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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

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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}

WATCH: Hafganos against the autopsies of the two infants who were Niftar in the Romema playgroup, are continuing in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh. Flash bombs, water canons, and horses were used by police. Numerous reports of police violently beating Chareidim.

The British Ambassador to Israel, Simon Walters, held a meeting at the residence of Hagaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch.

A pre-dawn operation by the military police in the yishuv of Adam ended without an arrest early Tuesday morning after residents and yeshiva students rushed to the scene and physically blocked officers from taking a yeshiva bochur into custody.

According to reports, heavily reinforced military police units entered Adam at around 3:00 a.m. with the aim of arresting a talmid from the Noam HaTalmud Yeshiva who is considered a draft evader. The quiet community was jolted awake as the forces moved toward the bochur‘s home.

Once it became clear that military police were operating inside the community, activists triggered the so-called “Black Alert” system, a rapid-response warning used by opponents of the draft. Within minutes, dozens—and then hundreds—of residents and yeshiva students converged on the location, surrounding the police vehicle and forming a human barrier around the bochur.

After a prolonged standoff marked by tension and confrontations, the officers withdrew from the area without making the arrest. The retreat was met with loud cheers from those gathered at the scene.

The nighttime incident has once again fueled anger and unrest in the chareidi public, particularly among the Sephardic community. Individuals familiar with the details voiced sharp criticism, claiming a troubling pattern. “Time and again we see these initiated arrests—nighttime raids that reach right into people’s homes—focused on young men from the Sephardic community,” one source said. “Is this coincidence, or a deliberate policy? The public is no longer buying claims that it’s random.”

Following the withdrawal of the forces, the atmosphere quickly shifted. The home in Adam turned into a scene of celebration, with footage showing dozens of yeshiva students dancing energetically alongside the student and his family, expressing gratitude for what they described as a late-night miracle.

“They came to take him to prison, and in the end he stayed in the study hall,” one participant said during the dancing. “It feels like the spirit won over brute force.”

{Matzav.com}

A Chareidi bochur was moderately injured on Tuesday when a passing car ran into him during a protest on Rechov Golda Meir in Jerusalem at 2:45 p.m. Violent protests are taking place across the country ahead of the hearing at the Supreme Court on the autopsies on the babies who died in a Jerusalem daycare […]

Newly released data following a court petition has revealed how public funds totaling hundreds of thousands of shekels were used in 2024 to cover personal and household expenses connected to the private residences of Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in Caesarea and Yerushalayim.

The information was disclosed after a legal petition filed by the Movement for Freedom of Information, leading to the publication of expenditure records from the Prime Minister’s Office that had previously been partially redacted. The newly released documents provide a clearer and more detailed picture of daily and personal spending, including food purchases and maintenance of private facilities such as a swimming pool.

According to the records, more than NIS 27,000 was spent on maintaining the swimming pool at Netanyahu’s private home in Caesarea. An additional roughly NIS 50,000 was used for food, groceries, and gas refills for both the Caesarea residence and the private home in Yerushalayim.

The documents further show that thousands of shekels were paid during the year for maintenance and renovation work at the Caesarea property. These included approximately NIS 5,000 for waterproofing consultation, around NIS 6,550 for sealing and insulation work following water damage, and about NIS 1,500 for pest control. In parallel, roughly NIS 6,000 was allocated for communications infrastructure work at the private residence on Gaza Street in Yerushalayim.

Other listed expenses included about NIS 1,400 for laundry services and approximately NIS 12,500 categorized as “maintenance and miscellaneous” costs. Additional payments to individual professionals were also detailed, including roughly NIS 1,650 to replace a kitchen faucet, around NIS 7,300 to repair bursts in the main water line, and NIS 650 to fix a clothes dryer.

Visits by other technicians—covering refrigerator repairs, electrical work, and plumbing—amounted to an additional roughly NIS 16,000, bringing the total spent on professional services alone to about NIS 18,000.

Public funds were also used for exterior maintenance at the Caesarea residence. Nearly NIS 1,400 was spent on torch fuel, approximately NIS 4,680 on replacing window screens, and close to NIS 7,000 on root-cutting work. These items had originally been redacted from public disclosure on security grounds, with the redactions now partially lifted.

Despite the expanded transparency, some information remains withheld. About NIS 46,000 in expenses is still classified due to security considerations, while another roughly NIS 20,000 was not itemized for privacy reasons. In total, around NIS 250,000 in public spending had until now not been fully disclosed.

Attorney Yaara Winkler-Shalit, who represents the Movement for Freedom of Information, sharply criticized the Prime Minister’s Office, saying that despite clear rulings by the Supreme Court and district courts, the public is repeatedly forced to turn to the legal system to understand how its money is being used. She said the matter involves basic information about personal expenses funded by the state budget.

{Matzav.com}

Prominent figures who served in the Biden administration are sharply criticizing the vetting process used by Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, after Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro disclosed that he was asked whether he was “an Israeli agent” while being considered as a potential running mate.

Deborah Lipstadt, who served as the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said the reported question reflected deeply troubling bias. “This report is extremely distressing. When vetted by the White House for my position as Special Envoy, I was not asked anything akin to this. Had I been, I would have responded that the question is an example of why an Envoy is necessary. It is classic antisemitism,” Lipstadt wrote on social media.

In a follow-up post, Lipstadt said her concerns only intensified as more details emerged. “The more I read about Josh Shapiro’s treatment in the vetting process, the more disturbed I become. The questions to him, I repeat, are why they needed a Special Envoy on antisemitism. These questions were classic antisemitism,” she added.

Similar criticism came from Aaron Keyak, who previously served as Lipstadt’s deputy, in a statement addressing the episode. “The minimum demand of Jews in the United States and our allies – even those in public service – is to simply be treated like any other American, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or race. That Governor Josh Shapiro wrote that he was asked if he was a double agent of the world’s only Jewish state is an antisemitic inquiry,” Keyak said.

Keyak questioned why Shapiro, in particular, was subjected to such scrutiny. “While we can safely assume that asking all potential Vice Presidential picks if they are an Israeli double agent is not included on the standard list, the obvious question is why it was Governor Shapiro who was targeted by the staff of the presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee, Kamala Harris, in particular. The truth is, we almost certainly know why,” he added.

He went on to argue that such treatment reflects a broader pattern. “Unfortunately, this is not the first time the US government or a presidential campaign has applied a double standard to American Jews during the vetting process for a wide range of officials. I have heard from too many being asked similar questions over many years and I can speak from personal experience. During my vetting process I faced questions in a classified setting that my fellow non-Jewish political appointees did not. These sort of antisemitic questions are anti-American and do not represent the best that the Democratic Party offers. Now and especially during the next Presidential campaign we must demand better,” Keyak concluded.

The remarks followed reporting by The New York Times, which published excerpts from Shapiro’s forthcoming memoir, Where We Keep the Light, scheduled for release on January 27.

In the book, Josh Shapiro describes what he characterized as an unusually tense and intrusive vetting process, particularly surrounding Israel. “Had I been a double agent for Israel?” Shapiro wrote, recounting a last-minute question posed by the vetting team. He said he pushed back, calling the inquiry offensive, and was told in response, “Well, we have to ask.”

Shapiro wrote that while he believed the staffer was “just doing her job,” the exchange nevertheless “said a lot about some of the people around the VP.”

A spokesperson for Kamala Harris did not respond to a request for comment.

Shapiro was among the finalists under consideration to join Harris on the Democratic ticket, though she ultimately selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

President Donald Trump, who defeated Harris in the 2024 election, has repeatedly argued since then that Harris passed over Shapiro, whom he described as a stronger option than Walz, because Shapiro is Jewish.

Shapiro has rejected the claim that antisemitism determined the outcome, and has dismissed Trump as the “least credible person” to lecture others about opposing hatred and bigotry.

At the same time, Shapiro acknowledged broader concerns, saying, “Antisemitism played absolutely no role in my dialogue with the vice president. Absolutely none. It is also true that antisemitism is present in our commonwealth, in our country and in some areas within our party, and we have to stand up and speak out against that.”

{Matzav.com}

Two extremist minors were arrested overnight Monday for alleged involvement in a violent incident against the son of Shas MK Yinon Azoulay in Ashdod, in an apparent “protest” against his father’s involvement in advancing a Chareidi draft law. The suspects, who were arrested near the scene of the incident, were transferred to the station for […]

Israel’s military chief has alerted the country’s top political leadership to a growing crisis in combat manpower, cautioning that the Israel Defense Forces could face serious operational limitations if the issue is not addressed swiftly.

In a letter disclosed by Channel 12 News, Eyal Zamir, the IDF Chief of Staff, warned that “the shortage of fighters is already acute” and could begin “to undermine the military’s readiness within the next year.”

Zamir wrote that the security pressures of the past two years have placed extraordinary strain on the IDF, disrupting personnel systems and creating challenges without precedent. He pointed out that legislative efforts tied to the Draft Law and to extending compulsory service are moving too slowly, a lag he said threatens the army’s capacity to carry out its responsibilities.

According to the Chief of Staff, only an immediate, urgent, and even retroactive extension of mandatory service for men to 36 months can prevent serious harm to the IDF’s force-building plans. He cautioned that without such a step, both readiness and the standard of combat training would deteriorate, with effects becoming noticeable as soon as next year and intensifying from January 2027.

The warning comes as the IDF reports shortfalls of thousands of soldiers in combat units and raises concern that, beyond the current gaps, the Knesset is advancing legislation that would broaden draft exemptions, potentially worsening the manpower crisis.

{Matzav.com}

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Police announced after midnight overnight Monday that two of the babysitters at the Jerusalem daycare center—where two babies died on Monday—were arrested. After their initial questioning following the tragic incident, the police decided to keep them in custody overnight. According to reports, the police may charge them with reckless homicide and negligence. The two are […]

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Parents of the babies and toddlers evacuated from the Jerusalem daycare where two babies were found unconscious on Monday and later died spent the night at the hospital, where their children were monitored overnight. B’Chasdei Hashem, after comprehensive tests, it was reported this morning that 27 babies and toddlers who had been hospitalized in the […]

By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld In Shemos, Perek Yud Bais the Torah tells us that we have a mitzvah to bring a Korban Pesach on Erev Pesach. Was the bracha of shehecheyanu recited when they brought the Korban Pesach since it is a mitzvah that occurs infrequently? The Nesiv Chaim in siman taf lamed bais says that they did not say the bracha of shehecheyanu while shechting the Korban Pesach. They relied on the shehecheyanu that would be said on the night of Pesach during Kiddush. This is similar to the fact that we don’t make a bracha of shehechyanu while building the sukka, but rather we say the bracha of shehecheyanu during Kiddush when we also have the building of the sukka in mind. The Shailos Utshuvos Shevet Halevi in chelek gimmel, siman samech heh questions the above comparison. We don’t make a bracha of shehecheyanu on the building of the sukkah because that act is actually a hechsher mitzvah, a preparation for the mitzvah of eating in the sukka. We therefore rely on the shehecheyanu on the mitzvah of eating in the sukka itself, which includes the preparation for the building of the sukka as well. A similar scenario would be concerning saying shehechayanu while searching for chametz. We do not say shehecheyanu while we check for chametz since it is only a hechsher mitzvah; the actual mitzvah is not having chametz in your domain on Pesach, so we are yotze with the shehecheyanu we say as we usher in the Yom Tov during Kiddush. In contrast, when it comes to shechitas Pesach where the Rishonim count the shechita and the achilas Pesach as two separate mitzvos, we should be required to say shehecheyanu on the shechita and then at night when we eat the Pesach we could either rely on the original shehecheyanu on the shechita or rely on the shehecheyanu we say for the Yom Tov itself. The bottom line is that since the shechitas Pesach is a mitzvah on its own and comes infrequently; we need to say a shehecheyanu. The Shevet Halevi was asked a question in Chelek Tes, siman kuf yud yud gimmel based on what we pasken in Yoreh Deah, siman chof ches, seif koton gimel concerning a shochet who shechts for the first time. The shochet makes a bracha of shehecheyanu on the kisui hadam, (the covering of the blood) but not on the shechita because when one shechts, the animal is hurting so we don’t say shehecheyanu during the shechita. The question then is, how could we say a shehecheyanu when we shecht the Korban Pesach when we are causing pain to the animal? The Shevet Halevi answers that there is a difference between these two scenarios. When one shechts an animal because he wants to eat meat, then there is no place for him to say shehecheyanu since he is causing the animal pain in order to have his own pleasures fulfilled. On the other hand, when one brings the Korban Pesach, he is shechting the korban because Hashem told him to and not for his own personal pleasure. In such a case one could say shehecheyanu despite the fact that the animal is in pain since that is what Hashem commanded us to do. May we be zocheh soon to bring korbanos and be required to say shehecheyanu for shechita in our lifetime.

A group of Chassidish bochurim came under attack in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday evening by the driver of a car yelling antisemitic curses—only 100 meters from the Adas Yisrael shul, which was firebombed a little over a year ago. According to a report in the Herald Sun, the bochurim were walking together at around 9:50 […]

Nearly 3,000 high-level participants from business, government and beyond plus untold numbers of activists, journalists and outside observers are converging in the Swiss town of Davos for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. Here’s a look at the latest edition of the elite affair in the Alpine snows: The WEF and Davos The forum is a […]