Matzav

The chareidi community in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is in deep mourning following a tragic accident that claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy on Sunday.

The victim, Michoel Mordechai Habuba z”l, was participating in an activity at a summer camp operated by the Heichal HaTorah community when a tree suddenly collapsed and struck him. The impact caused a severe head injury.

Michoel Mordechai, the son of Rav Dovid Habuba, rosh kollel of Kollel Chafetz Chaim in Buenos Aires, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Despite extensive medical efforts and many tefillos offered on his behalf, doctors pronounced his death several hours later.

Community askanim in Argentina are currently working to prevent an autopsy. Local police have opened an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

{Matzav.com}

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday confirmed that its soldiers recovered the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining hostage, from the Gaza Strip.

“Following the completion of the identification process by the National Center of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate, IDF representatives informed the family of the hostage Ran Gvili, of blessed memory, that their loved one has been identified and will be laid to rest,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

Gvili, a 24-year-old Israel Police Special Patrol Unit (Yasam) volunteer from Meitar, “fell in battle on the morning of October 7, 2023, and his body was abducted to the Gaza Strip,” the military statement added.

“The IDF shares the family’s grief. The IDF will continue to accompany the families and the returnees and to act to strengthen the security of Israel’s citizens,” it said.

With Gvili’s return, Hamas is holding no Israeli captives for the first time since 2014, when the terrorist organization seized the remains of two IDF soldiers killed during the Gaza war that year, the military noted.

“The return of Ran, of blessed memory, for burial is a painful moment of closure—with the return of the last hostage from the territory of the Gaza Strip to the Land of Israel,” said Defense Minister Yisroel Katz.

Gvili was “a courageous fighter, driven by a deep sense of mission and national responsibility. His bravery on that difficult morning is part of the story of the steadfastness and determination shown by the fighters and security forces in the face of the terrorist attack,” continued Katz.

His return “underscores the State of Israel’s commitment to its soldiers and civilians: to bring every single person home—as we promised the families and the Israeli public,” he said. “That is mutual responsibility.”

Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy on Monday spoke with Gvili’s father, Itzik, “updated him on the details and extended a warm embrace to him and the entire family,” the force’s Spokesperson’s Unit stated.

“The commissioner once again emphasized Rani’s determination and bravery,” it continued. “A officer in the YASAM unit, Rani shielded the civilians of the State of Israel with his body, acting with courage and self-sacrifice in defense of others.

“An honor convoy led by the Israel Police will escort Rani’s coffin” to the Israeli Health Ministry’s National Center of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv, the statement said.

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office announced on Sunday that the IDF since late last week had been “conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate” Gvili.

“Operation Brave Heart” focused on a cemetery in northern Gaza and included extensive scanning while utilizing all available intelligence.

Gvili fought with extraordinary courage on Oct. 7. When the attacks began, he left his house, put on his uniform and headed out to fight. Only 10 days before he had broken his shoulder, and was waiting for surgery, his father said in an interview with Israel Hayom last month.

“Rani told us he would not let his friends fight alone, and that even with the fracture he could still hold a handgun,” said Itzik Gvili. “I will never forget the look in his eyes. It was as if he was saying, ‘This is what I have waited for my entire life.’”

Gvili went to the Beersheva police station, joining forces headed toward Alumim, a religious kibbutz located near the border with the Gaza Strip.

During the battle close to Alumim, he rescued about 100 people who had fled the Nova music festival and killed 14 Hamas terrorist forces.

He was shot in the arm and leg during the fighting. He held his position, choosing not to evacuate and radioing information about the enemy forces until he died from his wounds. Hamas then seized his body.

The terror group abducted a total of 251 Israelis and foreign nationals on Oct. 7. Of those, 168 were freed alive and the remaining dead, whose bodies were returned in truce deals or recovered in IDF operations. JNS

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Minnesota law prohibits concealed carry without proper identification, addressing the issue during a television appearance following a fatal shooting involving a federal agent in Minneapolis.

Speaking this week on FOX News’s The Sunday Briefing, Noem emphasized that concealed carry in the state is illegal “without an ID on you.”

Her remarks followed a question from host Peter Doocy, who noted that the man shot and killed by a federal agent during a protest in Minneapolis “was legally a concealed carry permit holder.”

Doocy pressed further, asking, “Is your message to people who [have] concealed carry permits, that if they’re going to go to a protest, they should leave their gun in the car?”

Noem rejected that framing and said the central issue was interference with police activity. “No, my message to individuals is don’t go impede law enforcement operations. That’s not legal, you’re breaking the law when you do that,” she said.

She then returned to the identification requirement, adding, “It’s also breaking the law in Minnesota when you conceal carry without an ID on you.”

The Department of Homeland Security said over the weekend that the man killed in the encounter was armed with a 9mm handgun and had “2 magazines and no ID.”

Minnesota’s statute governing carry permits states: “The holder of a permit to carry must have the permit card and a driver’s license, state identification card, or other government-issued photo identification in immediate possession at all times when carrying a pistol and must display the permit card and identification document upon lawful demand by a peace officer, as defined in section 626.84, subdivision 1. ”

Noem concluded by stressing that physical interference with officers is both improper and unlawful. “You shouldn’t be laying hands on law enforcement, and getting in their faces, and trying to stop them from conducting their work. All of that is part of protocol, but it also is the law, and when people are in violation of the law there [are] consequences for that.”

{Matzav.com}

[Photos below.] The Lithuanian ambassador to Israel paid an official visit on Sunday to Bnei Brak and Ponevezh Yeshiva, marking a symbolic encounter with the living continuation of Lithuania’s prewar Torah heritage in Eretz Yisroel.

The visit was arranged and accompanied by Uri Maklev, chairman of the United Torah Judaism faction and a long-time interlocutor with Lithuanian officials on issues related to Jewish heritage and the preservation of Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania.

The ambassador’s tour began with a meeting with the yeshiva’s nosi, Rav Eliezer Kahaneman, who outlined the storied history of Ponevezh, from its founding in a Lithuanian town to its rebirth in Bnei Brak by his grandfather, the Ponovezher Rav, following the devastation of the Holocaust.

During the meeting, the ambassador expressed particular interest in historical documentation of the original yeshiva buildings in Lithuania and in efforts to preserve Jewish memory there. Rav Kahaneman also reviewed the dramatic growth of the yeshiva in recent years, along with the extensive construction of new dormitories and study halls.

The ambassador then toured the yeshiva’s batei medrash, where he observed thousands of bochurim and avreichim immersed in learning. Accompanied by MK Maklev, he stood visibly moved by the intensity and scale of the kol Torah filling the botei medrash.

MK Maklev explained the Litvishe method of learning and described Ponevezh as a central hub of the global Torah world, attracting elite talmidim from around the world. The ambassador voiced admiration for the discipline of the learning and the vitality of the Torah discourse he witnessed.

The highlight of the visit was a meeting at the home of the rosh yeshiva, Rav Berel Povarsky. In his home, an extended and reflective conversation took place, during which Rav Povarsky shared personal memories and described the vibrant Jewish life that once flourished in Lithuania before the war.

At the height of the discussion, MK Maklev raised the dire condition of Jewish cemeteries across Lithuania. Rav Povarsky personally asked the ambassador to convey a message to the Lithuanian government urging concrete action to restore and preserve these sacred sites.

{Matzav.com}

Slabodka Rosh Yeshiva Rav Dov Landau offered words of tefillah and chizuk to the family of fallen IDF soldier Ran Gvili, as Israeli forces continue efforts to recover his body from the Gaza Strip.

Family members of Gvili, the last fallen hostage whose remains are still held in Gaza, approached Rav Landau on Sunday evening seeking his brocha that their loved one be found quickly.

Gvili was killed during the Hamas-led onslaught and his body has not yet been returned for kevurah.

In a handwritten response addressed to the family, Rav Landau wrote simply: “May Hashem help that they find him quickly.”

According to the letter submitted to the rosh yeshiva, intensive searches are currently underway to locate the remains of the fallen soldier still in Gaza, and the family requested that the rosh yeshiva daven for his swift recovery. The name given for tefillah was Ran ben Yitzchak.

The appeal and Rav Landau’s response come amid renewed military activity by the IDF in Gaza focused on locating Gvili’s body. Following a meeting of the political-security cabinet on Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that, as part of President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan, Israel has agreed in principle to reopen the Rafah Crossing in a limited capacity for pedestrian passage only, under full Israeli supervision.

In its statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said that reopening the crossing is conditional on the return of all living hostages and on Hamas making a “100% effort” to locate and return all slain hostages.

The statement further noted that the IDF is currently conducting “a focused operation to fully utilize all intelligence information obtained as part of the effort to locate and return the fallen hostage Ran Gvili.” Once that operation is completed, and in line with understandings reached with the United States, Israel will proceed with reopening the Rafah Crossing.

The Prime Minister’s Office stressed that the State of Israel remains fully committed to the return of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and will spare no effort to bring him to burial in Israel.

{Matzav.com}

Bill Clinton issued a sharp public statement Sunday reacting to the fatal shooting in Minneapolis and criticizing President Donald Trump’s actions to roll back immigration policies put in place during the Biden administration.

Posting late Sunday night on X, Clinton shared an image of a lengthy written statement and warned of what he described as a pivotal moment for the country. “Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come,” Clinton wrote. “This is one of them.”

The image attached to the post carried a headline condemning what it called the “horrific scenes playing out in Minneapolis and across America.”

In the statement itself, Clinton described recent events in stark terms, writing:
“In recent weeks, we’ve watched horrible scenes play out in Minneapolis and other communities that I never thought would take place in America.”

He went on to accuse federal authorities of violent and heavy-handed tactics, stating:
“People, including children, have been seized from their homes, workplaces, and the street by masked federal agents. Peaceful protesters and citizens exercising their constitutional right to observe and document law enforcement have been arrested, beaten, teargassed, and most scarily, in the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot and killed.”

Clinton said such actions should never have occurred, adding: “All of this is unacceptable, and should have been avoided.”

He further alleged deception by government officials and obstruction of accountability efforts, writing: “To make matters even worse, at every turn, the people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we’ve seen with our own eyes, and pushed increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations by local authorities.”

Returning to the theme of long-term consequences, Clinton repeated his warning about the stakes involved: “Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come. This is one of them. If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back.”

He concluded by urging civic engagement and resistance, writing: “It is up to all of us who believe in the promise of American democracy to stand up, speak out, and show that our nation still belongs to We the People.”

The remarks quickly drew backlash from conservative commentators, prompting the Clinton account on X to disable replies after a surge of critical responses.

{Matzav.com}

A serious security incident unfolded Sunday night in the chareidi city of Modi’in Illit, after dozens of illegal entrants infiltrated the city area, triggering a large-scale response by the army and civilian security volunteers.

According to reports received by the Shomrim emergency hotline, approximately 25 illegal entrants breached the area near the Yellow Gate at the edge of the Green Park neighborhood. After crossing into the city’s vicinity, the suspects fled toward the direction of Kfar Ruth, with several apprehended by IDF forces during the pursuit.

Due to concerns that additional suspects may still be at large, dozens of Shomrim volunteers rushed to the eastern neighborhoods and surrounding open areas to conduct intensive searches, both on foot and by vehicle. The operation was reinforced by Israel’s drone unit, which deployed operators using a thermal drone to scan the wadi and adjacent terrain for possible escapees.

Shomrim officials said that while some of the infiltrators were detained, there is a strong likelihood that others managed to evade capture, prompting the ongoing sweeps late into the night.

The incident has raised significant security concerns, particularly in light of previous threats directed at the city. Several months ago, the Hamas terror organization released a propaganda video containing explicit threats against Israel, in which Hamas prominently marked Modi’in Illit as a central target for potential attacks. The video, intended to intimidate the Israeli public, was viewed as an escalation in the group’s threats.

In that footage, the chareidi city was clearly identified as one of the locations the organization seeks to strike, with messaging aimed specifically at the chareidi population. Security officials have warned that such threats reflect an effort to undermine the personal safety of Israeli civilians throughout the country.

Authorities continue to monitor the situation closely as searches remain underway.

{Matzav.com}

Israel plans to reopen the Rafah Crossing with Egypt once a military effort now underway concludes with the recovery of the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, according to an announcement released Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

The decision followed deliberations by the security cabinet and comes amid mounting international calls for Israel to resume operations at the key Gaza–Egypt border crossing.

Although the Prime Minister’s Office did not specify how long the current IDF mission is expected to last, a US official told The Times of Israel that American officials anticipate the operation will take several days, potentially clearing the way for the crossing to reopen before the end of the week.

Earlier Sunday night, the IDF confirmed that troops are conducting a search for Gvili’s remains at a cemetery in northern Gaza. The military said intelligence indicating the body is buried at the site is credible, while noting that other intelligence avenues are also being pursued.

Separately, the head of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and the Gaza envoy to the NCAG-supervising Board of Peace announced on Thursday that Rafah would resume operations this week, marking its first reopening in nearly a year.

In its statement, Netanyahu’s office said reopening the sole pedestrian crossing between Gaza and Egypt is contingent “on the return of all living hostages and on Hamas making a 100% effort to locate and return all slain hostages.”

Under the October 9 Israel-Hamas agreement tied to the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s broader Gaza peace initiative, all hostages were to be returned within 72 hours of the October 10 ceasefire. The deal acknowledged, however, that retrieving bodies from beneath Gaza’s rubble could take longer and did not explicitly link reopening Rafah to the return of all captives.

Israel has declined to advance to the second phase of Trump’s plan — including reopening Rafah — until Gvili’s body is recovered. Hamas has said it does not know the precise location of his remains but claims it has attempted to search for them.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the IDF is currently carrying out “a focused operation to fully utilize all intelligence obtained in the effort to locate and return” Gvili.

Once the mission concludes, “and in accordance with what was agreed on with the United States,” Israel will move ahead with reopening the crossing, the statement said.

Netanyahu’s office emphasized Israel’s commitment to returning Gvili and vowed to exhaust all efforts to bring his body home.

The operation began over the weekend following intelligence assessments that Gvili was buried in a Muslim cemetery in eastern Gaza City, near the neighborhoods of Shejaiya, Daraj, and Tuffah.

Gvili, 24, served as a policeman and was killed while defending Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel during the Hamas-led assault on October 7, 2023, which ignited the Gaza war. He joined the fighting despite awaiting surgery for a shoulder injury.

On Friday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir attended the family’s weekly rally in Tel Aviv and reportedly told Gvili’s parents there was “room for optimism” regarding their son’s return.

During a security cabinet meeting Sunday night, far-right ministers reportedly voiced strong opposition to the plan to reopen Rafah.

“We did great things like kill tens of thousands of terrorists, but we still haven’t completely eliminated Hamas,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said, according to quotes reported by the Walla news site.

“We have to dismantle and disarm it. Enough with [Jared] Kushner and [Steve] Witkoff’s naivety — if Rafah Crossing opens, it will be a big mistake and a very bad message,” he reportedly said.

The US envoys, who met with Netanyahu and other senior officials during their visit to Israel, have been urging the government to proceed with the next stages of Trump’s Gaza framework.

Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock also criticized the move, reportedly arguing that Israel was effectively transferring control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, which the government accuses of supporting terrorism and says should have no governing role in the enclave.

“This cabinet will eventually make a decision to send our soldiers to fight Hamas because no one else will do it, and then what will we tell them?” she said, according to Walla.

While Rafah has been used to transfer goods at various points during the war, its primary designation is for pedestrian crossings.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] An American climber stunned onlookers by scaling one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers without ropes, completing a rare free-solo ascent in front of a global audience.

The climber, 40-year-old Alex Honnold, made his way up Taipei 101, a 1,667-foot tower in Taiwan, during a Netflix livestream that was pushed to Sunday after rain forced a delay, according to CBS News.

The ascent took roughly an hour and a half, and recorded footage captures the final moments as Honnold reached the summit.

Standing atop the building, he briefly took in the view and reacted with a single word: “Sick!” before peering down at the city far below.

WATCH:

Additional video shows him pausing to recover, then pulling out his phone to snap a selfie. “This is so cool… I’m so psyched and you know what, pretty tired, actually,” he said.

CBS News noted the prominence of the structure itself, writing: “Taipei 101 is one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. The building was designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and opened in 2004. It’s home to observatories, restaurants, a shopping mall and offices, as well as the Taiwan Stock Exchange.”

Honnold’s website highlights his previous achievements, stating that he is the only person to have free-solo climbed Yosemite National Park’s 3,000-foot El Capitan.

The site adds high praise for his accomplishments, saying, “More people will walk on the moon than will do what Alex Honnold has done. His extremely rare skill and unmatched mental focus have helped make him climbing’s transcendent, breakout star, inspiring millions around the world.”

Footage from earlier in the event shows the married father of two beginning his climb as spectators looked on, applauding and cheering while he periodically turned back to grin at the crowd.

Before starting the ascent, Honnold explained that his focus was on precision and avoiding errors, according to People magazine.

“I’m sure I’ll feel a little nervous at the bottom, just because it’s something totally new. I’ve spent 30 years climbing rock faces; this is going to be my first big handmade structure, so I’m sure it’ll feel a little different,” he said, adding, “My life is on the line — I don’t really care who’s watching. I care about doing what I’m doing and doing it well.”

{Matzav.com}

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Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy and derided Vice President JD Vance during private donor gatherings last year, according to audio recordings obtained by Axios that capture some of the most pointed intra-party attacks from a Republican lawmaker since the administration took office.

The comments, made during two separate meetings, reveal Cruz leveling unusually blunt critiques of both Trump and Vance behind closed doors, at a time when he is widely viewed as weighing a potential 2028 presidential bid.

The recordings — totaling nearly 10 minutes — show Cruz framing himself as a pro–free trade, interventionist Republican, positioning his views in contrast to Vance’s more restrained foreign policy outlook as a possible primary challenge looms.

In the conversations, Cruz portrays Vance as closely aligned with conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson, whom Cruz has repeatedly accused in public disputes of promoting antisemitism and advocating an anti-Israel foreign policy.

The audio files were provided to Axios by a Republican source and were recorded in early and mid-2025.

In the later recording, Cruz warns donors that Trump’s tariffs risk triggering severe economic fallout and could ultimately expose the president to impeachment.

Cruz recounts that after Trump announced the tariffs in early April 2025, he and several other senators held a late-night call with the president urging him to reconsider. Cruz says the call stretched past midnight and “did not go well,” describing Trump as “yelling” and “cursing.”

“Trump was in a bad mood,” Cruz tells the donors. “I’ve been in conversations where he was very happy. This was not one of them.”

Cruz says he cautioned Trump about the political consequences, recalling that he told the president: “Mr. President, if we get to November of [2026] and people’s 401(k)s are down 30% and prices are up 10–20% at the supermarket, we’re going to go into Election Day, face a bloodbath.”

“You’re going to lose the House, you’re going to lose the Senate, you’re going to spend the next two years being impeached every single week.”

According to Cruz, Trump’s response was blunt: “[Curse] you, Ted.”

At one point during the donor session, when an attendee referenced “Liberation Day,” Trump’s label for the tariff rollout, Cruz quipped: “I’ve told my team if anyone uses those words, they will be terminated on the spot. That is not language we use.”

Cruz also told donors that he has been “battling” the White House to secure approval for a trade agreement with India. When asked which administration officials have resisted such deals, Cruz pointed to White House economic adviser Peter Navarro, Vance, and “sometimes” Trump.

Returning to Vance, Cruz again tied him closely to Carlson’s worldview, saying: “Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker’s protégé, and they are one and the same.”

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] Rav Aharon Teitelbaum of Satmar issued a sweeping directive prohibiting yeshiva bochurim and avreichim affiliated with Satmar institutions in Israel from taking part in street protests, following a series of deadly incidents in which two bochurim were killed during  or near demonstrations against the draft law and other issues.

The directive was delivered Motzaei Shabbos during a melaveh malkah marking the yahrtzeit of the Rebbe’s grandfather, the Atzei Chaim of Sighet, in Palm Springs. In his remarks, the Rebbe addressed the recent tragedies and announced an outright ban on participation in protests by members of the Satmar community.

The Rebbe’s comments followed recent demonstrations during which two bochurim, Yosef Eisenthal and Naftali Tzvi Kramer, were killed after being struck by vehicles. The Rebbe referred to the drivers involved as “רוצח’ישע דרייווערס,” saying they deliberately drove buses into crowds in order to harm bochurim.

Recalling earlier tragedies, the Rebbe referenced the 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the Shomron by Hamas terrorists. He said: “I spoke then and asked a very difficult question: Who gives permission to send bochurim into the occupied territories? It is a place of danger, Arab murderers roam there and kill bochurim, and the parents who sent their children to a place of danger, their blood is on their hands. At the time there were many Zionists who shouted that it was not a dangerous place, but the reality is known to all: sending bochurim into the territories is murder.”

Turning to the current wave of protests, the Rebbe said: “In recent weeks, when the decree of drafting yeshiva students reached a new peak, with harsh decrees and the kidnapping of bochurim from their homes, they began organizing protests in the streets. Unfortunately, at some of these protests there are people who block roads and do improper things. Recently, two bochurim were murdered in these protests, and I want to say from here — the Zionists are no less murderers than the Arabs.”

The Rebbe continued: “Just as everyone understands that we do not send bochurim into the territories where Arab murderers roam, in the same way we do not send bochurim to protests where Zionist murderers roam. It is exactly the same thing.”

Emphasizing that the ruling applies directly to his own community, the Rebbe said: “I cannot speak for the entire world, but we have yeshivos in Yerushalayim and Bnei Brak, we have kollelim in Yerushalayim and Bnei Brak — and I want from here to forbid our people not to participate in these protests where Zionist murderers are present.”

Citing the principle of ‘al pi shnayim eidim yakum davar’, the Rebbe added: “Two bochurim were murdered by the Zionist murderers, and that is enough.” He requested that his words be publicized in every place where there is a Satmar community, saying, “It needs to be heard throughout all of Eretz Yisrael.”

The Rebbe concluded by citing the Gemara in Chullin that “chamira sakanta mei’isura” — danger is more severe than prohibition and invoked the teachings of the Satmar Rebbe Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, the Divrei Yoel. He said that anyone familiar with how the Divrei Yoel led the struggle against Zionism knew that he recognized the danger involved, and therefore ruled that all members of the Satmar community are forbidden from participating in such demonstrations.

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President Trump said his administration is examining the fatal shooting of an armed protester by federal agents during an anti-ICE demonstration in Minneapolis, signaling that a formal assessment of the incident is underway.

“We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal during a brief phone interview Sunday night, stopping short of offering a personal judgment on whether the agent’s actions were warranted.

“I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it,” Trump said in the same call. “But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”

Authorities identified the man killed as 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who had joined the protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Officials in Minnesota said Pretti was armed with a handgun at the time of the encounter and possessed a valid concealed carry permit.

Video footage that spread rapidly online appears to capture the moments leading up to the shooting, showing a struggle in which one agent seems to pull a firearm from Pretti’s waistband while other officers restrain him on the pavement. Seconds later, gunfire is heard, after which Pretti becomes motionless and was later declared dead.

Trump also indicated that the surge of federal personnel sent to the Minneapolis–St. Paul area would not be permanent, suggesting the deployment would be scaled back in the future.

“At some point we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” he told the Journal.

He did not say when the federal agents would be withdrawn.

{Matzav.com}

A chareidi IDF soldier wounded in combat delivered a searing rebuke during a stormy session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, accusing state authorities of completely erasing religious and chareidi wounded soldiers from the public and legislative conversation even as efforts intensify to draft more chareidim.

Eliyahu Pinchas Tzemach, a representative of the Metzuyanim B’Yisrael organization , which advocates for religious and chareidi IDF wounded, addressed the committee during deliberations on the draft law. Speaking with visible anguish, Tzemach described what he called the total disappearance of chareidi wounded soldiers from policy discussions.

“I hear debates, I see headlines, I follow this law from every angle, but there is one thing I have not heard even once: wounded soldiers,” he told lawmakers. “Not in the law, not in the discussions, not even in a single sentence. As if they do not exist.”

Tzemach pointed to what he described as a glaring and painful contradiction: the state tracks the lives of chareidi youth in minute detail, yet refuses to acknowledge them once they are injured in military service.

“The state knows exactly where every chareidi boy studied at age 14, which institution he transferred to at 15, what he eats, what level of kashrus he keeps, but when that same boy enlists, is wounded, and broken, the state is not even willing to know how many there are,” he said.

“Even to count us, they are not willing,” Tzemach added. “Forget rehabilitation, forget treatment … even the basic recognition that we exist is already too much for the system.”

According to Tzemach, this is not a bureaucratic oversight but a deep systemic failure with devastating consequences. Wounded soldiers are left without answers, families collapse under the strain, and there is no rehabilitation framework tailored to the needs of the chareidi public.

He described realities on the ground that, he said, are never voiced in the Knesset: mixed-gender therapy groups that chareidi patients cannot join; Beit HaLochem facilities with no accommodations for Torah-observant soldiers; rehabilitation gyms, activities, and overseas delegations that are entirely mixed; and the complete absence of transitional housing or structured rehabilitation tracks for chareidi wounded and their families.

“There is no rehabilitation. There simply is none,” he said. “And then they come and demand more enlistment, more targets, more numbers — without stopping for a moment to ask: what will be with those who were already wounded? And what will be with those who enlist now and will be wounded?”

Tzemach posed a direct challenge to lawmakers: “How can you demand more enlistment from the chareidi public when those who already carried the burden and were wounded have been completely erased from the discourse?”

Speaking afterward, he said that the focus on quotas and targets is fundamentally misplaced.

“Before talking about numbers, targets, and enlistment quotas, there must be a conversation about rehabilitation,” he said. “About responsibility. And about the future of chareidi wounded soldiers who have paid — and unfortunately will yet pay — a very heavy price.”

Former President Barack Hussein Obama issued a rare and forceful public rebuke of President Donald Trump on Sunday, directly blaming the current administration for the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and warning that the situation surrounding federal immigration enforcement is spiraling dangerously.

“The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy,” Obama said in a statement posted on X. “It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.”

In his statement, Obama sharply criticized the conduct of federal immigration agents operating in U.S. cities, saying their tactics have sparked justified outrage nationwide. “People across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, and provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city,” he wrote.

Obama’s comments came one day after Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents during a confrontation on a Minneapolis street.

According to authorities, Pretti was carrying a loaded firearm when he stepped between federal agents and a woman they were pepper-spraying. Agents attempted to arrest him, removed the gun from his belt, and then fired roughly 10 shots, killing him at the scene.

While acknowledging that immigration enforcement is inherently challenging, Obama said the Trump administration bears responsibility for fostering an environment in which deadly force is used recklessly.

“The President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanation for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren’t informed by any serious investigation – and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence,” Obama wrote.

The statement marked Obama’s first public comments on the unrest in Minneapolis, which erupted earlier this month after ICE agents fatally shot Renee Good. Authorities said Good had attempted to block immigration officers with her vehicle and nearly struck an agent, who then opened fire, killing her.

Dozens of demonstrators identified with extremist factions blocked Route 10 at the entrance to Beit Shemesh on Sunday evening, protesting the draft law and the arrest of yeshiva students accused of draft evasion.

The protest reached a dramatic peak when demonstrators placed a chilling display in the middle of the roadway, featuring mock coffins meant to symbolize their opposition to the policy.

The coffins bore the names of Yosef Eisenthal z”l and Naftali Tzvi Kramer z”l, two bochurim who were tragically killed during protest-related incidents in recent weeks.

Police forces arrived at the scene and worked to clear the road, which was blocked for a short period of time.

The closure caused heavy traffic congestion at both the entrance to and exit from the city before traffic was eventually restored.

President Donald Trump on Sunday pressed Democratic governors and mayors across the country to work with federal immigration officials, arguing that resistance to cooperation has produced “dangerous circumstances” and resulted in the deaths of two American citizens.

In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump laid out four steps he said Democratic officials must take to support his administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.

First, Trump said state and local authorities should hand over all criminal illegal migrants currently in state prisons or local jails — as well as those with outstanding warrants or known criminal records — to federal officials for immediate deportation.

Second, he called on local police departments to transfer custody of all illegal migrants they arrest directly to federal immigration authorities.

Third, Trump said local law enforcement agencies should be required to assist federal officials in locating, apprehending, and detaining illegal migrants wanted for crimes.

Fourth, he urged Democratic jurisdictions to actively partner with the federal government to quickly remove criminal illegal migrants, pointing to cities such as Memphis and Washington, D.C., which he said have cooperated with federal authorities and experienced improvements in public safety.

Trump singled out Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, accusing them of refusing to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and of encouraging resistance to federal enforcement actions.

The president argued that Republican-led states have shown that close coordination between local and federal authorities can lead to effective enforcement without public disorder. He said that Texas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Louisiana saw more than 150,000 criminal illegal migrants arrested by ICE over the past year without protests or riots, crediting cooperation between law enforcement agencies for the outcome.

Trump contrasted that with what he described as obstruction by Democrat-run “sanctuary cities and states,” accusing them of placing the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of law-abiding citizens and creating unsafe, volatile conditions for both officers and the public.

He also called on Congress to pass legislation banning sanctuary city policies nationwide, describing those policies as “the root cause” of the current problems. Trump said American cities should be “safe sanctuaries for law-abiding American citizens only.”

The remarks come as immigration enforcement continues to dominate national political debate, with Republicans and Democrats sharply divided over public safety, local cooperation with federal authorities, and the role of state and municipal governments in enforcing immigration law.

{Matzav.com}

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sharply criticized Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney over a new agreement with China on electric vehicles, cautioning that Canada could face steep penalties if it enables Beijing to flood the U.S. market with low-priced goods.

President Donald Trump initially played down the agreement, telling reporters, “If you can get a deal with China, he should do that.” A day later, however, Trump escalated the response, warning that Canada could be hit with 100% tariffs.

“There’s a possibility of a hundred percent tariffs if they do a free trade deal, if they go further — if we see that the Canadians are allowing the Chinese to dump goods.,” Bessent said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.”

Bessent noted that Canada had previously aligned with Washington on trade enforcement against Beijing. “The Canadians, a few months ago, joined the U.S. in putting high steel tariffs on China because the Chinese are dumping,” he said. “The Europeans also have done the same thing. And it looks like Prime Minister Carney may have done some kind of about-face.”

Canada imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024, mirroring U.S. policy. Under the new arrangement, however, China will be permitted to sell up to 49,000 EVs in Canada at a 6.1% most-favored-nation tariff rate, as part of a broader agreement between Ottawa and Beijing aimed at expanding cooperation on green energy.

Carney’s shift toward China has been widely interpreted as a signal of resistance to Trump, who last year slapped broad tariffs on Canada over alleged drug trafficking and border security issues.

“I don’t think he’s doing the best job for the Canadian people,” Bessent said of Carney.

Trump has previously joked about annexing Canada, and his aggressive trade posture reportedly led then–Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to break down in tears in public.

Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Carney told global leaders that the international system had fundamentally shifted amid Trump’s threats to assert control over Greenland.

“We know the old order is not coming back,” Carney said. “We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just.”

“This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and most to gain from genuine cooperation.”

On Sunday, Trump renewed his attacks on Canada, accusing the country of “systematically destroying itself” and striking “one of the worst deals, of any kind, in history.”

“China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “So sad to see it happen. I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone!”

A massive winter storm sweeping across the US triggered what is shaping up to be one of the worst air travel meltdowns since the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing some major airlines to cancel more than half of their scheduled flights.

More than 16,000 US flights have been canceled through Monday, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware, as the storm pushed into major population centers and snarled airline networks nationwide. Airlines scrapped more than 10,300 US flights on Sunday alone, according to FlightAware.

Sunday marks the highest number of cancellations since the pandemic, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. There were 22,751 flights scheduled for March 30, 2020, with 12,143 cancellations.

Carriers with large hubs in the storm’s path were hit especially hard. American Airlines canceled more than 55% of its Sunday schedule, while JetBlue Airways scrapped more than 70% of flights. Delta Air Lines cut more than 40%, and United Airlines canceled nearly 38%, according to Cirium.

Major airports across the eastern half of the country were effectively shut down. By 10 a.m. New York time, more than 80% of departures were canceled at Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airport, while Washington Reagan National topped 90% cancellations, Cirium data show. Boston Logan, Charlotte Douglas and Chicago O’Hare were also among the hardest hit.

Weather impacts stretched well beyond the Northeast. Texas and parts of the South were among the first regions hit, with freezing rain and ice snarling operations at major hubs including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin. Data from the Federal Aviation Administration show multiple airport closures across the South and Midwest as of Sunday as ice and snow made runways unsafe, contributing to cascading disruptions throughout airline networks.

The storm is expected to continue battering the East through Monday. New England could see as much as 18 inches of snow, according to the US Weather Prediction Center, with up to a foot possible in New York City. Some of that precipitation may fall as sleet, increasing the risk of heavy icing on roads and runways.

Airlines had begun rolling out contingency plans ahead of the storm. Delta is allowing passengers to rebook flights without fare differences across 41 airports in the South and Southeast, including Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Charleston and Memphis, through Jan. 28. United Airlines is waiving change fees and fare differences for travelers affected at 61 airports, including Boston, Newark and New York’s LaGuardia.

(c) Bloomberg

{Matzav.com}