of negligent homicide and child neglect at an unlicensed facility.

{Matzav.com}

Dear Matzav Inbox,

I’ve been watching, with growing discomfort, how our askanim and elected representatives—both here in the United States and in Eretz Yisroel—are treated when they cast a vote or make a decision that the public doesn’t immediately understand.

They are ripped apart. Publicly eviscerated. Branded as traitors, sellouts, or worse, often within hours, sometimes minutes, of a decision being reported. And not always fairly.

These are not fools. These are serious, intelligent people who sit in rooms we are not in, hear information we do not have access to, and weigh consequences most of us will never fully see. They have cheshbonos. They make decisions for reasons, not on a whim.

And yet, the reflexive response is outrage: loud, unfiltered, and unforgiving.

So I ask: Do they owe us a public explanation every single time they vote a certain way or make a strategic decision? Must every move be accompanied by a press release, a thread, or a justification tailored to appease every faction?

Or does representation mean something else entirely?

Once we elect people, or empower askanim to act on behalf of the tzibbur, doesn’t that imply a degree of trust? That we believe they are acting with yiras Shamayim, responsibility, and concern for the broader picture, even when we don’t immediately like or understand the outcome?

Accountability is critical. Transparency matters. But so does restraint. So does humility. And so does recognizing that leadership cannot function when every decision is second-guessed in real time by people working with partial information and full confidence.

Perhaps the more uncomfortable question isn’t why they don’t explain themselves, but why we assume they must.

Just wondering.

A Yid

NY/NJ

To submit a letter to appear on Matzav.com, email MatzavInbox@gmail.com

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Knesset Education Committee chairman Tzvi Sukkot said he will move quickly to address what he described as an unacceptable daycare registration crisis, promising to convene an urgent committee discussion to prevent children from being shut out of supervised frameworks.

Speaking in a radio interview with journalist Yisroel Meir on the program Osim Seder, Sukkot addressed mounting complaints from parents who say bureaucratic cutoffs are leaving infants without placement for the coming school year. Meir described the reality facing many families: parents of babies born in late winter or spring are told registration is closed, leaving them with no options. “The child was born after February or March—registration is closed, and there’s nothing I can do,” Meir said, noting that many families are then pushed toward unregulated solutions, an issue that has taken on added urgency following Monday’s tragedy in Yerushalayim.

Sukkot, who assumed the committee chairmanship about a month ago, acknowledged that the issue is relatively new to him but said he has already received numerous appeals from parents. He pledged to take up the matter immediately. “I will definitely study this and I will convene a discussion to see what can be done, because there is no chance we should legitimize a reality in which children are not registered simply because they were born after an initial cutoff,” he said, adding, “This is something that makes no sense.”

Turning to practical solutions, Sukkot rejected the current rigid model and argued for a more flexible system that can expand during the year to reflect natural population growth. In his view, the system must adapt to children—not the other way around. “Anyone born in May or June should be able to enter, and new groups need to be opened,” he said, stressing that the issue requires in-depth work and a determined response because it addresses a basic need of young families.

Sukkot concluded by linking the registration failures to the broader need for oversight and regulation of daycare centers, especially in light of the recent disaster in the capital. “We are under harsh and painful scrutiny because of this terrible tragedy in Yerushalayim,” he said. Outlining his goals for the committee, he added: “We want supervised daycare centers, we want orderly frameworks, and we want parents to be able to send their child to a place where the child receives proper conditions. We are going to fight for that.”

{Matzav.com}

As authorities continue investigating the deadly incident at a daycare center in Yerushalayim’s Romema neighborhood, the director of Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital says that early medical findings have ruled out poisoning and point instead to extreme environmental conditions as the likely cause of the tragedy.

In an interview on Kol Chai radio’s main evening program, Dr. Yaniv Scherrer, director of Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, shared initial insights from hospital treatment rooms and laboratories hours after two toddlers died and dozens of others were rushed for medical care. Despite extensive testing using advanced equipment, Scherrer said doctors have not identified “any toxin or substance that we can say caused the incident involving dozens of infants,” leaving investigators still searching for definitive answers.

Scherrer explained that once the first emergency report was received from Magen David Adom, Hadassah’s hospitals immediately prepared for an unusually complex scenario. While the medical teams are experienced in mass-casualty events, he said this case raised particular alarm. “This is not a routine incident. We are talking about very young children, infants in a daycare, with three in life-threatening condition,” he said. Because of the initial concern that the children may have been exposed to a toxic substance, staff prepared the emergency rooms with separate clean and potentially contaminated zones to protect both patients and medical personnel.

During comprehensive examinations of the 45 children treated at Hadassah Ein Kerem and Hadassah Mount Scopus, several key possibilities were ruled out. Doctors searched for signs of carbon monoxide poisoning, a dangerous gas sometimes emitted by heating devices in enclosed spaces, but blood tests did not show elevated levels. Exposure to pesticides was also excluded. “Very quickly we saw that this was not an external substance, but rather some kind of irritation that was likely respiratory,” Scherrer said, adding that rarer possibilities such as contaminated food or bottles are still being examined, though the cause may ultimately prove to be environmental.

With toxic exposure largely ruled out, medical assessments are increasingly focusing on the physical conditions inside the daycare. Scherrer addressed this cautiously, saying, “It’s possible that in the end this is a story of crowding and heat and suffocation that were there—we don’t know.” As part of preparations for worst-case scenarios, the hospital even readied its hyperbaric chambers in case of severe poisoning, but they were ultimately not needed. Most of the children required only mild respiratory support, and their conditions stabilized quickly after receiving oxygen and initial treatment.

Concluding the interview, Scherrer sought to reassure families and the wider public about the condition of the surviving children. “The infants who are still hospitalized with us—at the moment they are not in danger, and we expect they will be discharged tomorrow,” he said. He also expressed appreciation for the medical teams at both Hadassah hospitals, noting that they mobilized within minutes to provide life-saving care to dozens of infants who arrived at emergency rooms simultaneously amid great uncertainty.

{Matzav.com}