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Soldiers currently stationed in Gaza are experiencing increasing difficulties accessing kosher-for-Pesach meals, with many reporting a significant decline in the quality and quantity of food during the Yom Tov.

In recent hours, accounts have emerged of Golani Brigade troops having to rely almost exclusively on matzah and chocolate spread for sustenance, even after exhausting and prolonged operations on the battlefield.

Galei Tzahal military reporter Doron Kadosh revealed that since the start of the Yom Tov, troops have only received one hot meal — on the night of the Seder. “The last time they received hot trays of food was a week ago, on the Seder night. Since then, only field rations, dried Kabanos sausages, and corn. After a year and a half of straight fighting on several fronts, it’s just coming out of their ears.”

In response to the inadequate provisions, many parents of the soldiers have taken it upon themselves to organize grassroots fundraising efforts to provide their children with suitable food. These efforts include supplying fresh fruits and vegetables and even bringing camping stoves to the Tze’elim Base in southern Israel, in the hopes the supplies can be transported into Gaza.

Channel 12’s military correspondent Nir Dvori addressed the issue as well: “I don’t remember a Passover like this, and there have been problems in the past. Bases and installations in the south, north, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley – they all have severe shortages of food because of Pesach. It’s just terrible. As if they haven’t learned anything.”

Following the public outcry, Doron Kadosh reported that the IDF’s chief logistics officer has pledged to personally investigate the situation and make sure that every combat unit deployed in Gaza has access to the necessary supplies.

According to the IDF’s official statement, daily supply convoys are dispatched into Gaza, including the Rafah area, with the goal of providing at least one hot meal per day to all troops, even those on the front lines. In response to the recent complaints, the military has committed to verifying that food deliveries are reaching every unit as intended.

{Matzav.com Israel}

In Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Jewish community leaders are working to deescalate the unrest that has emerged following a troubling confrontation between a Jewish man and a black resident of the neighborhood, an altercation that has stirred fears of renewed racial tensions in the area.

The incident, which took place several weeks ago and was caught on surveillance footage, shows a 30-year-old frum resident shoving Troy McLeod, a wheelchair-bound African-American man. The altercation reportedly stemmed from a dispute over McLeod’s dogs, which were being walked without leashes. The push caused McLeod to topple out of his wheelchair.

In the aftermath, the 30-year-old was taken into custody and charged with second-degree assault and aggravated menacing. He was later released on his own recognizance and is due back in court on July 17.

A demonstration is set to take place today at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue. The rally is being organized by local activist and pastor Kevin McCall.

Dubbed the “Peaceful Rally for Troy McLeod,” the event aims, according to organizers, “to condemn the actions and unite Brooklyn.”

Initially, the protest was planned for the area directly in front of 770 Eastern Parkway, the global headquarters of Chabad. However, after appeals from various community figures, organizers agreed to relocate the gathering across the street, in front of a Bank of America branch. Community members voiced concern over a flyer for the event, which originally claimed that McLeod had been “Assaulted in a wheelchair by members of the Orthodox Jewish community.”

“The messaging was reframed as a peace rally, and I was told that speakers will be calling for unity,” said Rabbi Yaakov Behrman, a prominent Crown Heights representative. “I absolutely condemn this act of violence — but we cannot allow it to be used as an excuse to promote antisemitism or fuel discrimination. I sincerely hope the organizers honor their commitments.”

In a show of solidarity and moral clarity, Jewish leaders from the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council issued a public statement denouncing the attack. “There is absolutely no justification for assaulting someone in a wheelchair — ever,” declared Rabbi Shmuel Rosenstein, Rabbi Zalman Friedman, and Rabbi Yaakov Behrman in the joint statement.

Some of McLeod’s neighbors, however, allege that tensions between him and others in the area had been building over time, citing prior complaints about his unleashed dogs scaring local children and dismissive responses to parents’ concerns. Nonetheless, Jewish community leaders emphasized that no matter the context, violence is never acceptable.

{Matzav.com}

Horrible scenes from the active shooter in Florida State University show multiple Ambulances and law-enforcement present.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement addressing a report published by The New York Times, which claimed that President Donald Trump prevented Israel from launching a military operation against Iran’s nuclear sites.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu has been leading the global campaign against the Iranian nuclear program for over a decade, even when there were those who belittled the threat and called it a ‘political spin’ and the Prime Minister ‘paranoid.’ The Prime Minister led countless overt and covert actions in the campaign against Iran’s nuclear program; thanks to them, Iran does not have a nuclear arsenal,” the statement declared.

The statement continued: “The actions set Iran’s nuclear program back by a decade, and that’s thanks to the Prime Minister’s insistence to stand up against the opposition from within and out to his aggressive policy against Iran. As the Prime Minister declared more than once: Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.”

According to The New York Times, Israel had devised and finalized plans for a military strike on Iran’s nuclear program by May, but the operation was ultimately put on hold after President Trump chose to pursue negotiations with the Iranian regime.

Individuals with direct knowledge of the military planning told the publication that Israel’s intended mission was designed to delay Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by at least a year. However, the success of the strike was heavily dependent on American support—both to carry out the strike effectively and to manage the likely Iranian retaliation.

The report detailed that U.S. forces had already taken preparatory steps in anticipation of potential escalation. Under the direction of Gen. Michael Kurilla, U.S. Central Command had moved key military assets into the region, including stealth bombers, advanced missile defense systems, and aircraft carriers. While these deployments were partly aimed at countering threats from Houthi forces in Yemen, officials acknowledged they were also positioned to serve in a larger campaign against Iran if needed.

Nevertheless, internal discussions within the Trump administration began shifting. Several senior officials raised concerns over the fallout of a preemptive Israeli operation. Intelligence presented by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard warned that a strike could ignite a larger regional conflict—something the president’s team was eager to avoid.

The article further noted that, for now, the administration’s stance has not changed: diplomatic efforts must take precedence, with military options remaining only as a contingency if negotiations break down.

{Matzav.com}

Intense video of police officers responding to the shooting at Florida State University.

BREAKING: At least four victims have been hospitalized in an active shooter incident in the area of Student Union at Florida State University

The Treasury Department imposed sanctions Wednesday on a Chinese refinery accused of purchasing more than $1 billion worth of Iranian oil, saying the proceeds help finance both Tehran’s government and Iran’s support for militant groups. The sanctioned refinery in China’s Shandong province received dozens of shipments of crude oil from Iran worth more than $1 billion, the Trump administration said. Some of the petroleum came from a front company for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, U.S. authorities said. Officials also announced that several companies and vessels involved in the shipments were added to the sanctions list. The new penalties were imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and follow earlier efforts by the administration to disrupt the flow of Iranian oil, which authorities say is carried by Iran’s “shadow fleet.” The United States has already penalized dozens of individuals and vessels involved in the shipments. “Any refinery, company, or broker that chooses to purchase Iranian oil or facilitate Iran’s oil trade places itself at serious risk,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a news release. “The United States is committed to disrupting all actors providing support to Iran’s oil supply chain, which the regime uses to support its terrorist proxies and partners.” Iran is accused of backing militant groups including Yemen’s Houthis, who have launched attacks on international shipping, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. During his confirmation hearing earlier this year, Bessent criticized the Biden administration’s sanctions policies and called for the U.S. to have a more “muscular” sanctions system, including on Iran and Russian entities and oil. Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement Wednesday that Trump “is committed to drive Iran’s illicit oil exports, including to China, to zero.” “As Long as Iran attempts to generate oil revenues to fund its destabilizing activities, the United States will hold both Iran and all its partners in sanctions evasion accountable,” Bruce said. The new sanctions were announced the same day that Iran confirmed that the next round of talks with the U.S. on Tehran’s nuclear program will be held in Rome. Responding to the sanctions announcement, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said the use of the sanctions “undermines international trade order and rules, disrupts normal economic and trade exchanges, and infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals.” A spokesperson for Iran’s U.N. mission did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday. (AP)

ROUTE 6 – NEAR KIRYAS JOEL: A head-on collision occurred Thursday afternoon on Route 6 in Woodbury. Kiryas Joel Hatzolah and other emergency personnel responded to the scene. One driver was reportedly unconscious, prompting a medevac to transport the patient to a local hospital. *The occupants of the Honda Odyssey sustained non-life-threatening injuries.*

The IDF’s Home Front Command has initiated an upgrade to its rocket alert system, and beginning today, it will introduce a new preliminary advisory that will precede any formal missile alert in cases of launches from Yemen targeting Israel. This step is part of a broader effort to enhance emergency readiness across the country.

The initial advisory will be issued through the Home Front Command’s mobile app and will use a unique alert tone, distinct from the standard siren, in areas deemed to be at risk.

Previously, all missile warnings were triggered based on the shortest possible response time for a given region, regardless of the origin of the attack. For example, residents near the borders with Gaza or Lebanon were given only about 15 seconds to reach a shelter—even if the projectile was launched from a much greater distance, such as Yemen.

According to military officials, the introduction of this preliminary advisory is aimed at giving people a head start in preparing, allowing them to begin seeking shelter even before the main siren sounds, and ensuring they receive updates from verified sources.

Alongside this change, the IDF will also distribute alerts stating that a missile launch from Yemen toward Israeli territory is possible within minutes, urging the public to follow the Home Front Command’s instructions closely.

The Home Front Command emphasized that it is “making every effort to ensure the safety of Israel’s citizens.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

After President Donald J. Trump officially swears in the incoming U.S. Ambassador to Israel on Friday morning, Ambassador Mike Huckabee will head to the Kosel to fulfill a personal request from the president: to place a written prayer from Trump into the stones of the makom kadosh.

At the conclusion of the visit, Ambassador Huckabee is expected to make a formal statement to the press.

Earlier this week, Huckabee revealed in an interview with Fox News that this symbolic act would be his first order of business upon arriving in Israel for his new role.

“The first thing I’m going to do is to take a prayer that the President gave me on Thursday when I met with him at the White House, and I’m going to take it to Western Wall and I’m going to place it there on behalf of the American people and on behalf of the President,” Huckabee declared.

He emphasized the meaning behind the gesture: “I can’t think of a better way to begin my tenure than to let the people of Israel know that the President stands with them, he wants their safety, their security, and he wants the hostages home and that’s the first priority.”

{Matzav.com}

HaRav Simcha Kaufman, longtime Magid Shiur at Yeshiva Torah Temimah in Flatbush, visiting Hagaon HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky on Chol Hamoed Pesach, in Baltimore – where the Rosh is for Yom Tov.

In a startling revelation, a bag of Kosher L’Pesach lentils (kitniyos, permissible for Sephardim during Pesach) was inspected by a mashgiach at a hospital in Northern Israel, only to uncover numerous kernels of wheat. The lentils, certified by Badatz Beit Yosef and another kosher supervisory body for Pesach, were intended for use during Yom Yov. The Mashgiach says he checked the lentils five times. The Badatz Eidah Chareidis, which provides year-round certification for the product, explicitly states that the lentils are not certified for Pesach and must be thoroughly checked before use. This is why people do not eat Kitniyos and helps you understand why many people use almost no processed products to ensure strict adherence to Kosher for Pesach standards. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Trump administration issued an order Wednesday to stop construction on a major offshore wind project to power more than 500,000 New York homes, the latest in a series of moves targeting the industry. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction on Empire Wind, a fully-permitted project. He said it needs further review because it appears the Biden administration rushed the approval. The Norwegian company Equinor is building Empire Wind to start providing power in 2026. Equinor finalized the federal lease for Empire Wind in March 2017, early in President Donald Trump’s first term. BOEM approved the construction and operations plan in February 2024 and construction began that year. Trump has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. His first day in office, Trump signed an executive order temporarily halting offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for all wind projects. Last month, the administration revoked the Clean Air Permit for an offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey, Atlantic Shores. Construction on that wind farm had not yet begun. Equinor said Wednesday it had just received a notification from BOEM and it will engage directly with the agency and the Interior Department to understand the questions raised about the permits. A spokesperson declined to comment on the fate of the project, which is located southeast of Long Island, New York. The energy company has over $60 billion in investments across the U.S., including substantial oil, gas and renewable projects. While Trump is focused on energy abundance, the American Clean Power industry association said halting construction of fully-permitted energy projects is the “literal opposite” of that agenda, and it sends a “chilling signal” to all energy companies. Climate Jobs New York, a coalition of labor unions, said New York needs offshore wind and other clean energy projects to help address rising energy costs and create jobs. “It is out of touch to suggest that killing good jobs and energy sources is a good idea when working New Yorkers are struggling with rising costs of living and our grid needs stability,” the coalition said in a statement. The United States can’t be energy independent without offshore wind, it added. The Biden administration sought to ramp up offshore wind as a climate change solution, setting national goals to deploy offshore wind energy, holding lease sales and approving nearly a dozen commercial-scale offshore wind energy projects. The nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm opened a year ago, a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk Point, New York. Trump began reversing the country’s energy policies his first day in office with a spate of executive orders aimed at boosting oil, gas and coal. The administration is reviewing all existing and pending offshore wind permits. (AP)

An Israeli citizen, age 48, who previously lived in New Jersey before relocating to Israel, has admitted to orchestrating a large-scale fraud targeting a U.S. government relief initiative designed to support small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.

Federal prosecutors announced that Daniel Dadon fraudulently secured more than $3.2 million from the Paycheck Protection Program by submitting fabricated applications. These filings included bogus financial records, inflated employee numbers, forged banking details, and deceptive business information.

As a result of his plea, Dadon now faces severe legal consequences, including a potential 30-year prison sentence for bank fraud, another 10 years for laundering illicit funds, and financial penalties exceeding $1 million.

Court filings from New Jersey reveal that beginning in April 2020, and continuing for over two years, Dadon repeatedly applied for PPP loans using multiple companies. The PPP was introduced to assist businesses struggling due to the pandemic, offering forgivable loans on the condition that the money be used for salaries and critical operating expenses.

Authorities say that the figures provided by Dadon were outright fabrications. In one instance, he falsely claimed that his company, Seldat Distribution, had a staff of 400. A later review by tax officials showed the actual number of employees was just 97. He also exaggerated the business’s payroll costs, listing them at $850,000 a month. That misrepresentation led to a loan approval totaling over $2.1 million.

Investigators allege that Dadon wasted no time in moving the funds. The day after the money landed in the Seldat Distribution account, he reportedly shifted the entire sum to another company he owned, Seldat Fashion. When required to justify the use of the funds and request forgiveness for the loan, he allegedly submitted forged paperwork, including fabricated rent receipts and fake employment agreements. Although a portion of the loan was forgiven, a large part remains unpaid.

Dadon did not stop there. Prosecutors say he filed additional fraudulent PPP loan requests on behalf of other companies under his control, such as DG Distriservices and Seldat Staffing. These applications featured altered records, incorrect employee numbers, counterfeit tax filings, and digitally doctored documents made to look legitimate. In one case, he is accused of forging a letter from a New Jersey accountant to falsely affirm that his business met loan forgiveness criteria.

The Justice Department further alleges that some of the funds acquired through the fraudulent scheme were routed to bank accounts overseas, including in Canada and Vietnam. Prosecutors believe some assets were either hidden or disposed of. Legal filings allow for the confiscation of any properties or items bought using the illegally obtained money.

Dadon has officially pleaded guilty to both bank fraud and money laundering. Under federal law, bank fraud carries up to 30 years behind bars and fines reaching $1 million or double the amount of losses. Money laundering convictions come with a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of at least $250,000. His sentencing is set to take place on August 13 in the U.S. District Court in Trenton, New Jersey.

{Matzav.com}

Watch as Joey Newcomb and Aron Gerstel (known as the “Baal Hak’elah”) do K’elah in Panama on Chol Hamoed. (Only our Ashkenazic followers will get this one, sorry!) VIDEO FOR YWN BY ELLY K.

Watch as CNN is forced to report that most Americans support President Trump’s deportations.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff are meeting now with French President Emmanuel Macron and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris at the Elysee presidential palace.

Golani Brigade troops in the Morag Corridor, between Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, demolished a Hamas Shaboura Battalion training camp, which included a mock Israeli tank, captured a weapons cache, and destroyed other Hamas infrastructure, according to the IDF.

Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned that children in the U.S. are being diagnosed with autism at an “alarming rate,” promising on Wednesday to conduct exhaustive studies to identify any environmental factors that may cause the developmental disorder. His call comes the day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that found an estimated 1 in 31 U.S. children have autism, a marked increase from 2020. Autism experts applaud efforts to further understand the condition, but say the number of reported cases began to balloon as the definition of the condition expanded to include mild cases. “Autism destroys families,” Kennedy said. “More importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this.” Kennedy described autism as a “preventable disease,” although researchers and scientists have identified genetic factors that are associated with it. Autism is not considered a disease, but a complex disorder that affects the brain. Cases range widely in severity, with symptoms that can include delays in language, learning, and social or emotional skills. Some autistic traits can go unnoticed well into adulthood. Those who have spent decades researching autism have found no single cause. Besides genetics, scientists have identified various possible factors, including the age of a child’s father, the mother’s weight, and whether she had diabetes or was exposed to certain chemicals. Kennedy said his wide-ranging plan to determine the cause of autism will look at all of those environmental factors, and others. He had previously set a September deadline for determining what causes autism, but said Wednesday that by then, his department will determine at least “some” of the answers. The effort will involve issuing grants to universities and researchers, Kennedy said. He said the researchers will be encouraged to “follow the science, no matter what it says.” The Trump administration has recently canceled billions of dollars in grants for health and science research sent to universities. The CDC’s latest autism data was from 14 states and Puerto Rico in 2022. The previous estimate — from 2020 — was 1 in 36. Boys continue to be diagnosed more than girls, and the highest rates are among children who are Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native and Black. To estimate how common autism is, the CDC checked health and school records for 8-year-olds, because most cases are diagnosed by that age. Other researchers have their own estimates, but experts say the CDC’s estimate is the most rigorous and the gold standard. On Wednesday, Kennedy criticized theories that the rise in autism cases can be attributed to more awareness about the disorder. Autism researchers have cited heightened awareness, as well as medical advancements and increased diagnoses of mild cases. “The reasons for increases in autism diagnosis come down to scientific and health care progress,” said Annette Estes, director of the autism center at the University of Washington. “It’s hard for many people to understand this because the causes of autism are complex.” The Autism Science Foundation said Kennedy’s emphasis on environmental factors contradicted the findings in the CDC’s report. “This report is the most convincing evidence yet that changes in factors like access to services and de-stigmatization of (autism spectrum disorders) are leading to the increases in prevalence,” said Autism Science Foundation Chief Science […]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday revealed that the Trump administration has officially shut down the Global Engagement Center (GEC), describing it as a key move in dismantling what he called the “censorship-industrial complex.”

“Today, it is my pleasure to announce the State Department is taking a crucial step toward keeping the president’s promise to liberate American speech by abolishing forever the body formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC),” Rubio wrote in a Federalist op-ed titled, “Rubio: To Protect Free Speech, The Censorship Industrial Complex Must Be Dismantled.”

Rubio explained that in 2016, the Obama administration expanded the GEC’s mission. What had originally been a center focused on countering terrorist propaganda was restructured to fight a wide range of “foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts.”

According to Rubio, this was part of a calculated shift. He pointed to Rick Stengel, who led the GEC under Obama, claiming that Stengel used the term “democracy” to justify silencing voices he disagreed with. “This pivot was no accident. Obama’s man in charge at GEC, Rick Stengel, touted his efforts to protect ‘democracy’ while redefining it so that ‘democracy’ came to mean silencing the part of the electorate he doesn’t like.”

Rubio continued, “In 2019, Stengel directly equated President Trump’s campaign with foreign and terrorist propaganda, writing, ‘Trump employed the same techniques of disinformation as the Russians and much the same scare tactics as ISIS.’ That same year, Stengel wrote an entire article about, ‘why America needs a hate speech law.’”

He noted that the GEC played an active role in the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), a group that tracked what it considered disinformation during the 2020 election. “The EIP pretty much exclusively singled out accounts and narratives associated with President Trump and his supporters and, in fact, directly flagged President Trump’s tweets, along with his family members and friends of the administration,” Rubio stated.

Rubio criticized the GEC’s use of taxpayer money, saying it channeled millions of dollars into global organizations pushing for speech regulation under the pretense of fighting disinformation. “With its multimillion-dollar budget, paid for by American taxpayers, GEC funneled grants to organizations around the world dedicated to pushing speech restrictions under the guise of fighting ‘disinformation,’” he wrote.

He explained that he chose to publish the piece in the Federalist because that outlet, along with others like the New York Post, had been unfairly targeted. He cited the Global Disinformation Index, a group funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars, which labeled right-leaning news sites as high-risk for spreading disinformation while rating left-wing platforms such as HuffPost and ProPublica as low-risk.

Rubio argued, “The entire ‘disinformation’ industry, from its very beginnings, has existed to protect the American establishment from the voices of forgotten Americans. Everything it does is the fruit of the poisoned tree: the hoax that Russian interference, misinformation, and ‘meddling’ is what caused President Trump’s victory in 2016, rather than a winning political message that only he was offering.”

He concluded, “The Trump administration rejects this anti-American attitude. The American people don’t need an obscure agency to ‘protect’ them from lies by pressuring X to ban users or trying to put The Federalist out of business. This administration will fight false narratives with true narratives, not with heavy-handed threats decreeing that only one ‘truth’ be visible online.”

In addition to the op-ed, Rubio also hosted a live discussion with Mike Benz, a former State Department official and Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO).

{Matzav.com}