President Donald Trump on Friday floated cutting tariffs on China from 145% to 80% ahead of a weekend meeting as he looks to deescalate the trade war. Top U.S. officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland in the first major talks between the two nations since Trump sparked a trade war with stiff tariffs on imports. “80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B,” Trump wrote on his social media account on Friday morning, referring to Scott Bessent, his Treasury chief, who has been a point person on trade. Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their counterparts in Geneva in the most-senior known conversations between the two countries in months, the Trump administration announced this week. It comes amid growing U.S. market worry over the impact of the tariffs on the prices and supply of consumer goods. No country has been hit harder by Trump’s trade war than China, the world’s biggest exporter and second largest economy. When Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, China retaliated with tariffs of its own, a move that Trump viewed as demonstrating a lack of respect. The tariffs on each other’s goods have been mounting since then, with the U.S. tariffs against China now at 145% and China tariffs on the U.S. at 125%. (AP)
Half of Gaza’s residents, or some 1.1 million Palestinians, believe that Hamas’s decision to carry out the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre in Israel was “correct,” according to an opinion poll published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) this week.
The center, based in the Palestinian Authority city of Ramallah in Samaria, surveyed a representative sample of 1,270 people across Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip on May 1-4. (The survey’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, the organization said.)
The poll came as the Israeli government approved “Operation Gideon’s Chariot” to defeat Hamas and bring about the release of the remaining 59 hostages, held by the terrorist organization for more than 570 days.
The entire population of the Gaza will be evacuated to the southern part of the enclave during the fighting, and the Israel Defense Force will stay in every area taken, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents—85% in Judea and Samaria and 64% in Gaza—said they opposed the disarmament of Hamas as a precondition to end Israel’s war on the terrorist group, which led the savage killing of some 1,200 people, primarily civilians, on Oct. 7.
The attacks also saw thousands more wounded and 251 innocent Israelis and foreign nationals taken as hostages to the Strip.
Asked whether they supported or opposed the eviction of some terrorist leaders as condition for putting an end to the Israel Defense Forces operation, 65% said they opposed it and 31% supported it.
Almost three in four Palestinians told the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research that they disagreed with the statement that if Hamas releases the hostages, the conflict would end and the IDF would fully withdraw from the war-torn territory.
The largest share of respondents, almost one-third, said they supported Hamas as a “political party,” followed by P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah (21%), which rules nearly all Arabs in Judea and Samaria.
Forty percent said the Iranian-backed terrorist group that had ruled Gaza since 2007 was “the most deserving” of leading the Palestinian people.
Accordingly, if the Palestinian Authority would call its first legislative elections in 20 years, 43% of those who would participate said they would vote for Hamas, followed by 28% that would choose Fatah.
In a P.A. “presidential” runoff vote between Abbas and Hamas’s Khaled Mashaal, the latter terrorist would receive 68% of the vote, with a quarter saying they would back the incumbent Palestinian Authority leader.
A previous Arab opinion poll published in December found that close to two-thirds of Palestinians in Gaza, Judea and Samaria prefer Hamas terrorists to be part of, or even lead, a Palestinian governing body that would control the Strip after the current war with Israel concludes.
According to the poll, 47% of Palestinians said they would put their trust in a “national unity” government that would include Hamas and Fatah. Meanwhile, 17% of the surveyed Palestinians said that they favored a return to the situation in which the Strip is ruled solely by Hamas.
In Judea and Samaria, respondents showed significantly more support for Hamas than for the P.A., with 25% expressing support for the Gaza terrorist group, compared to 10% for the Western-backed P.A.
In June, the Palestinians’ satisfaction with Hamas’s performance in the war against Israel reached its highest point since the Oct. 7 massacre, while support for the Palestinian Authority and Fatah plummeted.
When asked by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research to rate the performance of various actors during the war, Hamas took the lead with 75% satisfaction, up five percentage points since March. JNS
{Matzav.com}
The White House issued a proclamation on Thursday declaring May 8 as “Victory Day for World War II,” honoring the 80th anniversary of the Allied Powers’ “triumph over national socialism and fascism, and the end of World War II in Europe.”
“On this Victory Day for World War II, we celebrate the unmatched might, strength, and power of the American Armed Forces, and we commit to protecting our sacred birthright of liberty against all threats, foreign and domestic,” read a White House statement from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The proclamation went on to honor the sacrifice of the “more than 250,000 Americans lost their lives in the fight against the Nazi regime.”
“Without the sacrifice of our American soldiers, this war would not have been won, and our world today would look drastically different,” the statement continued, adding that the memories of those who died during the war “serve as a reminder of why we must pursue peace through strength.”
Speaking to the United Nations at a gathering on Wednesday to honor the victims of World War II, Dorothy Shea, the U.S. ambassador to the world body, honored the victims of the Holocaust and called for the world not to look away from rising antisemitism.
“We must renew our solemn vow to never again allow such atrocities to take place and declare that ‘never again’ means now, as we confront the worst outbreak of antisemitism in generations,” she said.
{Matzav.com}
Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged heavy volleys of shells and gunfire across their frontier in Kashmir overnight, killing at least five civilians in a growing military standoff that erupted following an attack on tourists in the India-controlled portion of the disputed region. In Pakistan, an unusually intense night of artillery exchanges left at least four civilians dead and wounded 12 others in areas near the Line of Control that divides Kashmir, local police official Adeel Ahmad said. People in border towns said the firing continued well into Friday morning. “We’re used to hearing exchange of fire between Pakistan and India at the Line of Control, but last night was different,” said Mohammad Shakil, who lives near the frontier in Chakothi sector. In India, military officials said Pakistani troops barraged their posts overnight with artillery, mortars and gunfire at multiple locations in Indian-controlled Kashmir. They said Indian soldiers responded, triggering fierce exchanges until early dawn. Two people were killed and four others injured in Uri and Poonch sectors, police said, taking the civilian death toll in Indian-controlled Kashmir to 18 since Wednesday. Pakistan said Indian mortar and artillery fire has killed 17 civilians in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the same period. Indian authorities have evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from villages near the volatile frontier. Thousands of people slept in shelters for a second consecutive night. Rivals exchange strikes and allegations Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have soared since an attack on a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Hindu Indian tourists, on April 22. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan for backing the attack, an accusation Islamabad rejects. On Wednesday, India conducted airstrikes on several sites in Pakistani territory it described as militant-related, killing 31 civilians according to Pakistani officials. Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets. On Thursday, India said it thwarted Pakistani drone and missile attacks at military targets in more than a dozen cities and towns, including Jammu city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The army said no casualties were reported. Pakistan denied that it carried out drone attacks in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India said meanwhile it hit Pakistan’s air defense systems and radars close to the city of Lahore. The incidents could not be independently confirmed. India orders X to block thousands of accounts Meanwhile, social platform X in a statement on Thursday said the Indian government had ordered it to block users in the country from accessing more than 8,000 accounts, including a number of “international news organizations and other prominent users.” The social platform did not release the list of accounts it was blocking in India, but said the order “amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech.” Later, X briefly blocked access to the Global Affairs Account from which it had posted the statement, also citing a legal demand from India. Crisis disrupts schools, sports and travel India’s biggest domestic cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, which attracts top players from around the world, was suspended for one week. Pakistan also moved its own domestic tournament to the United Arab Emirates because of the tensions. Panic also spread during an evening cricket match in northern Dharamsala city, where a crowd of more than 10,000 people had to be evacuated from the stadium and the game called […]
Russia on Friday celebrated the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, as President Vladimir Putin presided over a massive parade of tanks, missiles and troops through Red Square and welcomed over two dozen world leaders — the most since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. Victory Day, which Russia marks on May 9, is the country’s most important secular holiday. The parade and other festivities underline Moscow’s efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that is grinding through a fourth year. Friday’s parade was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sat next to Putin, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Their attendance underscored how Putin has tried to emphasize the failure of the West to turn Russia into a global pariah. “It’s again showing that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is seen as a very legitimate victorious nation that is among victors in World War II,” said Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “Russia is standing tall among the so-called global majority,” Gabuev said, adding that the attendance of Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico showed that “Russia has allies even within the Western camp” and marked a major public relations victory for Putin. World War II is a rare event in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power. The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche. Addressing the crowd in Red Square, Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that “we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory.” Putin, who has ruled Russia for 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify his action in Ukraine. For Putin, Victory Day celebrations have become “a civic religion that boosts patriotism, nationalism, nostalgia, and justifies both his repressive regime at home and Russia’s increasingly expansionist foreign policy abroad, particularly including towards its neighbors,” Gabuev said. The parade featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia’s nuclear might, huge Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles launchers rolled across Red Square. Fighter jets of Russian air force’s aerobatic teams flew by in close formation, followed by jets that trailed smoke in the colors of the national flag. Afterward, Putin shook hands with Russian generals who led the troops onto Red Square and spoke to medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them. Last month, Putin thanked North Korea for fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed its deployment for the first time. The Russian and North Korean statements emphasized their expanding […]
Former President Joe Biden says he’s responsible for Donald Trump’s victory last fall, but he attributes Kamala Harris’ loss, at least in part, to sexism and racism. Biden, who left office in January, addressed the Democrats’ disastrous 2024 election, concerns about his age and Trump’s divisive leadership during a Thursday interview on ABC’s “The View.” The 82-year-old Democrat said he has intentionally avoided speaking out publicly until this week to give the Republican president more than 100 days in office without his interference, as is typically the tradition following a change in the White House. Asked about the last election, Biden said he was surprised by the role that gender and race played in the contest. “They went the sexist route,” Biden said of criticism that “a woman couldn’t lead the country and a woman of mixed race.” He added: “I was in charge, and he won, so I take responsibility.” Biden has largely stepped away from national politics since leaving the White House. He’s not expected to play a central role in Democratic affairs as the party turns to a new generation of leadership, although he acknowledged on Thursday that he has maintained regular contact with Harris and has offered his guidance on her political future. “She’s got a difficult decision to make about what she’s going to do. I hope she stays engaged,” Biden said, declining to share his specific advice. Biden rejected concerns about his cognitive decline prompted by a disastrous debate performance last June. He also declined to criticize the Democratic leaders who privately pressed him to abandon his campaign. “The only reason I got out of the race was because I didn’t want to have a divided Democratic Party,” he said, adding that the broader party didn’t buy into concerns about his age following the “terrible” debate performance “but the Democratic leadership and some of the very significant contributors did.” Polling, however, suggests that the concerns among Democrats were widespread. In January 2022, just a year into Biden’s first term, an AP-NORC poll found that only 48% of Democrats wanted him to seek reelection. That fell to 37% of Democrats in an AP-NORC poll conducted February 2023. And two after his debate flop, nearly two-thirds of Democrats said Biden should withdraw from the race. Thursday’s appearance also marked Biden’s first joint interview with former first lady Jill Biden since leaving Washington. She rejected those who believe she created a protective cocoon around her husband while in office to protect him from scrutiny about his age. “It was very hurtful especially from some of our so-called friends,” she said of the criticism. “I was with Joe day and night … and I did not create a cocoon around him,” she continued. “You saw him in the Oval Office. You saw him making speeches. He wasn’t hiding somewhere.” Meanwhile, the former president did not hold back when the conversation turned to Trump’s job performance. “He’s had the worst 100 days any president has ever had,” Biden said. White House communications director Steven Cheung fired back. “Joe Biden is a complete disgrace to this country and the office he occupied,” Cheung said. “He has clearly lost all mental faculties and his handlers thought it’d be a good idea for him to do an interview and incoherently mumble his […]
Early Friday morning, the IDF released the names of two soldiers who were tragically killed in combat operations in Gaza.
Sergeant Yishai Elyakim Urbach, 20, from Zikhron Ya’akov, was serving with the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion under the 188th Brigade when he lost his life during fighting in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Staff Sergeant Yam Frid, 21, of Sal’it, a member of the Golani Reconnaissance Unit within the Golani Brigade, was also killed in action in the same region.
These two latest casualties bring the number of IDF soldiers who have fallen since the war’s outbreak to 856.
In the same battle in which Sergeant Yishai Elyakim Urbach was killed, another member of the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion from the 188th Brigade sustained critical injuries. A different soldier was reported to be moderately wounded in the incident.
The confrontation that claimed the life of Staff Sergeant Yam Frid also left several others wounded. Among them were a combat officer from the Golani Reconnaissance Unit, another officer from the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion of the 188th Brigade, and an additional soldier from the same unit—all of whom suffered serious injuries. One other soldier was hurt moderately.
All the injured troops were transported to a medical facility for treatment, and their families have been informed of their conditions.
{Matzav.com Israel}
The names of two IDF fallen soldiers, whose families have been notified, have been cleared for publication. Sergeant Yishai Elyakim Urbach, 20, from Zikhron Ya’akov, a soldier in the 605th Engineering Battalion, ‘Barak’ Brigade (188), fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip. Staff Sergeant Yam Frid, 21, from Sla’it, a soldier in the Golani Reconnaissance Unit, Golani Brigade, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip.
The nation’s infant mortality rate dropped last year after two years of hovering at a late-pandemic plateau. Some experts think one reason for the drop could be a vaccination campaign against RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, which is a common cause of cold-like symptoms that can be dangerous for infants. The infant mortality national rate dropped to about 5.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted Thursday. That’s down from about 5.6 per 1,000 live births, where it had been the previous two years. CDC officials believe the findings will not change much when the final numbers come out later this year. Infant mortality is the measure of how many babies die before they reach their first birthday. Because the number of babies born in the U.S. varies from year to year, researchers instead calculate rates to better compare infant mortality over time. U.S. infant deaths fell to about 19,900 last year, according to CDC data, compared with about 20,150 in 2023. The U.S. infant mortality rate has been worse than other high-income countries, which experts have attributed to poverty, inadequate prenatal care and other things. Even so, the U.S. rate generally has improved over the decades because of medical advances and public health efforts. The 2022 and 2023 levels were up from 5.44 per 1,000 in 2021 — the first statistically significant jump in the rate in about two decades. Experts attributed those years to a rebound in RSV and flu infections after two years of pandemic precautions. In 2023, U.S. health officials began recommending two new measures to prevent the toll on infants — one was a lab-made antibody shot for infants that helps the immune system fight off the virus, and the other was giving an RSV vaccine to women between 32 weeks and 36 weeks of pregnancy. That effort is probably one explanation for the improvement, said Dr. Amanda Williams, interim chief medical officer for the March of Dimes. In a separate CDC report released Thursday, researchers noted infant hospitalizations in the 2024-25 respiratory virus season were more than 40% lower than past averages. But more work needs to be done to tease out other reasons, Williams added, noting that much of the improvement in 2024 was in infants who were at least one month old when they died. That could be explained not only by fewer deaths from RSV but also from other causes, like accidents, homicides or SIDS. (AP)
An Israeli source on Thursday confirmed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s statement on Wednesday—that there are grave concerns about the lives of three hostages—and clarified that one is Israeli and two are foreign nationals. The source explained that there have been no signs of life from three hostages since shortly after the outbreak of war. “Their families have been updated on this situation since then,” he said. “Of the three, one is Israeli and two are foreigners.” Later on Thursday, Cherut Nimrodi, the mother of Tamir Nimrodi, an IDF soldier who was abducted from his base near the Gaza border, told reporters that her son is the Israeli hostage the official was referring to. Regarding the foreign hostages, the official said: “The contact with the families of the foreigners is carried out continuously through the embassies of the relevant countries. Their families are supported by the State of Israel in the same way that the families of Israeli hostages are supported.” According to Israeli reports, the two foreign citizens whose fate is of grave concern are Pinta Nattapong of Thailand and Bipin Josh of Nepal, the only two foreign citizens who were thought to be still alive in Gaza. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
The Trump administration announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom Thursday in grandiose terms, but with only limited details about what it will achieve. The agreement will open up the British market to American beef, ethanol, and other agricultural products, the White House said. It will also allow British cars and steel better access to U.S. consumers. The pact provides some support for President Donald Trump’s arguments that his steep tariffs could lead to agreements that open up overseas markets. But economists’ initial reactions were cool, with many noting that the United Kingdom isn’t a large enough trading partner for the U.S. to really move the needle for the U.S. economy. “It’s more symbolic than economic,” Beata Caranci, chief economist at the bank TD Economics, said in an email. “What we have learned is that these initial announcements are going to be more fine-tuning around the edges and easing of pain points, rather than an end to the trade war.” Trump said in the Oval Office Thursday that additional details will be worked out in the “coming weeks.” But in a fact sheet the administration said the deal is “historic” and “a great deal for America.” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the deal would protect thousands of auto jobs and stressed the importance of the relationship between the two countries. The U.K. is the United States’ fourth largest export market, though has received just 4.5% of U.S. exports this year. What’s in the deal: —The United States will maintain the 10% duty on nearly all imports from the U.K., which Trump imposed April 2. Many economists had hoped that the tariff would be dropped as part of any trade deal, but Trump suggested that the 10% universal duty was likely to be a floor in any future talks with other countries. —The U.S. will cut its tariffs on car imports from the U.K. to 10% from 27.5%, according to the U.K. government, but only up to 100,000 cars. The U.K. exported 92,000 cars to the U.S. in 2024, which means the U.K. auto industry won’t be able to boost its shipments without paying higher duties. —U.K. steel exports will enter the U.S. duty-free, rather than face the 25% tariff the White House has placed on imported steel. —The two countries have agreed to greater market access for each other’s beef, with both nations able to export 13,000 metric tons of beef to each others’ countries. —The U.K. will eliminate its tariff on ethanol from the U.S., up to 1.4 billion liters. —The U.S. will lift all duties on airplane engines and other aerospace parts from the U.K.’s Rolls Royce. In return, a U.K. airline will soon announce the purchase of $10 billion in planes from Boeing. —The U.K. will reduce its average tariff on U.S. goods to 1.8%, which would amount to a $200 million cut in duties, the British government said. The U.K. will also lower import taxes on about 2,500 U.S. products including olive oil, wine and sports equipment. —The U.K. will “reduce or eliminate” non-tariff barriers to U.S. exports, the White House said, though it did not provide details. The agreement creates opportunities for $5 billion in new exports of U.S. agricultural and other goods, according to the administration’s fact sheet. What’s not in the deal, at least not […]
YWN regrets to inform you of the petirah of R’ Tzaddik haLevi “Charlie Buttons” Nassofer Z”L, a beloved personality and cherished fixture in the Crown Heights community. He was 81 years old. Known to generations simply as “Charlie Buttons,” R’ Tzaddik Halevi brought joy and warmth to countless simchos throughout Crown Heights over the decades. With his signature smile, colorful attire adorned with pins and buttons – many of them promoting the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s mivtzoim and other Yiddishe messages – Charlie stood out in both appearance and in heart. He was often seen at the Rebbe’s farbrengens and in 770, always wearing his signature overalls and button-covered headgear. Despite his untraditional appearance, he was embraced by the Crown Heights community and respected by the Rebbe himself, who would frequently smile upon seeing him. Charlie was known to flash an “L” hand sign, his own gesture of love for the “Lubavitcher Rebbe.” Charlie was a regular mispallel at Murphy’s Shul, and a staple at neighborhood Sholom Zachors, L’chaims, weddings, and parades, where he uplifted young and old with his ruach and cheerful balloon artistry. In 2011, he was even honored as the Grand Marshal of the Los Angeles Lag BaOmer Parade, delighting children as he waved from atop a convertible. In recent years, as his health declined, Charlie resided at the Bedford Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Williamsburg, where he continued to charm staff and visitors alike. Last year, a gathering took place in 770 to celebrate Charlie’s 80th birthday. Attendees shared heartfelt brachos and presented him with a special framed photo of himself receiving a dollar from the Rebbe. Charlie Buttons is survived by his two sisters. The levaya and shiva information will be announced as it becomes available. Yehi Zichro Baruch. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency faced fresh upheaval Thursday just weeks before the start of hurricane season when the acting administrator was pushed out and replaced by another official from the Department of Homeland Security. The abrupt change came the day after Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL who held the job for the last few months, testified on Capitol Hill that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle an organization that helps plan for natural disasters and distributes financial assistance. “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” he said Wednesday. President Donald Trump has suggested that individual states, not the federal government, should take the lead on hurricanes, tornadoes and other crises. He has been sharply critical of FEMA’s performance, particularly in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa, will run FEMA for the time being. He does not appear to have any experience in managing natural disasters. He currently serves as the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction. FEMA staff were notified of the change in leadership through a brief email. Last month, Trump, a Republican, created a review council tasked with “reforming and streamlining the nation’s emergency management and disaster response system,” according to Homeland Security. During Hamilton’s appearance before a House Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday, he shared concerns about how FEMA assistance is administered. He also said the agency had “evolved into an overextended federal bureaucracy, attempting to manage every type of emergency no matter how minor.” But when Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, asked Hamilton how he felt about plans to eliminate FEMA, Hamilton said he did not believe the agency should be eliminated. “Having said that,” Hamilton continued, “I’m not in a position to make decisions and impact outcomes on whether or not a determination such as consequential as that should be made. That is a conversation that should be had between the president of the United States and this governing body.” In a statement Thursday afternoon, DeLauro expressed support for Hamilton and accused Trump of firing “anyone who is not blindly loyal to him.” “The Trump administration must explain why he has been removed from this position,” said DeLauro. “Integrity and morality should not cost you your job.” (AP)
Judge Menachem Mizrachi, the President of the Rishon L’Tzion Magistrate’s court, slammed the police on Thursday for their conduct in the Qatargate affair, including their overnight arrest of Yonatan Urich, a former advisor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who is a suspect in the affair. The police re-arrested Urich only minutes before he was due to be released from house arrest. The police summoned him for questioning on Wednesday evening and his wife was told to pick him up at 8:00 p.m. However, after she arrived, along with her baby, she was forced to wait outside the building until 12:30 a.m., when she was informed that the interrogation was over and her husband had been re-arrested. Mizrachi rapped the police, saying that Urich’s arrest was unlawful. “What happened that he was arrested?” he asked. “He came to the investigation, said things that you thought were contradictory, and you decided to arrest him? Did he obstruct something? Did he try to flee the country?” The police representative replied: “Additional people were arrested, and as a result, the suspicion against him has strengthened.” Mizrachi then demanded an explanation for why the decision to arrest Urich was made by a police officer rather than appealing to the court. “What is the source of the legal authority of the officer who ordered his arrest? You can’t arrest people like that. He’s not a robber who emerged from a bank with a gun.” The investigator claimed that the new information arrived only in the late evening hours, but the judge remarked in response: “It is incomprehensible why the investigative unit did not rush to the court to request a new order as it has done in the past! The court is available 24 hours.” The police representative could not provide a clear answer and replied: “I have nothing to answer to His Honor.” Mizrachi expressed astonishment regarding the nature of the investigation, saying: “Regarding the extension of detention, the feeling creeps in that the investigation is racing ahead without anyone stopping and asking themselves what crime has been committed here?” Mizrachi also asked why other suspects were not under house arrest, and why house arrest was requested for some suspects but not for others. “I have never seen anything like this,” he said. Mizrachi added that he will not “agree to the request to extend Urich’s arrest, and no court that is concerned for human liberty would allow it.” The judge also criticized the fact that the suspects have been under house arrest for over 30 days, and no information has been provided about their alleged obstruction of investigative procedures. The decision to re-arrest Urich was made with the approval of the State Attorney and the Attorney General. Strategic consultant Shlomo Filber responded to the dramatic development: “Not a single legal reporter! Not even one! pondered or questioned for a moment the trampling of the rights of those interrogated in Israel. There is not even one tzaddik in Sodom. Busha, busha, busha!” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
A sweeping new survey by the Pew Research Center, which polled over 50,000 people in 36 countries, found that 83% of Israeli adults believe in Hashem, a figure that places Israel in the upper-middle tier globally. But beneath that surface lies a telling divide: among Israelis with only a high school education or less, belief in Hashem stands at 83%. Among the more educated, it drops sharply to 64%—one of the steepest education-related gaps observed anywhere in the world. Perhaps the most striking revelation is that Israel is the only country surveyed where men pray more than women—40% of men report davening daily, compared to just 28% of women. In nearly every other country, the pattern is reversed. The same holds true for shul attendance, with Israeli men far outpacing women—reflecting halachic obligations but also mirroring trends in Muslim-majority nations like Turkey and Bangladesh. The survey also points to some spiritual confusion. Belief in Olam Haba is widespread among Israeli Jews—92% of those who daven daily believe in Olam Haba, while just 45% of non-daveners do. Belief in techias hameisim stands at 34% in Israel, slightly above the global average, and interestingly, 29% of Jewish Israelis say they believe in curses, spells, or magic – nearly double the rate among American Jews. Meanwhile, Israel ranks dead last among surveyed countries in nature-based spirituality. Just 28% of Israelis say that mountains, rivers, or trees contain spiritual energy—far below the global median of 56%. In contrast, 70% believe that animals can have spiritual essence, a figure slightly above the global average. The study also confirms what many already observe anecdotally: religious identity remains strong, especially in the public sphere. Forty-two percent of Israeli Jews say they wear or carry religious symbols, such as a Magen David—among the highest figures globally. When it comes to Jews outside of Israel, the report draws a clear contrast. In the United States, Jewish respondents were less likely to believe in Olam Haba but more likely to describe themselves as “spiritual”, reflecting broader American religious individualism. Yet both Israeli and American Jews reported higher-than-average rates of lighting candles for religious purposes. The report also notes an unusual trend: in most countries, higher education corresponds with greater openness to spirituality. In Israel, it’s the opposite. Among the less educated, 73% believe in “something spiritual beyond the natural world,” compared to just 56% of those with postsecondary degrees. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A Manhattan man with alleged ties to anti-Israel terror groups has been indicted on federal hate crime charges after authorities say he violently assaulted three visibly Jewish victims at pro-Israel demonstrations over a nine-month span. Tarek Bazrouk, 20, was arrested Wednesday morning and now faces three counts of hate crimes, each carrying a potential 10-year prison sentence. The indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York, with Bazrouk set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron later today. According to prosecutors, Bazrouk carried out a campaign of targeted violence between April 2024 and January 2025, repeatedly attacking Jewish individuals at public protests related to the Israel-Gaza war. Authorities say each assault was premeditated and motivated by a virulent hatred of Jews. In a chilling series of attacks laid out in the indictment, Bazrouk is accused of kicking a Jewish college student in the stomach near the New York Stock Exchange while wearing a green headband associated with Hamas; punching another student in the face at a protest near a Manhattan university; and, just weeks later, deliberately tripping and then punching a third victim—who was draped in an Israeli flag—in the nose on East 18th Street. Despite being arrested after the first two attacks, Bazrouk allegedly returned to the streets undeterred. “This was not random violence—it was targeted, ideological, and deeply hateful,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “The defendant allegedly assaulted these individuals solely because they were Jewish. We will not allow our city to become a place where religious identity puts people at risk.” The FBI, NYPD, and federal prosecutors described a disturbing portrait of the accused. A forensic search of Bazrouk’s cellphone revealed messages in which he referred to himself as a “Jew hater,” praised Hamas, referred to Jews as “worthless,” and celebrated having family members involved in Hamas. His phone was reportedly filled with pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah propaganda. “These attacks were not only assaults on individuals, but on the fundamental right of all New Yorkers to express their faith without fear,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated in this city—not in word, and certainly not in violent action.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
As the Social Security Administration undergoes massive changes and staffing cuts ushered in by the Trump administration, an increasing share of older Americans — particularly Democrats — aren’t confident the benefit will be available to them, a poll shows. The share of older Americans who are “not very” or “not at all” confident has risen somewhat since 2023, according to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in April. In the poll, about 3 in 10 U.S. adults age 60 or older are “not very” or “not at all” confident that Social Security benefits will be there for them when they need it, up from about 2 in 10 in an AP-NORC poll conducted in 2023. That shift looks very different depending on older Americans’ political party, though. There has been a substantial decrease in confidence among older Democrats. About half of Democrats age 60 or older are “not very” or “not at all confident” that Social Security will be there for them when they need it, a sizable swing from 2023, when only about 1 in 10 said they were “not very” or “not at all” confident. Older Republicans, on the other hand, have become more confident that Social Security will be there for them. In contrast with older Democrats, about 6 in 10 Republicans age 60 or older are “extremely” or “very” confident that Social Security will be there when they need it, up from only about one-quarter who thought this in 2023. There’s a partisan divide over Social Security The findings point to a partisan divide in the ongoing debate over the benefits program, which serves millions of people. When the 2023 poll was conducted, a Democratic president, Joe Biden, was in the White House, which may have contributed to older Democrats’ confidence in the program. Now, large changes including mass federal worker layoffs, cuts to programs and office closures are being ushered in by Republican President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire adviser Elon Musk. A planned cut to nationwide Social Security phone services was eventually walked back. Musk, who recently said he is preparing to wind down his role with the Trump administration, garnered widespread condemnation when, in March, he said on a podcast interview with Joe Rogan that the Social Security program is a “Ponzi scheme.” Those comments have caused some voters to feel less confident in the future of the program. Dennis Riera, a 65-year-old Republican in Huntington Beach, California, says Musk’s comments have made him feel very worried. “It’s really a shame that something that so many people have relied on for so many generations is being looked at as a Ponzi scheme,” Riera said. He has not yet retired from his job as a security official in the entertainment sector and doesn’t know when he will be able to. “What is their purpose in trying to undermine this institution?” he said. But Linda Seck, a 78-year-old Republican and retired nurse from Saline Township in Michigan, says she’s very confident about the future of Social Security. “When I was in college, financial planners were telling us not to depend on Social Security, but here we are more than 50 years later and it’s still going,” she said. A focus of Democrats as midterms approach Voters in recent weeks have flooded town halls to express their displeasure with the […]
The Yesh Atid refused to support a bill submitted by National Unity MK Matan Kahana on Wednesday regarding pension payments to widows of fallen IDF soldiers. Why? The law was submitted jointly with Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har Melech. The Yesh Atid party boycotted the vote because they refused to have anything to do with a bill submitted by a member of Itamar Ben Gvir’s party, and the bill failed to win a majority in a plenum vote. A furor broke out in the Knesset, with the members of Benny Gantz’s National Unity party hurling insults at Yesh Atid members. MK Pnina Tamano-Shata yelled: “You’re a garbage opposition.” Kahana wrote on X: “It turns out you actually can mobilize. When you need to mobilize the coalition against IDF widows, you do it excellently.” Earlier this week, Yesh Atid MK Merav Ben-Ari admitted in an interview with the Knesset Channel this week that the only ideology left-wing parties have is “No Bibi.” Apparently, they have one more ideology: “No Ben-Gvir.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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