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Hamas leaders told White House adviser Jared Kushner during a meeting in Egypt on Sunday that the terror group remains committed to giving up its weapons and demilitarizing Gaza, as the Trump administration presses ahead with the next stage of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, according to an Axios report.

Kushner spent approximately 90 minutes meeting directly with senior Hamas officials, pressing them to demonstrate that their stated willingness to disarm will translate into concrete action. He also warned them that Israel remains deeply distrustful of Hamas and is not convinced the terror group will actually surrender its weapons.

A source familiar with the discussions characterized the meeting as “very productive” and said Hamas officials asked Kushner to personally convey to President Trump that they continue to stand behind their commitment to disarm.

“We thanked them for the commitment, but we want to see real efforts and not just words,” the source told Axios. “It was important for Kushner to lock them into this commitment in person.”

The talks took place as the Trump administration and its Board of Peace work to advance Israel and Hamas into the next stage of Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza.

Kushner told the Hamas delegation that disarmament is not open to negotiation and stressed that Washington would need to see meaningful steps on the ground before it could push Israel to carry out corresponding measures of its own.

“Kushner stressed to Hamas leaders that the bar is high because the Israeli side doesn’t trust them to actually disarm,” the source said.

Under the plan, Hamas would be required to relinquish control of Gaza to a Palestinian technocratic government, give up its weapons and military infrastructure, and remain entirely outside the territory’s future governing structure.

According to the report, Hamas representatives told Kushner that they are willing to hand over governing authority and would refrain from interfering with the new technocratic government once it begins functioning.

Hamas officials also raised complaints about ongoing Israeli strikes and other Israeli military activity inside Gaza. Kushner responded by pointing out that Hamas itself had taken four months to agree to disarm, according to the source.

During the meeting, Kushner expressed appreciation to Hamas for cooperating in efforts to recover the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages. Hamas representatives, in turn, thanked the Trump administration and the Board of Peace for their work aimed at improving humanitarian conditions inside Gaza.

Following the talks, Hamas announced that it had agreed to a road map for implementing the second phase of Trump’s plan. The group said that stage would include a permanent ceasefire, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, continued humanitarian assistance and the beginning of reconstruction. Notably, Hamas made no explicit reference to disarmament in its public statement.

The Board of Peace is seeking to have Hamas begin dismantling its weapons stockpiles and military infrastructure. If that process moves forward, Israel could then be asked to permit the deployment of an International Stabilization Force inside Gaza, allow reconstruction efforts to begin in the Rafah area and enter discussions over initial IDF troop withdrawals.

“There can be no ambiguity: Hamas must relinquish governing authority and all weapons and military infrastructure,” the source said. “And Gaza can never again be a source of terror for Israel.”

Kushner is expected to travel to Israel on Monday for talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu regarding the “corresponding steps” Israel would be expected to implement if Hamas begins carrying out its commitment to disarm.

Sunday’s talks marked Kushner’s first face-to-face meeting with Hamas leaders since the Gaza agreement was reached in October.

Kushner was joined at the meeting by Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and senior advisers Aryeh Lightstone and Liran Tancman.

The Hamas delegation included the terror group’s political leader Khalil al-Hayya. Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Qatari diplomat Ali al-Thawadi and a senior Turkish official also participated in the meeting, according to the report.

{Matzav.com}

National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir sharply attacked the leaders of the chareidi parties in a wide-ranging interview with Kikar HaShabbat, accusing Aryeh Deri and Moshe Gafni of exploiting allegations of police violence against chareidi protesters for political gain.

Ben Gvir argued that the criticism is particularly hypocritical because Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is seeking his removal in part over discussions he initiated concerning alleged discrimination and police mistreatment of chareidim.

The minister also laid out his position on the contentious issue of chareidi military service, saying that those who are genuinely learning Torah should remain in yeshiva, while those who are not learning should be encouraged to enlist — “with an embrace and not through coercion.”

Ben Gvir openly appealed to chareidi voters who are disappointed with their traditional parties to support Otzma Yehudit, while stressing that he is not seeking to undermine the established chareidi parties. He also said he has no plans to add several newly formed small chareidi factions to his electoral slate.

During the interview with Kikar HaShabbat’s Yishai Cohen, Ben Gvir also discussed the discovery of missing mother and daughter Mali and Liel Yahalomi in Argentina, the security situation in Lebanon, the Likud primaries, reports of efforts to oust Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, his decision to run separately from Bezalel Smotrich, and the controversy surrounding Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi.

The Yahalomi Case

Ben Gvir began by addressing the discovery of Mali and Liel Yahalomi in Argentina after an extensive search.

“First of all, wonderful work by the police, truly wonderful work by the police,” Ben Gvir said. “I spoke with the police commissioner on Thursday. He told me: ‘The direction is that this is not terrorism, and the direction is that this is not criminal.’ And still, we both agreed: Heaven forbid that the police take their foot off the gas, because who knows what could later emerge. And therefore they worked hard.”

Cohen noted that considerable uncertainty remains surrounding the case and that police officials themselves have indicated that information may still be concealed.

“I don’t know whether they are hiding things or not hiding things,” Ben Gvir responded. “What I can tell you is: Baruch Hashem, praise to the Creator of the world — it was not criminal, it was not nationalistically motivated, and that is the most important thing. That is the most important thing.”

Cohen then raised calls that emerged after Shabbos for the mother and daughter to potentially be charged for the enormous cost of the search operation.

“Since Motzoei Shabbos, quite a few people have been writing: Perhaps they should be required to pay the expenses of the police, of the state? After all, this incident cost the state millions. They knew that the entire world was searching for them, and they still played with the police, played with the entire country, which was turning itself upside down to locate them. Perhaps they should pay the expenses?”

“I don’t know whether I accept your description,” Ben Gvir replied. “But you know what? I’m proud that we are a country where we are not like New York or all sorts of places where people are left to die. If it turns out that they did this deliberately and maliciously and did something… I’m completely with you. But I’m proud to be in a country where we take care of our people. We take care of our citizens even when they are very, very far from here. You know, in New York, a person can die in the street and nobody will look at him.”

“We Should Bomb Beirut”

Turning to security, Cohen asked Ben Gvir whether Israel had become too restrained along its northern and southern fronts.

“You look at the northern border, the southern border, Gaza, Lebanon. It’s true that there are still targeted killings and there are attacks here and there, but it isn’t what it was two or three months ago.”

“You’re exactly right, exactly right,” Ben Gvir responded. “We can… and I hear warnings from the prime minister and from the chief of staff that there is a real danger to the lives of the soldiers — they shoot, they kill. It’s not enough.”

“I think the prime minister is wrong about this — and it has been reported, I’ve told him this more than once or twice,” Ben Gvir continued. “My red line is harming soldiers. And of course, I daven for their recovery. I have a son who is now going in and out, in and out of Lebanon with a reconnaissance unit, and I’m telling you: he and his friends deserve for us to bomb Beirut, for us to crush them.”

Ben Gvir Intervenes in the Likud Primaries

Cohen then turned to the Likud primaries, noting the unusual spectacle of a minister who leads a separate political party publicly weighing in on another party’s internal election.

“It was always like this,” Ben Gvir responded. “Why? I want the Likud list to be a right-wing list. I want to have partners on the Likud list. I’m not embarrassed about it. I published a list. I published a list of names — I want them to be the ones who are elected.”

“I’m calling on the Likud public — and by the way, when I come to Likud weddings, to Likud events, you have to see what happens, what love! I tell them: These are people who I think you should vote for. It’s the most legitimate thing in the world.”

Cohen noted that Ben Gvir had revealed earlier on 103FM that eight Likud MKs and ministers had approached him in recent days and asked him to reserve spots for them on the Otzma Yehudit slate.

“Yes,” Ben Gvir confirmed. “Baruch Hashem, they see that Otzma Yehudit is growing. Yishai, Likud is not a branch of Ben Gvir. Everything is fine. Likud is the ruling party, and with Hashem’s help, it will continue to be the ruling party. I have no aspiration in the coming election to replace the ruling party. I do have an aspiration in the coming election: first, to be as strong as possible, and truly to bring in as many good people as possible.”

“And yes, it’s no secret that people in Likud see Otzma growing and growing,” he continued. “A lot of people in Likud are also jealous of what we’re doing. Many times they’ve said to me: ‘Wow, you do this, and you do this here, and you do that there and you do this,’ and they want to be part of the success.”

Asked what those eight lawmakers were telling him privately, and whether they feared failing to secure realistic positions on the next Likud slate, Ben Gvir said that was not necessarily their only concern.

“I don’t know whether it’s only the fear of not getting a spot on the list,” he said. “By the way, you know, they could also reach places 20, 25, 30, which is… But it’s also about going to a brand that, Baruch Hashem, is very successful, praise to the Creator of the world.”

“As of now, the polls look good for us. My internal polls look even better. I’m not getting confused. I work more and more and more and more and more. I want more. I think ultimately they should compete in Likud. This contest is important. I believe they will succeed, and I wish them success.”

Attempts to Oust Netanyahu

Cohen then asked about reports that Likud figures had explored replacing Netanyahu after the October 7 massacre, potentially with Yuli Edelstein or Nir Barkat.

Ben Gvir said he personally encountered such efforts during a later period when he left the government.

“I actually remember from the period when I resigned from the government, and then figures in Likud came to me — I won’t give names, I won’t give names — and they came and said to me, ‘There’s an opportunity now, there’s an opportunity now! Let’s send Netanyahu home and establish a right-wing government, establish a right-wing government.’”

“First of all, I didn’t accept it,” Ben Gvir said. “Not only did I not accept it, I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu during one of our conversations and told him: ‘I can tell you, I wish they loved you in Likud the way I love and appreciate you.’”

“He said to me: ‘You love and appreciate me, but there are all sorts of other people in Likud who love me and appreciate me.’ I told him: ‘Prime Minister, not enough, not enough.’”

Why Ben Gvir Wants to Run Separately From Smotrich

With approximately two and a half months remaining until the election, Cohen asked whether Otzma Yehudit would run independently or reunite with Bezalel Smotrich.

“I think it’s right that we run as two separate heads,” Ben Gvir said. “I conducted a survey of thousands, an in-depth survey. And it turned out that if Bezalel joins me, there are people in the chareidi community who won’t vote; if Bezalel joins me, there are people in the periphery who won’t vote. By the way, Bezalel also has a constituency that is debating between him and Bennett and prefers that he run alone.”

Cohen raised the concern that Smotrich could fail to cross the electoral threshold, costing the right-wing bloc four seats.

“I actually don’t see that concern as of today,” Ben Gvir responded. “I see that with his full strength, he is stable, he crosses the threshold. I would hope and expect Feiglin and Winter to join him. But I say explicitly: Otzma Yehudit needs to run as one separate list.”

An Appeal to Disappointed Chareidi Voters

Cohen asked whether Ben Gvir might instead join forces with smaller chareidi parties, including Rabbi Abergel’s Achi party and a party calling itself “The Chareidi Public,” led by Leitner of Beit Shemesh.

“Yishai, right now — and not only right now, I see it all the time — for four years Otzma Yehudit has run alone, and the results are good, the results are beautiful,” Ben Gvir said. “I think you don’t replace a winning horse.”

“I respect everyone, I truly respect everyone, but ultimately Otzma Yehudit is a brand. Otzma Yehudit is something that appeals to all of Klal Yisroel. People feel how much I care.”

He stressed, however, that he was not attempting to deliberately weaken the established chareidi parties.

“I certainly don’t want to stick a finger in the eye of the chareidi parties — let that be clear!” Ben Gvir said. “But I do say explicitly: Anyone who is not voting for the chareidi parties should vote for me.”

“There is a certain disappointment today in various parts of the chareidi community. If they aren’t going to vote for chareidi parties, let them come to me. They shouldn’t go somewhere where their votes will be wasted.”

“And on the other hand, someone who votes for the chareidi parties should vote for the chareidi parties. Sometimes there are disagreements, with Aryeh too, certainly with Gafni, and with various others. But ultimately, whoever votes for the chareidi parties should vote for them; whoever doesn’t should come to Otzma Yehudit.”

Ben Gvir Fires Back at Deri and Gafni

Cohen confronted Ben Gvir with the fierce criticism he has faced in recent months from the leaders of the chareidi parties over alleged police violence against chareidi demonstrators.

“They say that you don’t intervene regarding police violence against chareidi protesters,” Cohen said. “Deri, Gafni, Goldknopf, Porush — all of them have issued very harsh statements against your conduct as national security minister.”

“You can attribute many things to the names you mentioned, but they’re not stupid,” Ben Gvir responded. “And they read exactly what the attorney general wrote when she said she wants to remove me. For what? Because I initiated discussions in my ministry about why chareidim are being beaten, why they are being discriminated against, and why the chareidi community is being harmed.”

“So I don’t think Aryeh Deri doesn’t know this — he knows it very well!” Ben Gvir said. “He wants to make a political play out of it.”

“And you know what? It angers me that he is making a political play against someone whom he told me — he told me this more than once or twice — ‘You always, always, always helped, and you were always, always, always there when we needed you.’”

“So how do you go and make a political play out of this?” Ben Gvir continued. “What, for the sake of another few thousand votes? Both Aryeh and Gafni know that the attorney general wants to fire me, among other things, because of this very issue. How are you not ashamed to talk?”

Ben Gvir Defends Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi

The interview then turned to Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, who has been summoned to a hearing ahead of a possible indictment.

“Of course, certainly! Certainly!” Ben Gvir exclaimed. “Because they’re persecuting him! What are they persecuting him for? Because he is implementing Ben Gvir’s policies!”

“I’m telling you, Yishai: If I’m not there, if Otzma Yehudit isn’t in this ministry, we’re going back to summer camps in the prisons.”

Asked whether he would call on Yaakobi to remain in his position, Ben Gvir answered emphatically.

“Of course! What kind of question is that? A person is presumed innocent until his guilt is proven. There is a presumption of innocence. When he is convicted by the Supreme Court by a panel of three judges, then we can consider what to do with him.”

“But in this situation, in a situation where they are persecuting him… I know why they’re persecuting him, I know why she is persecuting him. If he is convicted in the Supreme Court, that’s a different story. But if he isn’t convicted, and there’s only an indictment? What, are there not enough examples of indictments that were filed in order to persecute someone?”

“I told him my position several times, and I very much hope that he accepts it and that my position is heard: As long as there is no final conviction against you — final — again, I’m not arguing with a court. If there is a final conviction, that is a different event. If the Supreme Court determines, through a panel of judges, that this is the situation, that is something else. But as long as that does not happen, Kobi is innocent.”

“Whoever Learns Torah Should Learn Torah”

The interview concluded with the explosive issue of the draft law and the legal status of yeshiva bochurim.

“I’m exactly where I’ve been all these years,” Ben Gvir said. “I think serving in the army is a mitzvah. My son is now in a reconnaissance unit. Someone who isn’t learning should enlist.”

“But even them — not by force, not through populism, and not like those who tried to score political points at the expense of the chareidi community and to smear them and harm them and use violence. I’m absolutely not there.”

“With an embrace!” he continued. “Another embrace, and another embrace, and it works. I want to bring chareidim into the IDF, but I want chareidim who aren’t learning. Someone who isn’t learning…”

Cohen interrupted to clarify: “Meaning, you accept that someone who is learning — learns?”

“Yes!” Ben Gvir replied. “What the rabbanim say: Whoever learns Torah should learn Torah. Unfortunately, there are many who don’t learn Torah. Those are the people I want first. There are very many of them — let them come, I’ll embrace them.”

“And I succeeded this way!” Ben Gvir added. “You know, Lieberman talks about recruitment, Bennett talks about recruitment — they didn’t recruit a single chareidi! Not one chareidi did they recruit.”

“And I, through an embrace and by making sure that the chareidi Border Police unit would be mehadrin min hamehadrin in every respect… What did the fighters there tell me? ‘We never learned as much Torah before as we learn there.’”

{Matzav.com}

Internal Israeli security documents reportedly reveal that a new Qatari funding mechanism benefiting Hamas was approved in late 2021, months after then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett publicly declared that the era of Qatari “suitcases of dollars” entering Gaza needed to end.

According to an investigative report aired Sunday evening by Israel’s Channel 13, confidential meeting summaries and security protocols show what the report described as a significant gap between the government’s public declarations and the policy being implemented behind the scenes regarding money reaching Hamas.

The investigation, conducted by journalist Michael Shemesh, reported that while Bennett publicly declared that “the suitcases of dollars are something we inherited and that needs to disappear from the world,” an alternative mechanism was approved as early as October 2021.

Under the arrangement, Qatar purchased approximately $10 million worth of fuel from Egypt each month. The fuel was then transferred into the Gaza Strip without Israeli supervision and delivered directly to Multi Trade, a company that the report said was owned by Hamas. According to the investigation, proceeds from the fuel sales were used by Hamas to pay the salaries of its employees.

At the center of the report are summaries of meetings between Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, then the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and Qatari envoy Mohammed al-Emadi, who was reportedly given the code name “The Jeweler” by Israeli security officials.

According to the documents, on October 17, 2021, “The Jeweler” informed Israeli officials that he had succeeded in developing an alternative mechanism for paying salaries to senior Hamas personnel.

Under the proposal, the funds would effectively be transferred through fuel purchases from Egypt: Qatar would spend $10 million to purchase Egyptian fuel, which would then be transferred without supervision directly to the Hamas-owned company. Hamas would subsequently be able to use either the proceeds generated from selling the fuel or the money it saved through the arrangement to cover salaries.

At the same time, the Qatari envoy asked Israel to increase the number of Gazans permitted to enter Israel for work to 30,000 per month.

“The Jeweler” subsequently met with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and later held discussions with Alian.

The investigation published an Israeli security assessment of the meeting between the Qatari envoy and Sinwar.

“The Jeweler describes a positive situation in the Gaza Strip, from both a security and civilian perspective, and the fuel-purchasing mechanism is agreed upon by all sides as a replacement for the grant for Hamas employees,” the document stated.

The newly disclosed documents reportedly contain several other significant revelations about Israel’s dealings with Hamas, Qatar and Egypt during that period.

One involved threats conveyed by Sinwar. According to the report, the Qatari envoy delivered a warning on Sinwar’s behalf that Israel should neither alter the status quo in Yerushalayim nor worsen conditions for security prisoners following the escape of Palestinian terrorists from Gilboa Prison.

COGAT responded in the protocol: “Israel governs its capital as a sovereign state.”

The documents also reveal that Israeli officials used the code name “the Greens” when referring to Hamas. According to the protocols, Qatari officials expressed a desire to reduce the dependence of “the Greens” on Qatari assistance for paying Hamas employees.

Another section of the documents addresses Israel’s policy of restraint along the Gaza border.

Despite ongoing efforts toward an arrangement with Hamas, the terror group reportedly continued provocations and established military positions just 100 meters from the border fence.

According to a summary of an October 2021 conversation, despite Israeli complaints over the activity, an Egyptian intelligence general instead chose to “thank the general for the restrained policy in the use of fire” by the IDF.

The report also highlighted the expansion of permits for Gazans to work inside Israel. At approximately the same time that the alternative funding mechanism was being approved and Qatar was pressing Israel on the issue, Israel significantly increased the number of Gazan workers allowed to enter the country, eventually reaching a quota of 30,000 per month.

Bennett’s office strongly rejected the report’s characterization of his government’s policies, arguing that he had fundamentally changed the previous system and adopted a significantly tougher approach toward Hamas.

“Former Prime Minister Bennett stopped the suitcases of dollars that entered the Gaza Strip indiscriminately; two-thirds of the money was transferred to food vouchers and reached civilians, and one-third was converted into fuel,” Bennett’s office said in response.

“Bennett led the change within a few short months, after years of complete abandonment. Bennett led a policy that was the opposite of Netanyahu’s — instead of surrendering to Hamas pressure and increasing the number of workers, Bennett permitted workers to enter only when the security situation allowed it.”

Bennett’s office also pointed to the 2022 Flag March as evidence of what it described as his tougher policy toward Hamas.

“Another example of this is that Bennett insisted that the 2022 Flag March take place along its original route, despite Hamas threats, as opposed to Netanyahu, who diverted the route of the Flag March in 2021 because he was afraid of Sinwar.”

The statement also flatly rejected the contention that Bennett’s government pursued a restrained policy in response to Hamas-instigated disturbances along the Gaza border.

“In addition, the claim that a restrained and accommodating policy was adopted surrounding the riots at the fence is a complete lie. Bennett led a policy of zero tolerance for incendiary balloons, rockets and approaches to the fence without a response, ended the bombing of sand dunes as was done during the Netanyahu era, acted to carry out strikes against high-quality targets, and led the quietest year the Gaza border communities had experienced in the previous 20 years.”

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States will reduce joint military exercises with South Korea, pointing both to his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s refusal to assist Washington in its war against Iran.

Trump announced the move ahead of major U.S.-South Korean military drills that had been scheduled to begin Monday, arguing that the exercises are expensive for Washington and send an unnecessarily hostile message to Pyongyang.

“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea. These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump then connected the issue to South Korea’s decision not to participate in U.S. efforts against Iran, though he acknowledged that the two matters were not necessarily directly related.

“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” Trump wrote.

The president has repeatedly expressed frustration with American allies that have declined to provide assistance during the war with Iran, criticizing countries he believes have benefited from U.S. support while failing to reciprocate.

At the same time, Trump has continued to emphasize his unusually cordial relationship with Kim, despite decades of hostility between Washington and Pyongyang.

Earlier over the weekend, Trump posted a photograph of himself with the North Korean dictator and wrote: “Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!”

The U.S.-South Korean exercises, known as the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, had been scheduled to begin Monday and continue for 10 days.

Pyongyang has repeatedly denounced military exercises conducted by the United States and its regional allies, portraying them as preparations for an attack on North Korea. Last year, North Korea’s Central Military Commission described trilateral exercises involving the United States, Japan and South Korea as “the most comprehensive and offensive war drill for aggression in terms of scale, content and nature” conducted on the southern Korean Peninsula.

Trump’s latest decision follows a pattern established during his first term, when Washington and Seoul reduced the scale of some joint military activities as Trump pursued diplomacy with Kim and attempted to lower tensions on the peninsula.

In 2018, amid nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea, Trump argued that it was “inappropriate to have war games” on the Korean Peninsula.

The following year, after Trump and Kim failed to reach an agreement during their summit in Hanoi, Washington and Seoul announced that the large annual military exercises that had long been central to their defense partnership would be reorganized into smaller drills.

Trump also focused at the time on what he said was the disproportionate financial burden being carried by Washington.

“The reason I do not want military drills with South Korea is to save hundreds of millions of dollars for the U.S. for which we are not reimbursed,” he posted in 2019.

South Korea has been one of Washington’s closest Asian allies for more than seven decades, and its armed forces routinely train alongside American troops. The country is also home to Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military installation overseas, where thousands of American servicemembers, their families and South Korean nationals are based.

Trump, who met Kim several times during his first term, has continued to speak positively about their personal relationship since returning to the White House.

While traveling home from China in May, Trump said he had been communicating with Kim but declined to disclose how many conversations had taken place between the two leaders.

Kim, meanwhile, has cited the U.S. war against Iran as further justification for North Korea’s refusal to abandon its nuclear arsenal.

In remarks to North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly that were published in March, Kim accused Washington of “acts of state sponsored terrorism and aggression,” though he did not specifically name Iran.

{Matzav.com}

Iran’s military has announced a $30,000 reward for the capture or killing of American military personnel, according to a report by the Iranian WANA news agency citing Iranian Army commander Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami.

According to the report, the reward would be doubled if the attack is carried out by a woman.

Hatami said the money would be financed through a public funding initiative involving the Iranian people, with the reward to be given to an Iranian force that succeeds in attacking an American servicemember.

The announcement comes amid continued tensions between Tehran and Washington over the U.S. military presence in the region, Iran’s nuclear program and economic sanctions.

Iranian officials have previously promoted similar initiatives targeting senior officials of other countries.

Iranian Vice President Ebrahim Azizi previously announced a parliamentary proposal offering a €50 million reward for the killing of President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper.

With less than a month remaining until the annual Rosh Hashanah gathering in Uman, a prominent Breslover rov has publicly highlighted several Likud politicians whom he says have assisted Breslover chassidim over the years, just hours before the party’s primary elections.

Rav Yaakov Jan, the rabbi of Uman, issued a letter ahead of the Likud primaries stressing the importance of traveling to the gravesite of Rav Nachman of Breslov in Uman and expressing gratitude toward Israeli public officials who, he said, have worked on behalf of the Breslover community.

In the letter, Rav Jan addressed Likud members for whom continued access to Uman and the ability to visit Rav Nachman’s gravesite are important issues. He pointed to the efforts of several government ministers and Knesset members who have assisted Breslover chassidim and the annual pilgrimage.

Among the politicians specifically named were Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Minister Dudi Amsalem, Minister May Golan, and MK Ze’ev Elkin.

According to Rav Jan, Breslover chassidim do not forget those who have helped them over the years, and he said the appeal ahead of the primaries was rooted in the Jewish principle of hakaras hatov — showing gratitude to those who have provided assistance.

“We are returning the favor,” the letter stated, emphasizing what Rav Jan described as the special relationship between the Breslover community and public officials who have worked to assist with matters involving Uman and those traveling to Rav Nachman’s gravesite.

The letter was released against the backdrop of the Likud primaries and is expected to attract attention among party members, particularly given the importance Breslover chassidim attach to maintaining access to Uman and preserving relationships with Israeli decision-makers who can assist the annual pilgrimage.

{Matzav.com}

The Likud party has issued a warning letter threatening legal action against AID Coalition over its “Fly & Vote” initiative, alleging that the program improperly offers financial and logistical benefits to Israelis living abroad to encourage them to return to Israel and cast ballots in the upcoming election.

AID Coalition rejected the accusations, saying the initiative is entirely nonpartisan and stressing that organizers “do not check political leanings.”

Attorney Ilan Bombach, representing Likud, described AID Coalition as a “foreign corporation” and accused it of operating “capital-intensive initiatives” designed to “encourage Israelis who live at the ends of the earth to come to Israel on Election Day or close to it in order to vote, by providing ‘logistical support’ that includes, among other things, chartering airplanes for that purpose, coordinating efforts to reduce the cost of airline tickets, and providing additional services or benefits — before and after their arrival in Israel.”

Likud contends that the initiative’s activities could constitute the criminal offense of election bribery and also violate Israel’s Party Financing Law by amounting to a prohibited contribution. The warning letter demanded that AID Coalition take down the initiative’s website and immediately stop providing any benefits to voters.

AID Coalition, however, says Fly & Vote primarily assists Israelis overseas with bureaucratic information, helps locate available flight options and guides participants through the process until they reach Israel.

The organization described the effort as a “nonpartisan initiative” whose sole purpose is to increase voter participation in the democratic process, regardless of which party an individual intends to support. AID Coalition argues that because it does not inquire into participants’ political preferences, its activities cannot be considered bribery or an attempt to purchase votes.

The dispute comes amid growing attention surrounding Israelis living overseas ahead of the Oct. 27 election. Since the election date was announced, social media has seen a surge of posts from Israelis abroad saying they intend to travel to Israel to vote.

The issue has fueled a broader political debate over the role of Israelis who reside outside the country but retain the right to vote. Earlier this month, Likud also petitioned the Central Elections Committee over a separate initiative offering free accommodations to voters arriving from abroad, arguing that the lodging constituted an improper benefit.

Critics of overseas voters have repeatedly voiced the argument: “You don’t live here. You don’t live here. You won’t decide for us.”

{Matzav.com}

Two young children were hospitalized Sunday after they apparently consumed chocolate containing hallucinogenic mushrooms while on a family vacation, leaving them confused, suffering hallucinations and displaying severely dilated pupils.

The children, ages five and six, were brought to the Galilee Medical Center, where doctors conducted an initial evaluation. Medical staff determined that their breathing and cardiovascular functions were stable, though both children were experiencing significant neurological symptoms.

Doctors consulted with the National Poison Information Center and came to suspect poisoning caused by Psilocybe/Panaeolus mushrooms. The mushrooms contain psychoactive compounds capable of triggering hallucinations and increased blood pressure and, in more serious cases, seizures and heart-related complications.

Because doctors were concerned that additional symptoms could emerge, both children were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit, where they were placed under close observation and monitoring.

Dr. Sally Mahoum, a physician at the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Center, said: “The children arrived in a state of confusion, with dilated pupils and active hallucinations. We immediately took steps to stabilize them and, in coordination with the National Poison Information Center, began treatment and monitoring. Due to the unpredictable nature of this type of poisoning, they were transferred for continued observation in the pediatric intensive care unit.”

Dr. Tzvi Sheleg, deputy director of the Galilee Medical Center, said: “This was a serious, life-threatening incident that, thus far, has ended without critical harm thanks to the parents’ alertness and the rapid treatment provided by our medical teams. We call on the public to exercise the utmost responsibility, keep dangerous substances out of the reach of toddlers and children, and seek immediate medical attention whenever poisoning is suspected.”

[Video below.] Hundreds of talmidim from Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim witnessed an unusual musical moment this past week when renowned composer Yossi Green was unexpectedly challenged by the rosh yeshiva, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, to compose an entirely new song on the spot.

The remarkable scene unfolded during the Mir Yeshiva’s bein hazemanim camp in Shaalavim, where hundreds of talmidim gathered for a special musical program featuring Yossi Green.

Yossi led the bochurim in an uplifting kumzitz lasting approximately two hours, filled with singing and niggunim in the spirited atmosphere of bein hazemanim.

The highlight of the evening came with the arrival of Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel. The rosh yeshiva surprised Yossi with an unusual request: He handed him a note containing words and asked him to create a new melody for them then and there, in front of the hundreds of assembled bochurim.

Yossi accepted the challenge and sat down at the keyboard, beginning the creative process in real time as the crowd watched.

Within just a few minutes, the new tune had taken shape. The bochurim quickly joined Yossi in singing the freshly composed melody, filling the hall with the song that had been created moments earlier.

Rav Finkel’s reaction, and the visible emotion on his face as the new composition came to life, helped turn the spontaneous performance into one of the memorable highlights of the evening.

The program continued with spirited singing and an uplifting atmosphere, with the newly created song becoming an immediate part of the kumzitz. For those present, it was a rare opportunity not merely to hear a new composition, but to watch the actual creative process unfold before their eyes and then join in singing the result almost immediately.

Pressure on Israel to advance President Donald Trump’s framework for ending the Gaza war is mounting, with Jared Kushner expected to meet Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu on Monday and press for concrete steps to put the plan into effect.

Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, is set to travel to Israel as part of a broader regional trip with senior figures from the Board of Peace, including senior envoy Nikolay Mladenov and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The trip will mark Kushner’s first visit to Israel since January 2026 and follows discussions he and other Board of Peace officials held with a Hamas delegation in Egypt.

Officials briefed on the discussions say Washington is approaching the current round differently from earlier negotiations. The Trump administration is no longer looking to renegotiate or revise the framework, they said, but instead wants the parties to begin carrying out commitments that have already been agreed upon.

One official familiar with the talks said the goal is to “translate the roadmap commitments into concrete and verifiable steps.” Among the measures Washington wants to see are an end to attacks in Gaza, an Israeli pullback toward the Yellow Line, a substantial expansion of humanitarian assistance entering the territory, and movement toward creating mechanisms for civilian administration and reconstruction.

The growing US pressure comes as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia and Turkey released a joint statement criticizing Israel for rejecting Trump’s plan. The countries asserted that “Israel bears responsibility for delaying peace efforts in Gaza and the Palestinian territories,” while cautioning that Israel’s position could jeopardize Trump’s effort to end the conflict.

US officials familiar with the negotiations say Trump views Netanyahu as having already accepted the framework in principle. According to those officials, the administration accommodated several requests made by the Israeli prime minister and now believes it is Israel’s turn to carry out the commitments expected of it.

One official, describing the thinking within Trump’s circle to Ynet, put the message this way: “Bibi has to agree to the deal. I did what he asked. Now he has to do what I’m asking.” Another official said the administration suspects Israel is trying to delay implementation by raising additional objections and seeking changes in the order of the plan’s provisions. “They feel Israel is playing games.”

Officials said Kushner is not traveling to Israel simply to conduct another round of shuttle diplomacy between Israel and the Hamas terrorists. “He is coming to get things done,” one official familiar with the talks said.

Washington’s stance is also based on Israel’s involvement in drawing up the proposal from its earlier stages. Officials familiar with the process say Israel’s National Security Council participated in developing the framework, with Israeli and US officials discussing both its provisions and mechanisms for putting them into practice. As a result, the Trump administration sees the outstanding issue not as whether a framework has been agreed upon, but whether that agreement will now be implemented.

A central disagreement between Israel and the US concerns the order in which the plan’s provisions would be carried out. The 15-point framework calls for military activity to stop, Hamas to surrender its weapons, civilian control of Gaza to be handed to a Palestinian technocratic body, Israeli forces to withdraw gradually, and an international stabilization force to enter the territory.

The framework envisions Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawals taking place through coordinated, verifiable stages. Israel has insisted, however, that its forces will not leave their positions in Gaza until Hamas has been fully disarmed and has publicly rejected the proposal in its present form.

Hamas, meanwhile, has said it accepts the framework. During Kushner’s discussions in Egypt, the terrorist group came under pressure to surrender its weapons and relinquish its governing authority in Gaza.

An official familiar with those discussions said Hamas is being pressed to take measures guaranteeing that the ceasefire remains intact, transfer governing powers to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, and accept that it will have no place in Gaza’s future government. Hamas would also be required to dismantle its weapons and military infrastructure, while an international stabilization force would deploy, Israel would undertake corresponding withdrawals, and humanitarian assistance and reconstruction would be expanded.

Despite the public dispute with Israel, Board of Peace officials reportedly believe Israel is already carrying out portions of the understandings in practice. They view some of the tougher rhetoric from Israeli officials as being driven by domestic political pressures and are therefore paying greater attention to Israel’s actions on the ground than to its public statements.

Kushner’s talks in Egypt marked his first meeting with senior Hamas figures since the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. Participants included Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya, Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Hassan Rashad, Qatari minister Ali al-Thawadi and a senior Turkish official.

{Matzav.com}

One hundred years after his petirah, the fire still burns. An unforgettable journey into the life, Torah, and towering legacy of Rav Meir Simcha HaKohen of Dvinsk zt”l, one of the greatest geonei Torah and baalei machshavah of the modern era. Discover his phenomenal hasmadah, breathtaking gadlus baTorah, profound understanding of Klal Yisrael, and extraordinary personality ;enriched with rare stories, fascinating giluyim, little-known episodes, and remarkable insights into the man behind the Ohr Sameach and Meshech Chochmah.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Dear Matzav Inbox,

The Navi Michah gives us one of the most quoted, and least understood, summaries of what Hashem wants from us: “הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם מַה טּוֹב וּמָה ה’ דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ כִּי אִם עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת עִם אֱלֹקֶיךָ” : He has told you what is good: to do justice, love kindness, and walk modestly with your G-d (Michah 6:8).

We tend to read v’hatznea lecheches as a dress code. But tznius was never primarily about a hemline. It’s the instinct to keep something private because it’s precious, not shameful, but because some things lose their kedusha the moment they become public property. A chuppah. A private conversation between spouses. A family’s pain. Tznius is the recognition that not everything sacred needs an audience.

That is the tznius we, as a klal, are forgetting how to practice.

A generation with no delete button

We live inside a machine engineered to extract the private and reward its exposure. Every platform runs on the same transaction: give us something raw that used to belong only to you, and we’ll give you attention in return. An entire generation has been trained to believe that an unshared experience is an unprocessed one, that pain doesn’t count until it’s posted, that a simcha isn’t complete without a caption.

We used to understand that some rooms have doors for a reason. Now we build content out of what used to happen behind them.

The podcast challenge

Nowhere is this clearer than in the explosion of frum podcasts and inspirational content. And the honest place to start is with the good. These platforms have brought real Kvod Shamayim into places it never used to reach, a person driving alone, a teenager scrolling at midnight, someone sitting in a hospital waiting room. They’ve given people who felt alone a sense that they’re not the only ones. They’ve turned commutes into chizuk, made Torah hashkafa accessible to people who would never have opened a sefer, and given ordinary people the courage to share nisyonos that used to be carried in total silence. That is not a small thing. It’s a genuine kiddush Hashem, and it deserves to be said plainly before anything else.

The challenge isn’t the impulse. It’s what happens when a business model built on engagement meets material that was never meant to be engagement in the first place.

A podcast needs episodes. Episodes need hooks. Hooks need drama. Even content that begins with good intentions, as chizuk, can get pulled toward its most “shareable” version: a dramatic thumbnail, a scandalous title, because a modest telling doesn’t perform the way a scandalous one does. The very platforms built to spread Torah values can end up structurally pulled against one of the most basic of those values, that not everything needs to be said to everyone.

This isn’t a claim about any one podcast or story; it’s a claim about the pull of the machine itself, a pull that even the most well-meaning creator has to actively resist. An audience fed a thousand hours of content this week needs something sharper next week. That’s what oversaturation does: it raises the threshold of what people are willing to expose, of themselves and of each other, just to be heard, even on platforms that set out only to inspire.

The cost we don’t see

Tznius protects the individual, but it also protects the tzibbur. A community that consumes an endless stream of other people’s private pain slowly loses its own capacity for privacy. We start to feel entitled to know, to feel that a family’s struggle is ours to have an opinion on, because it arrived in a well-produced 45-minute episode.

Chazal tell us Bilaam, looking down at the tents of Klal Yisroel, could find nothing to curse, because the entrances didn’t face each other. מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב, “How goodly are your tents, Yaakov,” came from the fact that we historically built our lives so we weren’t looking into each other’s windows. That was never coldness. It was the thing worth blessing.

What it asks of us

To walk modestly with G-d doesn’t mean walking invisibly. It means knowing some things are between you and Him, or between you and the people closest to you, and that this isn’t a deficiency to be fixed with more disclosure. It’s the whole point.

Klal Yisroel’s beauty was never that we had nothing to say. It’s that we understood some of what we carry is holy specifically because it’s unseen. That instinct isn’t old-fashioned. It’s part of our DNA, baishanim, rachmanim, gomlei chasadim. As Chazal teach us, “אֵין הַבְּרָכָה מְצוּיָה אֶלָּא בְּדָבָר הַסָּמוּי מִן הָעָיִן”, “Blessing is found only in that which is hidden from the eye” (Taanis 8b). May we be zoche to internalize that truth, to guard what deserves to be guarded, and through that zechus, be zoche to the ultimate brachah, bimheirah b’yameinu.

Larry Brigson

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Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for Israel to kill dozens of people in Gaza every night, saying during a conversation with released hostage Rom Braslavski that he believes Israel should dramatically expand targeted killings in the Strip. His remarks, which surfaced Sunday, were quickly picked up by Palestinian media.

Ben-Gvir made the comments during an appearance on Braslavski’s podcast as the two discussed the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and Israel’s response. The minister criticized the recent reduction in Israeli strikes in Gaza and openly acknowledged that his position differs from that of Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu.

“It’s no secret, I disagree with the prime minister,” he said. “I think targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night. Not just those who pose an immediate threat — there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.”

During the same podcast interview, Ben-Gvir also renewed his support for encouraging large-scale Palestinian emigration from Gaza and for rebuilding Jewish communities throughout the Strip.

“I see all of Gaza as ours,” said Ben-Gvir in the interview. “Settlements not just in Gush Katif but throughout Gaza, encouraging as much emigration as possible, sending them to their countries, and for the terrorists, no emigration, nothing, just to kill them one by one.”

{Matzav.com}

A day after Mali and Liel Yahalomi were located in Argentina following an intensive weeklong international search, the Israel Police representative in South America described the dramatic moment the mother and daughter were found, saying they apparently did not expect authorities to track them down. The precise reason behind their disappearance, however, remains unclear.

Lt. Col. Walter Kogan, the Israel Police representative in South America, spoke Sunday about encountering Mali and Liel after the pair had been declared missing and authorities launched a massive effort to locate them.

“They thought we wouldn’t catch them and wouldn’t find them,” Kogan said in a private conversation about the operation.

Kogan also described his emotions upon finally seeing the two alive and unharmed, saying he felt “excitement that we found them and that they are alive and everything is okay.”

While pleased that the search had ended successfully, Kogan said he was taken aback by the enormous public attention the case generated.

“Shocked by the exposure. I didn’t expect it. We did an excellent job. But it’s just another job, and that’s the role,” Kogan said.

Meanwhile, Israel Police spokesman Aryeh Doron told Kan News on Reshet Bet Sunday morning that investigators have still not established exactly why Mali and Liel decided to disappear.

“At this stage, the police still do not know the exact reason for the disappearance of Mali and Liel Yahalomi,” Doron said.

Doron also addressed footage showing Kogan meeting the two after they were found. He said police believed that after so many people had anxiously followed the search, the public deserved reassurance that Mali and Liel were safe.

“The people of Israel, who were worried, deserved to see them healthy and whole, standing on their feet. At this stage, we are not aware of any unusual incident, only small debts.”

Investigators said Vienna appears to have served as a convenient transit point for the two because of the Austrian capital’s major transportation network, which offers easy access by train and other means of travel to numerous destinations across Europe.

The investigation also uncovered evidence that Mali attempted to telephone the Israeli consulate in Vienna. The call went unanswered, and investigators have not yet determined why she was trying to contact the consulate.

Mali and Liel were ultimately located while traveling aboard a bus in Buenos Aires. Undercover local police vehicles stopped the bus, after which Kogan, representing the Israel Police Intelligence Division in South America, boarded and approached the pair.

The encounter reportedly came as a particular surprise to Mali and Liel, who suddenly found themselves face-to-face with a Hebrew-speaking Israeli police representative thousands of miles from Israel.

During a brief questioning at the scene, the two were asked what had prompted them to abruptly leave and cut off contact.

“What happened?” the police official asked.

“We simply want to disconnect from the family, from the country,” Mali and Liel responded.

They were then asked, “Is someone threatening you or trying to extort you?”

“No, no one,” they replied.

When questioned about whether they had fled because of financial debts, the two again denied it.

“No, we simply want to leave everything,” they said.

{Matzav.com}

Americans received $43 billion more in federal tax refunds during the 2026 filing season than they did a year earlier, with the Government Accountability Office saying new deductions enacted under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act contributed to the sharp increase.

A recent GAO report detailed the substantial jump in refunds and pointed to provisions of Trump’s tax law as one of the factors behind the larger payments received by taxpayers this year.

“The increase this year represented $43 billion more in refunds than the IRS had issued during the 2025 filing season for tax year 2024,” according to the report.

The GAO provided additional figures showing that both the total amount refunded and the average payment to individual taxpayers increased significantly from the previous filing season:

“By the end of the 2026 filing season, IRS issued $296 billion in taxpayer refunds — an increase of $43 billion, or 17 percent, from 2025 (see fig. 2). The average tax refund that taxpayers received in 2026 increased by $333, or 11 percent, compared to the same period in 2025. IRS attributed these increases to millions of taxpayers claiming new deductions in 2026, such as the ‘no tax on tips’ and ‘no tax on overtime’ provisions.”

Trump had predicted months earlier that Americans would see the impact of his signature tax legislation when they filed their returns.

Asked in January about the refunds taxpayers could expect this year, Trump said, “You know, the Great, Big, Beautiful Bill just kicked in, and you’re going to see some tremendous numbers,” according to Breitbart News.

Michael Faulkender, co-chair for American Prosperity at the America First Policy Institute, argued in an April Breitbart article that Washington has too often approached taxpayers primarily as a means of generating government revenue rather than recognizing their importance to economic growth.

“too many in Washington treat taxpayers as a source of revenue rather than as the lifeblood of a thriving economy. The result has been slower investment, fewer opportunities for families, and a sense that getting ahead is harder than it should be.”

Faulkender also credited the recent changes to the tax code with creating conditions that he said would encourage investment, higher earnings and greater financial stability for American families.

“Our enactment of a pro-growth, pro-family tax code is unleashing an era of American abundance where businesses expand, paychecks rise, and hard-working Americans build real financial security.”

The White House, meanwhile, has used the larger refunds to sharpen its political criticism of congressional Democrats, accusing them of being “affordability frauds” and arguing that their tax policies would have resulted in a historic tax increase on Americans.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the latest filing-season figures demonstrate that Trump’s tax policies are allowing Americans to retain more of their income.

“As we have seen this tax season, President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts have put a historic amount of money back into the pockets of the American people this year.”

Leavitt contrasted the administration’s approach with that of Democrats in Congress, portraying the difference as a fundamental disagreement over how much of Americans’ earnings should remain in their hands.

“Democrats in Congress have proven over and over again that they are the affordability frauds who believe the government should keep more of the American people’s hard-earned money. This President and Republicans in Congress fundamentally believe that Americans deserve to keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. It’s a clear contrast for American families to keep in mind,” she added.

{Matzav.com}

Tommy John, the longtime major league pitcher whose remarkable comeback from a revolutionary elbow operation forever linked his name to one of baseball’s most important surgical procedures, has died at the age of 83.

John had been receiving hospice care at his home in Bradenton, Florida, before his death.

The left-hander fashioned an extraordinary 26-season major league career, compiling 288 victories. Even more remarkably, 164 of those wins came after the elbow reconstruction that at the time was considered an unprecedented attempt to save his career.

Among pitchers from baseball’s Modern Era who are not enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, only Roger Clemens, whose candidacy has been overshadowed by controversy, finished with more victories.

John was already an accomplished pitcher and had earned an All-Star selection with the Chicago White Sox before suffering the injury that would ultimately define his legacy. Pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974, he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, an injury that ordinarily spelled the end of a pitcher’s career at the time.

Dodgers team physician Dr. Frank Jobe attempted something that had never before been done on a major league pitcher, reconstructing the damaged ligament in John’s throwing elbow.

John sat out the entire 1975 season while rehabilitating, then returned to the Dodgers in 1976 and proved that he could once again pitch successfully at the major league level.

His comeback became even more impressive the following season, when John emerged as one of the National League’s premier pitchers and finished second in voting for the 1977 Cy Young Award.

In a farewell letter published online on Aug. 8 in conjunction with Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium, John expressed his enduring gratitude to the doctor who had made his second baseball life possible. Jobe, John wrote, “saved my arm and made it possible for me to continue pitching. That surgery has since gone on to save the careers of countless pitchers, including many of the very best in the game today.”

John was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on May 22, 1943, and attended Gerstmeyer High School. Although he received scholarship offers to play college basketball, he chose professional baseball instead, signing with Cleveland as an amateur free agent directly out of high school.

He reached the majors with the then-Cleveland Indians in 1963 at just 20 years old.

Ahead of the 1965 season, Cleveland dealt John to the White Sox. He developed into an established major league starter in Chicago and was selected as an American League All-Star in 1968.

After seven seasons with the White Sox, John was traded to the Dodgers in December 1971 in a deal that sent future Hall of Famer Dick Allen to Chicago.

“We are saddened to hear the news of Tommy John’s passing today,” Los Angeles Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten said. “Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball, and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated. His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come.”

John faced the Yankees three times as a starting pitcher in the World Series, once with the Dodgers in 1977 and twice more in 1978. He then crossed over to the other side of the rivalry, signing with the Yankees as a free agent before the 1979 season.

His arrival in The Bronx immediately paid dividends. John won more than 20 games in each of his first two seasons with the Yankees, finishing second in the American League Cy Young voting in 1979 and fourth in 1980.

Former Yankees teammate Ron Guidry remembered John as both a gifted pitcher and an invaluable resource for those around him.

“It was great having him on the team,’’ Guidry said at Old-Timers’ Day. “He was so knowledgeable. When we were together, we were pretty much 1-2 on the staff and having him around gave me great comfort. He could talk and it was nice to have him around because he would answer any question you had and he did so much in the game.”

The Yankees traded John to the California Angels in August 1982. He remained with the Angels until being released during the 1985 season, after which he joined the Oakland Athletics.

John’s remarkable career eventually brought him back to New York. He rejoined the Yankees in 1986 and remained in The Bronx through the end of his playing days. His final major league start came in May 1989, shortly after he turned 46.

By that point, John was the oldest active player in Major League Baseball. His 26 seasons also tied Deacon McGuire’s record for the most seasons played, a mark Nolan Ryan later surpassed by playing 27 seasons.

John’s longevity produced staggering career totals. He made 700 starts, eighth-most in major league history, and threw 4,710 1/3 innings, ranking 19th on the all-time list.

Yet for all those accomplishments, his most enduring impact on baseball can be traced to one pitch on July 17, 1974.

John, then 31, was starting for the Dodgers against the Montreal Expos when he threw a pitch to Hal Breeden and immediately knew something had gone terribly wrong.

He later described feeling the “strangest sensation I had ever known…Right at the point where I put force on the pitch, the point where my arm is back and bent, something happened. It felt as if I had left my arm someplace else. It was as if my body continued to go forward and my left arm had just flown out to right field, independent of the rest of me.”

John attempted one additional pitch before Dodgers manager Walt Alston removed him from the game.

When rest and conventional treatment failed to heal the damaged elbow, Jobe approached John with the radical idea of reconstructing the ligament surgically.

Similar operations had previously been performed on hands and wrists, but never on the elbow of a pitcher whose livelihood depended upon the extraordinary stress placed on his throwing arm. In September 1974, Jobe replaced the torn ligament with a tendon taken from John’s right forearm.

John later explained that, from his perspective, there was little reason not to take the chance.

“I couldn’t pitch anymore,’’ John told The Post in 2019. “And I wanted to pitch and make a living playing baseball. If I didn’t have the surgery, I wouldn’t have been able to continue playing the game.”

The operation succeeded beyond virtually anyone’s expectations. It not only allowed John to resume pitching but eventually became a standard procedure that has prolonged or rescued the careers of generations of professional and amateur pitchers.

John nevertheless expressed concern over the years about how commonplace the surgery had become, particularly among increasingly young pitchers.

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who underwent the procedure in 2025, credited John’s willingness to undergo the experimental operation with blazing a trail for the countless pitchers who followed.

“It’s weird to think about the surgery saving us, but the player had to step up to the table and do it. He had tremendous success afterwards. He was really writing the book for all of us. There’s a lot of gratitude towards him.”

When John finally returned to a major league mound at the beginning of the 1976 season, his extraordinary recovery earned him the nickname “The Bionic Man.”

His postseason career continued after he joined the Yankees. John appeared in one playoff game in 1980 and played a significant role in helping New York return to the World Series the following year. During the 1981 World Series against his old Dodgers club, he surrendered just one run across 13 innings in three appearances, although Los Angeles ultimately won the championship.

John also enjoyed notable success in shutouts during different stages of his lengthy career. He led his league in that category with the White Sox in both 1966 and 1967 and did so again with the Yankees in 1980.

Despite his 288 victories, four All-Star selections, remarkable longevity and historic impact on the sport, John never came particularly close to receiving enough votes for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

His years with the Yankees also included a terrifying ordeal away from the field. John’s 2-year-old son, Travis, was critically injured after falling from a third-story window, but survived.

The family endured another devastating tragedy decades later. John’s son Taylor died by suicide in 2010. John subsequently became involved with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

John remained connected to baseball after his pitching career ended. Among his post-playing roles, he worked as a broadcaster for the Yankees and Minnesota Twins and managed in the minor leagues, including a stint managing the Staten Island Yankees in 2004.

In his later years, John was diagnosed with bladder cancer. As his health declined, the baseball lifer prepared a goodbye message from hospice, reflecting on the extraordinary career and life that had followed a decision in 1974 to take a chance on an operation no major league pitcher had ever undergone before.

The surgery would carry his name for generations, but John’s own comeback remained its original success story: a pitcher who appeared to have reached the end of his career at 31 and instead returned to the mound, pitched until he was 46 and won another 164 major league games.

{Matzav.com}

The Likud party has rolled out a provocative election billboard portraying New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani alongside Iranian leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, casting all four as figures who want Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu defeated in Israel’s upcoming October election, the Jerusalem Post reports.

The campaign ad urges Israeli voters to “not let them win.”

Netanyahu amplified the message himself, sharing an image of the billboard on social media with the caption: “Don’t let them win.”

The billboard combines images of Mamdani, Khamenei, Erdogan and Qassem beneath the message: “They want Netanyahu to lose, don’t let them win.”

Although some social media posts initially claimed that the advertisement had been erected in Yerushalayim, the billboard is actually located in Tel Aviv, overlooking the Ayalon Highway.

The campaign quickly prompted Netanyahu’s political rivals to produce their own altered versions of the ad, using Likud’s design and slogan to attack the prime minister.

Yashar, the party headed by former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, released a version declaring: “They want the IDF to collapse, don’t let Netanyahu win.”

“Netanyahu, we fixed for you,” the accompanying post on X stated. “Only Eisenkot will establish a fully Zionist government.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump’s advisor Jared Kushner held direct talks with senior Hamas officials in Egypt on Sunday, pushing the terrorist group to begin taking concrete and verifiable steps toward disarmament and surrendering its control over the Gaza Strip, according to Axios, which cited two people familiar with the discussions.

The talks marked Kushner’s first meeting with Hamas officials since the agreement ending the Gaza war was signed last October. The meeting came as the White House and Trump’s Board of Peace work to move both Israel and Hamas into the next phase of the administration’s 20-point peace framework.

Following the talks in Egypt, Kushner is scheduled to travel to Israel on Monday for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One source told Axios that those discussions are expected to center on “corresponding steps” that Israel would be expected to take as the process moves forward.

Kushner was accompanied at the meeting by Board of Peace high representative Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who also serves as a member of the board.

Representing Hamas at the talks was the terrorist organization’s political leader Khalil al-Hayya. Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Qatari diplomat Ali al-Thawadi and a senior Turkish official also took part in the meeting.

According to a source briefed on the discussions, a central objective of the meeting was to translate Hamas’ broader commitments to the demilitarization of Gaza into tangible actions that could be monitored and verified.

Among the measures discussed was the transfer of governing control in Gaza to the Palestinian technocratic government. The plan would also require Hamas to have no role in governing the territory going forward.

The Board of Peace is additionally pressing for Hamas’ weapons and military infrastructure to be decommissioned, while an International Stabilization Force would be deployed in Gaza. The framework also calls for reconstruction and recovery efforts to proceed without Hamas stealing resources or intimidating Palestinians participating in the rebuilding process.

The report said the board is simultaneously seeking Israeli withdrawals from additional areas of Gaza as Hamas begins implementing disarmament, along with an accelerated flow of humanitarian assistance into the territory.

“There can be no ambiguity: Hamas must relinquish governing authority and all weapons and military infrastructure. And Gaza can never again be a source of terror for Israel,” a source told Axios.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli police on Sunday disclosed new details about the weeklong international search for Mali and Liel Yahalomi, saying investigators initially feared the mother and daughter had been kidnapped before evidence increasingly pointed to a deliberately planned disappearance. The two were ultimately located in Argentina.

Tali Bankin, who heads an Interpol unit within the Israel Police, discussed the behind-the-scenes investigation in an interview with Kol Berama, describing how authorities gradually changed their assessment of the case as new information emerged.

Bankin said that when the pair first disappeared and could not be contacted, investigators treated the situation as a potential abduction.

“The initial working assumption was that this was an abduction incident. Later, we understood that it was a planned event,” she said.

As police worked to reconstruct Mali and Liel’s movements, Bankin said investigators also had to contend with a flood of unverified claims and speculation surrounding their disappearance, making it more difficult to establish a clear picture of what had occurred.

“There was a lot of fake news that created confusion. We tried to calm the situation,” she said, adding that once police determined that the disappearance had been intentional, “things were clearer in our work with the media.”

The investigation took a decisive turn several days ago when authorities received information indicating that Mali and Liel had traveled to Argentina. That development caused investigators to redirect the international search toward South America.

“The center of gravity then moved to South America,” Bankin said.

According to Bankin, Mali and Liel may not have realized just how extensive the search for them had become while they remained out of contact.

“I don’t think they knew about all the search efforts; they were cut off from contact,” she said.

The operation involved substantial resources and extensive international coordination as Israeli authorities attempted to determine what had happened to the pair and whether they were in danger.

“A lot of money from Israel was spent on the search,” Bankin said.

Once Mali and Liel were found and authorities established that they were safe, Bankin said the police’s role in the matter concluded.

{Matzav.com}

A new Chareidi political party centered on the battle against the drafting of yeshiva bochurim is reportedly being formed ahead of the upcoming elections, in a development that could pose a challenge to both Shas and United Torah Judaism.

According to a report by Israel’s Channel 13, Chareidi political figure Moti Babchik met last week with a group of rabbonim who have taken a firm position against the draft, as discussions continue over the establishment of the new party.

The fledgling movement is currently operating under the name “Black Ink,” according to the report, and would make opposition to the conscription of bnei yeshivos into the IDF a central element of its platform.

Another primary objective would be the restoration of an arrangement allowing yeshiva bochurim and avreichim to continue learning Torah full-time while receiving deferments from military service, without financial or other sanctions being imposed upon those who do not enlist.

The effort is said to include rabbonim and roshei yeshiva representing various segments of the Chareidi community.

The organizers have reportedly commissioned extensive polling that they believe shows substantial potential support for the new party. According to the findings, tens of thousands of voters could back the movement, including younger Chareidim as well as people who previously cast their ballots for existing Chareidi parties.

Should the effort ultimately result in a new party running in the elections, it could reshape the Chareidi political landscape and present both Shas and United Torah Judaism with a new competitor for voters who believe the existing parties have not gone far enough in protecting the status of bnei yeshivos and preserving their ability to learn Torah without the threat of conscription.

Other sources, however, have downplayed the significance of the initiative, saying that support for the proposed party appears to be minimal and that it is unlikely to make substantial inroads among Chareidi voters. According to those assessments, even if the party ultimately runs, it may draw only limited support from the established Chareidi parties and have little, if any, meaningful effect on the overall political landscape.

{Matzav.com}