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Bochurim at Yeshivas Tiferes Halevi in Elad returned to their dormitory following Maariv on Yom Kippur night to discover that a thief had taken advantage of the empty building to break into their rooms and steal thousands of shekels in cash.

The burglary took place while the entire yeshiva was gathered in the bais medrash for davening, leaving the dormitory rooms unattended.

When the bochurim returned after Maariv, they immediately realized something was wrong. Lights had been left on throughout the rooms, indicating that someone had been moving through the dormitory while they were away.

As the bochurim began checking their belongings, the extent of the theft became apparent. The burglar had apparently gone from room to room searching for cash and made off with numerous sums belonging to individual bochurim.

Among the amounts reported stolen were 1,600 shekels from one room, 2,000 shekels from another, as well as sums of 100 shekels, 150 shekels and additional amounts from other rooms.

Perhaps the most painful loss involved 3,000 shekels that bochurim had worked to collect in mikvaos throughout Elad on Erev Yom Kippur.

That money was intended to help finance the yeshiva’s retzufos program during the long Friday nights, when bochurim spend extended hours learning continuously through the night.

The bochurim discovered the break-in immediately upon returning from davening and began going through their rooms after noticing the lights that had been left on. They soon determined that the intruder had apparently used the time when virtually everyone was in the bais medrash to carry out the theft.

Yeshivas Tiferes Halevi is one of Elad’s large yeshivos and is home to hundreds of bochurim.

{Matzav.com}

The Tosher community in Canada is reeling from the sudden passing of Reb Eliyahu Spitzer z”l, a longtime gabbai of the main Tosher Bais Medrash and one of the senior and beloved figures of the kehillah. Reb Eliyahu collapsed during Yom Kippur and passed away the following morning at the age of 81.

His passing has brought renewed attention to an extraordinary episode from approximately two years ago, when Reb Eliyahu wrote that he was transferring a powerful bracha for a complete recovery that he had received from the previous Tosher Rebbe ZY”A to the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, who was ill at the time.

Reb Eliyahu was born to his father, Reb Meir Moshe Spitzer Z”L. He devoted much of his life to chinuch, educating generations of children and instilling in them Torah and yiras Shomayim.

For decades, he also served as a gabbai in the central Tosh Bais Medrash in Kiryas Tosh, where he became a familiar presence to generations of residents and visitors. Among his responsibilities was welcoming the many guests who came to spend Shabbos and Yom Tov in Tosh.

His devotion to hachnosas orchim was legendary. Those who knew him related that on Shabbos, Reb Eliyahu made certain that every guest had a place to eat and was properly taken care of before he would go home to begin his own Shabbos seudah. He was remembered for his constant warmth, exceptional devotion to others and deep attachment to the Tosher Rebbe ZY”A.

A remarkable story involving Reb Eliyahu became widely known approximately two years ago, during the illness of the Vizhnitzer Rebbe. The Vizhnitzer Rebbe shared a particularly close relationship with the Tosher Rebbe ZY”A, who held him in great affection and esteem.

At the time, Reb Eliyahu wrote an emotional letter recounting that he himself had once suffered from a serious illness. During that period, the Tosher Rebbe had given him a bracha that he would recover completely — “100%.”

Reb Eliyahu wrote and signed a declaration stating that he wished to transfer the full bracha for health and recovery that he had received from the Tosher Rebbe to the Vizhnitzer Rebbe. He expressed his complete belief that the Tosher Rebbe, from the Olam Ha’emes, consented to what he was doing.

The letter deeply moved those who saw it and became widely discussed among chassidim at the time.

Reb Eliyahu himself remained healthy until his final day. On Yom Kippur, while in the Bais Medrash, he suddenly collapsed. The following morning, to the profound sorrow of his family and the entire Tosh community, he returned his neshama to his Creator.

His sudden petirah has left the kehillah in deep shock, with many once again recalling the remarkable letter he had written and the selflessness that characterized his life.

Reb Eliyahu leaves behind an enduring legacy of Torah, chinuch, chesed and hachnosas orchim, as well as children, grandchildren and further generations who follow the path of Torah and mitzvos.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}

With Israel’s election approaching, the government is pressing opposition lawmakers to support a series of imminent budget votes involving funding for Shas-associated food vouchers, the annual Lag Ba’omer gathering in Meron and preparations for the national election.

According to a report in TheMarker, the government is seeking opposition support for a transfer of NIS 101 million to the Interior Ministry. Among the items included in the request is NIS 12.8 million needed to help finance preparations for the election scheduled for late October. Israel’s Central Elections Committee is already carrying out logistical preparations for the vote, including shipping ballot materials to Israeli missions around the world.

The election-related money is intended in part for management of the voter registry and the distribution of voter notifications. The request also includes NIS 42 million for the five-year development program for Druze and Circassian communities covering the years 2025 through 2029.

At the center of the political dispute, however, are two additional allocations. One is NIS 37 million earmarked for the food-voucher program closely associated with Shas chairman Aryeh Deri. Another NIS 46 million is being sought to cover expenses connected with the annual Lag Ba’omer gathering in Meron, including payments to suppliers through the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition.

The dispute is unfolding alongside a separate battle involving Section 46 of Israel’s Income Tax Ordinance, which provides tax benefits to donors who contribute to qualifying nonprofit organizations.

According to the report, chareidi parties have been blocking approval of Section 46 status for hundreds of organizations after the benefit was denied to certain chareidi nonprofits on the grounds that they encourage avoidance of IDF service. In response, the chareidi parties imposed a veto on granting the benefit to other organizations awaiting approval.

That standoff has now become intertwined with another urgent matter being advanced by the Finance Ministry.

The ministry has asked the Knesset Finance Committee to quickly approve Israel’s Pillar Two regulations, which are designed to ensure a minimum 15% tax rate for large multinational corporations in accordance with the international framework developed through the OECD.

According to the report, Israel must approve the regulations before the end of the year or risk sanctions. Opposition representatives, however, have informed Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s office that they will not permit consideration of the regulations as long as the chareidi parties continue blocking Section 46 tax benefits for nonprofits.

The disputes come during the final stretch of the election campaign, with the Central Elections Committee already deep into preparations for voting. Last week, election officials began dispatching ballot boxes and other materials to 99 Israeli diplomatic missions in 79 countries, 42 days before Election Day.

The coming votes are therefore expected to test whether the government and opposition can reach agreements on the various funding requests, with election preparations, the food-voucher program, Meron funding, nonprofit tax benefits and the multinational corporate tax regulations all caught up in the broader parliamentary standoff.

An 84-year-old blind Jewish woman was killed in a fire that broke out at her two-story home in Buenos Aires on Monday, prompting Argentina’s chief rabbi to intervene with local authorities in an effort to secure the prompt release of her body for burial.

The victim, Felisa Binberg, lived in the Villa Santa Rita neighborhood of the Argentine capital. The blaze occurred at her home on César Díaz Avenue.

Firefighters responding to the scene found Binberg lifeless inside the residence. By the time emergency crews arrived, officials said the source of the fire had already been completely extinguished and there was no longer smoke inside the building.

An 83-year-old relative of Binberg was also at the scene. She was treated by local emergency medical personnel after suffering severe anxiety and emotional distress following the tragedy. She did not require transportation to a hospital.

Emergency personnel temporarily blocked traffic in the surrounding area as authorities began investigating what caused the fire and the circumstances surrounding Binberg’s death.

Following the tragedy, Argentina’s Chief Rabbi, Rav Eliyahu Hamra, immediately became involved and has been assisting the family in dealing with the authorities.

Rav Hamra is working with local officials to have Binberg’s body released from the Buenos Aires forensic medical institute as quickly as possible. The effort is aimed at preventing unnecessary delays and allowing the family to proceed with kevurah at the earliest opportunity.

{Matzav.com}

New sanitation companies have begun operating across Bnei Brak following a prolonged garbage crisis that left piles of refuse and serious sanitation problems throughout the city. Municipal officials say the first signs of improvement are already visible in areas where the new contractors have started working.

The change follows a period in which, according to city officials, existing sanitation contractors deliberately scaled back their work as part of what the municipality describes as an organized “contractor revolt.” Officials say the dispute erupted over a municipal demand that digital monitoring systems be installed in sanitation and garbage trucks, allowing the city to track routes, working hours and completion of assigned cleaning tasks.

Municipal officials contend that some contractors intentionally reduced their services in response to the new oversight requirements, effectively leaving Bnei Brak residents caught in the middle of the dispute. The sanitation crisis reached a peak during the Tishrei holiday season, when large quantities of garbage accumulated on streets and around dumpsters. In some neighborhoods, the refuse remained well beyond the time by which contractors were supposed to have removed it.

During a City Council meeting, Deputy Mayor and Degel HaTorah chairman Menachem Shapira offered a stark description of conditions in the city.

“We are living in garbage. There are mountains of garbage, the cleanliness of the streets is catastrophic, and this is something that is impossible to live with,” he said.

Shapira said the municipality had spent recent months developing new work plans, establishing oversight mechanisms and creating the infrastructure needed to continuously monitor sanitation contractors. The digital tracking requirement, he explained, was intended to ensure that companies followed their assigned routes, schedules and cleaning targets.

According to municipal officials, however, the attempt to impose tighter supervision met resistance from contractors and failed to produce the immediate improvement city leaders had expected.

“We thought it would already work, but we were very disappointed,” Shapira said. “We cannot live with this catastrophe anymore.”

After extended efforts to resolve the situation, the municipality decided to bring additional sanitation companies into Bnei Brak. The goal is to reduce the city’s dependence on its existing contractors, introduce greater competition and give officials the ability to replace a company that fails to meet its obligations without disrupting garbage collection throughout the city.

“The central and most important thing happening now is that new companies are being added, in order to prevent a cartel and prevent a situation in which companies can hold us and control us,” Shapira told the council.

The new contractors have already begun operating, and municipal officials say several areas have shown an initial improvement. City officials cautioned, however, that it remains too early to determine whether those gains will last. The larger test will be whether Bnei Brak can establish consistent garbage collection and street cleaning across all of its neighborhoods.

Complicating the effort are concerns surrounding Bnei Brak’s financial situation. Municipal officials fear that cash-flow difficulties or future budget cuts could interfere with plans to expand sanitation operations, maintain the new monitoring systems or continue employing the additional contractors.

Shapira is calling for sanitation services to be protected from any potential budget reductions. He argued that after the municipality invested in the necessary infrastructure and succeeded in bringing new companies into the city, financial difficulties should not be allowed to derail the effort.

“Even if there are various difficulties, they must not harm sanitation,” he said. “If we have reached the point where the municipality has the mechanism and the tools, we have to make sure these processes are not stopped or stalled because of budgetary problems.”

The deputy mayor said clean streets must be treated as a basic municipal service rather than an expense that can be postponed when finances become tight.

“Today, this is simply no way to live. This is the bare minimum affecting residents, and therefore we will insist on it with all our strength,” he said.

Shapira added that Bnei Brak’s status as a major Torah center should give the city an additional reason to maintain particularly high standards of cleanliness.

“We need and want to be cleaner than anywhere else. We are supposed to be an example for every place and not be inferior to anyone,” he said.

Municipal officials are now hoping that the combination of new contractors, digital oversight and reduced reliance on the existing sanitation companies will finally bring the garbage crisis to an end. Although officials say improvements are already beginning to appear on Bnei Brak’s streets, the long-term outcome will depend on keeping the additional companies operating and ensuring that sufficient funding remains available.

{Matzav.com}

The Torah community in Yerushalayim is mourning the passing of Rebbetzin Chana Rottenberg a”h, wife of Rav Yeshayahu Pinchas Rottenberg, rov of the Gra Bais Medrash in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Yerushalayim and one of the city’s prominent morei horaah. She was approximately 72 years old.

Rebbetzin Rottenberg passed away at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Yerushalayim.

She was born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1954, to her father, Reb Shalom Dovid Horowitz z”l, who was among the leaders of Agudas Yisroel.

Upon reaching marriageable age, she married Rav Yeshayahu Pinchas Rottenberg, author of the Minchas Pri seforim. Throughout their decades of marriage, she devoted herself wholeheartedly to enabling her husband to immerse himself in Torah learning and serve the wider community as a posek.

As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Rebbetzin Rottenberg devoted decades to transmitting the story of Jewish spiritual heroism and unwavering emunah during the Holocaust. She authored the bestselling book “How Did I Not Know?” and delivered numerous lectures through the Nefesh Yehudi organization and other forums. She also accompanied educational trips to Poland, helping participants understand the experiences of European Jewry during the Holocaust and the extraordinary faith displayed during those years.

Those who knew Rebbetzin Rottenberg and her family described her as an exceptional aishes chayil whose life was filled with tzedakah and chesed. She regularly visited the sick in hospitals and was known for greeting everyone warmly and pleasantly.

She is survived by her mother, Mrs. N. Horowitz; her husband, Rav Yeshayahu Pinchas Rottenberg; and a distinguished family of children and sons-in-law who are marbitzei Torah.

Her sons are Rav Yisroel Rottenberg, a rosh mesivta at Yeshivas Daas Moshe in Yerushalayim; Rav Nechemia Meir Rottenberg of Savyon, who also serves as a rov in Vienna; Rav Mordechai Rottenberg, rosh kollel of Kollel Toras Moshe Aharon in Modiin Illit and a rosh mesivta at Yeshivas Tiferes Yisroel in Yerushalayim; and Rav Aharon Simcha Rottenberg, a rosh kollel in Yerushalayim.

Her sons-in-law are Rav Tzvi Boyer; Rav Yosef Schwartz, a rosh mesivta at Yeshivas Nagari in Beit Shemesh; Rav Yitzchok Shuv; and Rav Mordechai Chevroni.

The levayah was held tonight at the Gra Bais Medrash at 49 Hapisga Street in Bayit Vegan, Yerushalayim, proceeding to Har Hamenuchos for kevurah.

The family will be sitting shivah at the Rottenberg home at 82 Uziel Street in Bayit Vegan until Erev Yom Tov.

Yehi zichrah baruch.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli advocacy activist and Amcha Yisrael Knesset candidate Yoseph Haddad received a series of explicit death threats by email on Tuesday, with his party saying the messages appeared to have originated from elements connected to Iran. The threats come after Haddad was included on a list published by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry identifying Israeli individuals with whom Iranians are prohibited from having contact.

Haddad, who holds the No. 2 spot on Ofer Winter’s Amcha Yisrael slate, received several emails containing graphic threats against his life.

“We will cut off your fingers one by one and dismember your bodies together with the Americans. We are men of war. Curse you,” one of the threatening messages stated.

According to Amcha Yisrael, the language and content of the emails led to the assessment that they were sent by individuals connected to the Iranian regime. Independent confirmation of who sent the messages was not immediately available.

The threats follow the Iranian Intelligence Ministry’s recent publication of a list of Israeli figures it considers hostile and with whom Iranian citizens are forbidden to communicate. Haddad appeared prominently on that list, according to Israeli reports.

Haddad, an Arab Israeli advocacy activist who served in the IDF and was wounded during the Second Lebanon War, entered electoral politics this summer when he joined Winter’s newly established Amcha Yisrael party. He was placed second on the party’s Knesset slate.

The latest emails are also not the first threats Haddad has faced since entering politics. Earlier this month, Israel Hayom reported that he had received direct threats against his life and that a campaign sign featuring Haddad and Winter had been vandalized with the words “Haddad traitor.”

Haddad said Tuesday that the latest threats would not deter him from continuing his public activities.

“The Iranian regime has never been more predictable. I also receive explicit murder threats on social media. It did not scare me in the past and it does not scare me today; on the contrary, it strengthens me. I will continue to act for the State of Israel and for Israeli society. And to the enemies threatening us from Iran to Gaza, I convey the well-known Arabic saying: روحوا بلّطوا البحر ‘Go pave the sea.’”

{Matzav.com}

With 35 days remaining until Israel’s election, a new Channel 12 poll shows Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu moving ahead of Naftali Bennett in a head-to-head question over suitability for prime minister, reversing the result of a similar survey released just one week earlier. Netanyahu also narrowed Gadi Eisenkot’s advantage over him, while Eisenkot’s Yashar party remained the largest party in the Knesset projection.

According to the survey, 41% of respondents said Netanyahu was better suited to serve as prime minister when compared directly with Bennett, while 37% chose Bennett. Another 19% said neither man was suitable, and 3% answered that they did not know.

That marks a shift from Channel 12’s previous poll a week earlier, when Bennett received 40% compared with Netanyahu’s 39%. In the new survey, Netanyahu gained two percentage points while Bennett fell by three.

Netanyahu also improved his numbers in a head-to-head comparison with Eisenkot, although Eisenkot remained ahead in that matchup. The new poll gave Eisenkot 41% and Netanyahu 38%, a three-point difference. A week earlier, Eisenkot held a six-point advantage, 42% to 36%. In the latest survey, 15% selected neither candidate and 6% said they did not know.

The projected Knesset map showed relatively little movement. Yashar, headed by Eisenkot, remained in first place with 23 seats, followed by Netanyahu’s Likud with 20 and Bennett’s Beyachad with 13. Those top-line numbers were unchanged from the previous Channel 12 survey.

Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu gained one seat to reach nine, while Yair Golan’s Democrats dropped from 10 seats to nine.

The chareidi parties remained unchanged, with United Torah Judaism, headed by Yaakov Asher, receiving eight seats and Shas, led by Aryeh Deri, receiving seven. Together, the two parties were projected to hold 15 Knesset seats.

The Joint List, led by Yousef Jabareen, fell by one seat to seven. Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit remained at six seats, while the Religious Zionism-Zehut list headed by Bezalel Smotrich held steady at five.

Ra’am, headed by Mansour Abbas, gained one seat to reach five. Ofer Winter’s Amcha Yisrael received four seats, while the joint Reservists-New Economic Party list headed by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha also received four seats, once again clearing the electoral threshold in the poll.

Several parties remained below the threshold. Benny Gantz’s Blue and White received 0.7%, Moti Leitner’s Hatzibur Hachareidi received 0.3%, Avi Maoz’s Noam LeYisrael received 0.1%, and Sharren Haskel’s Yisrael Techila registered 0%.

Despite movement among individual parties, the overall bloc totals were unchanged from the previous Channel 12 poll. Parties opposed to Netanyahu were projected at 66 seats, including 54 seats for Zionist parties and 12 for Arab parties. Parties currently aligned with the coalition received 50 seats, while the Hendel-Zelekha list, categorized by the survey as part of a separate “third bloc,” received four.

The survey also compared Netanyahu with Liberman on suitability for prime minister. Netanyahu received 38% compared with Liberman’s 28%, while another 28% said neither was suitable and 6% answered that they did not know.

The poll was conducted on September 22 by Midgam Consulting and Research, headed by Manu Geva. It surveyed a representative sample of Israeli residents age 18 and older, with 501 respondents participating out of 2,498 people approached. The reported maximum sampling error was 4.4 percentage points.

{Matzav.com}

Spain’s government has allowed a U.S. extradition request against American multimillionaire James “Fergie” Chambers to move forward to the courts, advancing a case in which U.S. authorities accuse the wealthy pro-Palestinian activist of money laundering and other offenses connected to alleged support for Hamas-linked organizations. Chambers denies wrongdoing, while his attorneys contend that the case is politically motivated.

The 41-year-old Chambers has been held in Spain since July, when he was arrested in Ibiza at the request of U.S. authorities. He is currently being held in pretrial detention in Madrid.

The case centers in part on $7.5 million that Chambers transferred from a U.S. bank account to Tunisia, where he previously lived. U.S. authorities allege that the transaction was connected to money laundering and financing organizations linked to Hamas. The full details of the U.S. case have not been made public, and the underlying charges remain sealed.

Chambers’ attorneys reject those allegations. They maintain that his money went toward humanitarian and other projects and say the $7.5 million transfer was connected to Club Africain, a Tunisian soccer club. His defense team argues that Washington’s extradition effort is driven by Chambers’ political activism and outspoken support for the Palestinian cause.

Chambers comes from the Cox family, whose business holdings include the privately owned Cox Enterprises media and communications empire. He broke financially with his family several years ago, receiving approximately $250 million after selling his stake back to the family in 2023, according to his representatives.

In recent years, Chambers has embraced radical left-wing politics, describing himself as a communist and anti-imperialist. He has provided financial support to numerous left-wing and pro-Palestinian causes, including humanitarian projects connected to Gaza and legal expenses involving activists associated with Palestine Action.

His public statements following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack have also drawn controversy. Chambers publicly defended what he termed Palestinian resistance and has made statements rejecting the legitimacy of Israel. The New York Times recently reported that Chambers had championed Hamas following the October 7 attack.

Those statements have become part of the broader debate surrounding his case, although his attorneys maintain that Chambers’ political views do not establish that he illegally financed Hamas or any other terrorist organization.

Chambers’ wife, actress and activist Stella Schnabel, has publicly defended him and says documentation exists showing where his money was sent. She has also lobbied Spanish lawmakers against approving the extradition. Chambers’ legal team, led by former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, has additionally applied for asylum in Spain.

The case has generated significant political opposition inside Spain. Members of Sumar, the junior partner in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s coalition government, as well as Podemos politicians, have urged the government to block the extradition. Supporters of Chambers have also organized demonstrations, while public figures including Richard Gere and Greta Thunberg have joined calls opposing his transfer to the United States.

Tuesday’s decision by the Spanish government does not mean Chambers will automatically be extradited. Government spokeswoman Elma Saiz described the action as “purely procedural,” explaining that Spain’s National Court must now examine the U.S. request and Chambers’ legal arguments before a final determination is made.

If the court determines that the legal requirements for extradition have been met, the matter will return to the Spanish government for a final decision. Spanish law also allows extradition to be denied when authorities determine that a request is politically motivated, an argument Chambers’ attorneys are expected to press as the proceedings continue.

Gulf Arab leaders were preparing to press President Donald Trump to avoid a new escalation with Iran during talks in New York on Tuesday, hours after Trump used his UN General Assembly address to warn that he could “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if efforts to reach an agreement fail. Reuters confirmed that Trump was scheduled to meet representatives of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states following his speech.

Officials representing the GCC — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman — coordinated their positions before meeting Trump on the sidelines of the UN gathering, according to Bloomberg.

The New York Post likewise reported that Gulf officials intended to make the case for diplomacy and caution Trump against expanding the conflict.

Their meeting came shortly after Trump delivered a stark warning to Tehran from the UN podium, framing the next stage of the conflict as a choice between an agreement and further military action. Reuters reported that Trump simultaneously predicted that Washington and Tehran would ultimately reach an agreement.

“But I have a big decision to make,” Trump said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, and do it quickly?”

Trump used his address to defend the U.S. military campaign against Iran and argue that it had helped prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He warned that the Islamic Republic could face further devastating action if negotiations fail.

At the same time, Trump said he expected the two countries eventually to reach an agreement, suggesting that a settlement could come after the November 3 midterm elections.

The six Gulf nations have been directly exposed to the repercussions of the nearly seven-month conflict. Attacks in the region, threats to Gulf territory and interruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have created security and economic concerns for the GCC states. Reuters reported Tuesday that the continuing tensions have also weighed on Gulf financial markets and energy flows.

Bloomberg reported that Gulf governments had warned Trump before the war against military action, arguing that a broader confrontation with Iran risked destabilizing the region.

After hostilities began and Iran retaliated, some Gulf governments took tougher positions toward Tehran, according to Bloomberg. As the conflict dragged on and Iran retained the ability to target neighboring states, however, those governments increasingly returned their focus to finding a diplomatic way out.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani described the conflict Sunday as an “earthquake” for the region and said lasting security could not be built through “repeated cycles of escalation and retaliation,” Bloomberg reported.

CNN reported that the Gulf leaders entered their meeting with Trump facing concerns in both directions: they want to avoid becoming further entangled in the war, while also seeking clarity about the level of U.S. security support they could expect if Washington eventually reduces its military presence in the region.

According to CNN, Gulf leaders have previously urged Trump to pull back from a major escalation, arguing that negotiations with Tehran could still produce an agreement.

The meeting also took place amid fresh signs that both Washington and Tehran may be willing to explore another diplomatic track. Trump said later Tuesday that there was “a lot of momentum” toward an agreement after U.S. envoys held talks involving Iranian officials and regional mediators.

A senior Iranian official separately told Reuters that Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if Washington reduced military pressure and ended its blockade of Iranian ports. The official said Iran’s delegation in New York had authority to pursue renewed diplomacy and described the UN gathering as an opportunity to restart negotiations.

With the war approaching the seven-month mark, the Gulf leaders were expected to use their meeting with Trump to emphasize the regional dangers of another military escalation while the administration considers whether to pursue renewed negotiations or further action against Iran.

{Matzav.com}