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The levayah of habochur Yosef Eisenthal z”l, the 14-year-old boy who was killed Tuesday night after being struck by a bus during a protest against the draft law in Yerushalayim, is scheduled to take place Wednesday morning at 10:30 a.m.
The levayah will depart from the Ohel Torah Beis Medrash in the Ramot Daled neighborhood of Yerushalayim, where the bochur learned. Kevurah will be held on Har Hamenuchos.
Yosef was the only son of Rav Shmuel Eisenthal, R”M at Yeshiva L’tzeirim Ohel Torah-Ponevezh in Ramot and a grandson of Rav Uriel Eisenthal, rov of Ramot Gimmel. He leaves behind three sisters.
The fatal incident occurred during demonstrations against the proposed draft legislation, when a bus driver ran over Yosef, leading to his death at the scene.
Images and video from the scene circulated widely overnight, documenting the unfolding tragedy.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir issued a statement shortly after midnight, expressing deep sorrow over the boy’s death. “My heart bleeds following the killing of the boy Yosef Eisenthal z”l, age 14, this evening, as a result of a bus ramming in Yerushalayim. I share in the family’s profound grief at this extremely difficult time,” he said.
Ben Gvir added that the investigation would be thorough. “This is a serious incident that must be investigated in a deep and comprehensive manner. The police have updated me that all investigative directions regarding the event are being examined, and that the matter is being treated with the utmost severity.”
Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri spoke Tuesday night with Police Commissioner Danny Levy, demanding decisive action. Deri called on the police “to act with full determination in order to reach the truth and to bring the bus driver to justice.”
Police Commissioner Levy told Deri during their conversation that “the driver was immediately arrested and transferred for interrogation, and the police are treating the incident with the full severity of the law.”
Strong reactions were also voiced within United Torah Judaism. Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni said the incident was “shocking to the depths of the soul,” adding, “We demand that the driver be put on trial and punished to the fullest extent of the law. It is impossible to move on from such a horrific act of killing.”
United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf said he received the reports with shock. “My heart is with the family of the boy at this difficult time, and I send wishes for a speedy recovery and complete healing to the other injured victims,” he said. Goldknopf called on police and law-enforcement authorities “to exhaust the full severity of the law against the driver and to examine all investigative avenues to ensure justice is done.”
Condemnations also came from the opposition. Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman said, “There is no normal scenario in which a 13-year-old child does not return home healthy and alive. This is simply unimaginable.” He added that the incident reflected “a failure by the police,” and urged authorities to restore order and swiftly complete the investigation.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett described the footage from Yerushalayim as heartbreaking. “The tragic documentation shakes you to the core. This reality is deeply unsettling. This is not how our country should look. We are one people,” Bennett said, calling on police to fully exhaust the investigation and ensure such incidents do not recur.
Meanwhile, police continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the fatal ramming, with investigators reviewing video evidence, eyewitness accounts, and the driver’s version of events.
{Matzav.com}
President Trump said Tuesday that the United States will receive a massive shipment of Venezuelan oil, announcing an agreement under which the South American country will sell tens of millions of barrels at prevailing market rates, with Washington retaining authority over how the revenue is used.
According to Trump, the deal involves a transfer of between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil, which he said will be delivered directly to the United States. He made clear that the proceeds from the sale will not be freely handled by Venezuelan authorities.
“I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
He added that the oil will be sold without discounts or premiums and that the resulting funds will be placed under his supervision.
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump wrote.
Trump said he has already instructed his administration to move forward with the arrangement without delay.
“I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately.”
The president also explained that the oil will be transported straight to American ports using storage vessels, streamlining the delivery process.
Trump’s announcement comes in the aftermath of the January 3 military operation that removed and captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Since that operation, the president has repeatedly said he wants to see a broader American energy presence in Venezuela, including increased involvement by U.S. oil companies and expanded production in the country’s vast oil fields.
{Matzav.com}
In the wake of the fatal ramming during a chareidi draft protest in Yerushalayim, Shas spokesman Asher Medina delivered a forceful and unequivocal response in an interview on Kikar FM, describing the incident as a defining moment in relations between the chareidi public and the state.
Appearing on the program amid the unfolding shock, Medina said the evening marked an unprecedented rupture. “This is an extremely difficult night,” he said. “It can be marked as a red line, perhaps even a watershed moment in relations between the chareidi public and the state. We’ve been through countless difficult demonstrations in recent years — judicial reform, war, hostages — but a line like this has never been crossed. A young man goes out to a protest and doesn’t come home.”
Medina pointed to disturbing footage from the scene, saying it raises fundamental questions about how such an event could occur. “You see a bus driving wildly into a crowd. You ask yourself, who can allow himself to do such a thing? Who feels that this is permitted?”
According to Medina, the prevailing feeling within the chareidi community is one of abandonment and exposure. “There is a very harsh sense that our blood has been made ownerless. The chareidi public has become a punching bag. Every politician who wants to score points allows himself to impose another sanction, another decree, another blow — and then a situation is created where everything is allowed.”
While stressing that he was not drawing investigative conclusions, Medina made clear that Shas is demanding a comprehensive and uncompromising probe. “Shas chairman Aryeh Deri spoke just minutes ago with the police commissioner and demanded that the incident be investigated to the end, without a cover-up and without shortcuts. The driver was arrested, and the police committed to treating the event with the full severity of the law.”
At the same time, Medina said focusing solely on the driver misses the broader issue. “There is something here beyond technical details. It’s the atmosphere. It’s the incitement. If this had happened at another demonstration, in another place, the country would have been shaking. We would be hearing shocking condemnations from every direction. Here, somehow everything passes under the radar.”
Medina rejected claims that Shas or the wider chareidi leadership have remained silent. “The statement issued by Shas was on behalf of the entire faction, and it was not generic. It stated clearly — chareidi blood is not ownerless. Shas was the first to issue a sharp statement, and it was the one that set the condemnation in motion.”
He argued that criticism directed at chareidi leadership fails to address the real source of the problem. “This is not a spirit coming from within the chareidi public. The toxic wind is blowing from above — from politicians who incite, who talk about stripping rights, who portray the chareidi public as an enemy. In the end, it seeps into the street, and then you see scenes like this.”
Medina added that the immediate focus should not be internal recriminations. “There is a family that lost a son. Parents who were never meant to bury a child. This is a night of mourning and shock. Later, we will need to conduct a national reckoning — but first of all, to understand that a red line has been crossed.”
He concluded the interview with a call for unity across the chareidi spectrum in the face of what he described as a broad assault. “When chareidim are attacked — all of us are attacked. Not Shas, not Degel, not chassidim and not Litvaks. This is one front, and that must be the response.”
{Matzav.com}
A wave of relief and anticipation swept through the campus of Chevron Yeshiva on Tuesday following confirmation that a yeshiva bochur who had been held in a military prison is scheduled to be released Wednesday morning and return directly to the yeshiva.
The talmid, Yehuda ben Amram, is expected to regain his freedom in the early hours of the day after an early release was secured through sustained efforts by the yeshiva’s senior leadership.
Those involved said the matter was pursued intensively through official channels until the detention was brought to an end.
News of the impending release was met with visible excitement across the Givat Mordechai campus, where preparations are already underway for a large and celebratory reception to welcome the talmid back. Rabbonim of the yeshiva, alumni, and hundreds of current talmidim are expected to take part.
Organizers say the homecoming will be marked by singing and dancing as Yehuda ben Amram returns to the bais medrash and resumes his place among his fellow talmidim.
{Matzav.com}
New details have emerged from the initial police investigation into the fatal incident during the anti-draft protest in Yerushalayim on Tuesday in which 14-year-old Yosef Eisenthal was tragically killed and three others were injured after being struck by a bus.
According to early findings and eyewitness accounts, the sequence of events began on Shamgar, where a bus hit three pedestrians — ages 14 and 17 — causing light injuries. Despite the impact, the bus continued driving at speed toward Ohel Yehoshua.
Footage from the scene shows the bus accelerating toward a group of protesters standing on the roadway. One 14-year-old was trapped beneath the bus and dragged for a considerable distance. Emergency responders rushed to the scene and carried out complex rescue efforts, but were ultimately forced to pronounce the boy dead.
The Driver’s Account: “I Was Attacked by Rioters”The bus driver, who was detained immediately after the incident and questioned by police, maintains that he had no intention of harming anyone. In his statement, he said he entered an intersection that was open to traffic when it was suddenly blocked by large crowds.
He told investigators that protesters began attacking the bus, leaving him in what he described as immediate fear for his life. According to the driver, he even called the police emergency line to report the danger he was facing.
Police confirmed that the intersection was not part of a planned road closure and remained officially open to traffic. Investigators said the bus was blocked by individuals involved in disorderly conduct, creating a dangerous situation. Police also stated that the driver reported being attacked prior to the fatal incident.
At the same time, authorities stressed that all angles of the case remain under review, including why the driver continued driving after the initial collision on Shamgar.
Organizers Reject Police CharacterizationWhile police have referred to “violent disturbances,” protest organizers have pushed back strongly, offering a different account of events. They say that the demonstration, which drew thousands, proceeded calmly and in accordance with instructions from leading rabbinic authorities.
In a statement, organizers said, “There were no clashes or riots at the protest itself. The tragedy occurred at a police roadblock more than a kilometer away from the main rally site. Our hearts are broken over this terrible loss, and we pray that we will no longer know sorrow and devastation within our borders.”
Following reports of the fatality, organizers said the protest dispersed quietly and in an orderly manner, while emphasizing that opposition to the draft law would continue.
{Matzav.com}
