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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday handed the Trump administration a significant victory in its election-integrity efforts, allowing states and localities to use an expanded federal database to check registered voters’ citizenship status ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The 6-3 ruling temporarily blocked a lower-court decision that had restricted use of the revamped Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, known as SAVE. The database can draw on Social Security numbers and other federal records and allows election officials to conduct large-scale citizenship checks of voter rolls. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.

The decision does not resolve the underlying lawsuit or determine that states may automatically remove every voter flagged by SAVE. Rather, it permits the federal government to make the expanded system available while litigation over its legality continues. The immediate impact on mass removals before the Nov. 3 election may also be constrained by a federal law generally restricting systematic voter-list maintenance within 90 days of a federal election.

The dispute centers on an overhaul of SAVE undertaken by the Department of Homeland Security following an executive order signed by President Trump in March 2025. SAVE had existed since 1986 and was traditionally used to verify immigration or citizenship status for government benefits and licenses. The administration expanded it to incorporate additional federal records, including Social Security Administration data, and to permit bulk searches by authorized government entities.

Several Republican-led states subsequently began comparing their voter-registration lists against the federal system. According to the Trump administration’s Supreme Court filing, the updated SAVE system had verified more than 65 million registered voters across 26 states as U.S. citizens while flagging 28,635 people on voter rolls as potential noncitizens. Those figures represent federal database matches rather than final determinations that every person flagged is ineligible to vote.

The administration argues that the system gives state election officials an important tool for identifying noncitizens who are legally barred from voting in federal elections.

Voting-rights and privacy groups have challenged the system, contending that the federal data can be outdated or inaccurate and that naturalized American citizens can consequently be incorrectly identified as noncitizens. The overall error rate of the modified SAVE system has not been publicly established.

The Supreme Court majority concluded that the challengers’ arguments against the federal government’s information-sharing arrangement are unlikely to succeed.

Under federal immigration law, “the Federal Government has an obligation to respond to requests from state and local election officials seeking to verify the citizenship of voters,” the court said. “The order below prevents the Federal Government from using the program it believes is best suited to the task.”

The justices added that the lower court’s restrictions, including limits affecting checks of individual voters, “inhibits the Federal Government’s efforts to assist state and local agencies in the proper administration of the midterm elections.”

The case began after the League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and several individuals sued the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration and the Justice Department in September 2025. They argued that the administration unlawfully combined sensitive government records and created a system that could jeopardize both privacy and voting rights.

In June, U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in Washington sided with the challengers and blocked the expanded system, concluding that the administration had improperly combined federal records containing unreliable citizenship information.

“All in all, the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” Sooknanan wrote. “This court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision earlier this month, declined to suspend Sooknanan’s ruling, prompting the Justice Department to seek emergency intervention from the Supreme Court.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer called the lower-court ruling “indefensible” and argued that it “threatens the integrity of upcoming elections.” The administration maintained that SAVE itself does not remove anyone from a voter roll; rather, it provides citizenship information to state officials, who are responsible for determining what action, if any, should follow.

“SAVE does not disqualify any voter; instead, it merely notifies the States whether the federal government can confirm citizenship,” Sauer wrote. “Thus, any voter injury is caused by the States, not by the federal government, and would not be redressed by the relief the court entered against the federal government.”

The challengers countered that “Congress has not authorized the federal government to create a master database of U.S. citizens,” arguing that the administration “has recklessly created an error-laden master citizenship database that endangers millions of Americans’ privacy and voting rights.”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from Friday’s ruling, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Jackson argued that the potential consequences for eligible voters outweighed the government’s interest in immediately expanding use of the system.

“[T]he harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the Government experiences when it is prevented from taking an action that it likely lacks the authority to take,” Jackson wrote.

The challengers also pointed to examples they say demonstrate the risk of erroneous matches. In filings cited by Reuters, a Travis County, Texas, election official reported that 25% of SAVE noncitizen matches examined there involved people who had already demonstrated U.S. citizenship, while reports from St. Louis County, Missouri, found errors in at least 81% of responses examined there. Texas, which intervened in support of the Trump administration, disputes broader claims that SAVE is unreliable.

Following Friday’s ruling, the plaintiffs called the decision “profoundly disappointing,” saying it places Americans “at risk of being unlawfully targeted by the administration’s unreliable voter purge database weeks before the midterm elections.”

They stressed, however, that the litigation is continuing and that Friday’s emergency order is not the final word on the legality of the expanded system.

The ruling comes less than six weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, in which control of Congress is at stake. While the Constitution gives states primary responsibility for administering elections, the Trump administration has sought a larger federal role in providing information that states can use to verify voter eligibility.

For now, the practical effect of Friday’s decision is that the federal government may resume making the expanded SAVE system available for voter-citizenship checks while the courts continue considering the broader legal challenge.

Tucker Carlson is pushing back against accusations that his programs devote an unusual amount of attention to Jews, insisting this week that he is not fixated on the subject. But a researcher who tracks Carlson’s broadcasts says his review found that the words “Jew” or “Jews” were mentioned 1,546 times on Carlson’s programs over the course of the past year.

Carlson, who previously hosted a highly rated program on Fox News before launching his own independent media operation, has increasingly focused his commentary on Israel, American support for Israel and Jewish political influence. Critics have accused him of crossing from criticism of Israeli policy into antisemitic rhetoric, a characterization Carlson has rejected.

“I am in no way obsessed with Jews,” Carlson said on one of his programs this week.

That denial prompted Dan Livingston, who monitors Carlson’s broadcasts, to try to quantify just how frequently Jews are discussed on Carlson’s programs.

Livingston reviewed Carlson’s output from the previous 12 months and counted appearances of the words “Jew” and “Jews,” according to Israel National News. His tally came to 1,546 mentions during the one-year period.

{Matzav.com}

Twenty-five years have passed since one of the most dramatic and emotional chapters in the modern history of Vizhnitz reached its extraordinary conclusion: After 18 years of separation from his father and from the center of the Vizhnitzer court, the present Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Rav Yisroel Hager, returned to the home of his father, the Yeshuos Moshe of Vizhnitz zt”l.

The photograph taken on Erev Sukkos 5762, showing the Rebbe entering his father’s home for the first time in 18 years, became one of the enduring images of that historic reconciliation. In the weeks that followed, the Rebbe resumed his place within the heart of Vizhnitz, and by Parshas Vayeira of that year, he was once again sitting at his father’s tish for the first time since the long period of estrangement had begun.

For many years, the painful chapter was rarely discussed publicly. The events were well known within Vizhnitz, but the Rebbe himself refrained from speaking openly about what he had endured. That changed two years ago, on the first night of Sukkos, when he addressed those years publicly for the first time and framed the entire experience through the prism of emunah and bitachon.

“About forty years ago, a harsh decree hovered over all of Vizhnitz, and I was the victim who had to go into exile for 18 years,” the Rebbe said at the time. “During those years I was distanced from my father’s table, and I went through many obstacles. Baruch Hashem, I merited not to fall into the trap of despair at all.”

The Rebbe related that during those difficult years, there were people who urged him to accept the situation as permanent. Some suggested that he abandon hope of ever returning to his father’s home and instead establish his own independent institutions and framework. He refused, convinced that the separation would ultimately end and that he would return.

When he spoke about the episode two years ago, the Rebbe was also confronting serious health challenges of his own. He drew a direct connection between the hope that sustained him during the 18 years of separation and the emunah with which he approached his illness.

“Just as I returned to Vizhnitz even though no one dreamed that I would return, so too I will emerge from the illness, with Hashem’s help,” he said.

A month later, on Leil Shabbos Parshas Vayeira, the Rebbe again revisited the events. He recalled that on that very Shabbos in 5762, he had finally merited to once again sit in the presence of his father after 18 years.

“I already said that a decree was issued from Heaven upon Vizhnitz,” he said. “I know that it pained my father, of blessed memory, more than it pained me.”

Over time, recordings and accounts also emerged of words the Rebbe had delivered roughly three decades earlier, while the separation was still ongoing, at his bais medrash on Rashi Street in Bnei Brak. Even then, while speaking openly about the pain of the situation, he adamantly rejected the suggestion that reconciliation was no longer possible.

“There are people who tell me that one can despair and forget that there will ever again be peace between me and my father, my teacher, shlita,” he said at the time. “Baruch Hashem that I do not listen to them, and Heaven forbid to think that way, because this is ‘despair without knowledge,’ and I am certain, with Hashem’s help, that there will yet be peace and I will merit to once again be close to my father, my teacher.”

In those remarks, the Rebbe compared his circumstances to those of a person battling a serious illness, explaining that faith and the refusal to succumb to despair provide a person with the strength to continue. Decades later, those words assumed remarkable personal relevance when the Rebbe employed virtually the same message while facing his own medical struggle.

When he finally spoke publicly about the old dispute two years ago, however, the Rebbe made clear that he did not want the reopening of the subject to become an opportunity to reopen old wounds or settle accounts.

He instructed those possessing archival materials from the years of the dispute to destroy them, declaring: “There is no need to remember the earlier sins of all those who did wrong. We are not occupied with those calculations whatsoever.”

At the same time, the Rebbe expressed his gratitude to those who stood beside him during the long years of separation. He mentioned his brothers-in-law, the Belzer Rebbe and the Satmar Rebbe, as well as the numerous chassidim, courts and individuals who supported him, including members of Belz, Ger, Satmar, Vizhnitz-Monsey, Pshevorsk and Tosh.

The conclusion of the story remains deeply etched in the collective memory of Vizhnitzer chassidim. On Erev Sukkos 5762, after 18 years away, the Rebbe walked through the door of his father’s home once again. He subsequently resumed his position within the Vizhnitzer court and was recognized as the mamshich. During the years that followed, he served alongside his father, the Yeshuos Moshe zt”l, and after his father’s petirah, he assumed the leadership of thousands of Vizhnitzer chassidim.

Chassidim also recount an extraordinary statement attributed to the Baba Sali zt”l from the period when various askanim attempted to involve him in the Vizhnitzer dispute. According to the account, the Baba Sali said, “There is nothing to do. Neither blessings nor spells will help here,” before adding a striking prediction: “The curse will pass after 18 years.”

Now, a quarter-century after that unforgettable photograph was taken on Erev Sukkos 5762, the Rebbe’s later reflections have given the image a meaning that extends beyond the history of Vizhnitz itself. When the Rebbe eventually chose to speak about those 18 painful years, he did not present them primarily as an account of a dispute or even of his eventual return. He presented them as a lesson in emunah: that even when circumstances appear utterly closed and there seems to be no conceivable path back, a Yid must never surrender to despair.

{Matzav.com}

Rav Yosef Chevroni, Rosh Yeshivas Chevron, has issued an unusually forceful public response to Israel’s ongoing battle over the drafting of bnei yeshivos, declaring that an earlier draft decree ultimately helped save the Chevron Yeshiva from the Holocaust and sharply rejecting accusations that the chareidi community lives at the expense of the state.

In a rare and extensive interview with Rabbi Eliav Miller and Yechiel Sever for the Bamah magazine’s Yom Tov edition, Rav Chevroni addressed the current struggle over the future of the yeshiva world, the draft controversy, government funding for yeshivos and what he described as ongoing incitement against the chareidi community.

“The draft decree saved us from the Holocaust. The overwhelming majority, the important bochurim of the yeshiva, almost all of them, came up to Eretz Yisroel,” Rav Chevroni said.

His reference was to the history of Yeshivas Chevron, whose roots lie in the famed Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania. During the 1920s, amid concerns over Lithuanian government efforts to subject yeshiva bochurim to military conscription, a large contingent of the yeshiva relocated to Eretz Yisroel. The yeshiva was established in Chevron and later moved to Yerushalayim following the 1929 Chevron massacre.

Rav Chevroni’s comments drew a direct historical parallel between that episode and today’s controversy over military service for bnei yeshivos, as the Israeli government and chareidi leadership remain locked in a struggle over the status of full-time Torah learners.

The Rosh Yeshiva also strongly challenged the economic argument frequently raised in the public debate — that the chareidi community receives extensive state support while contributing insufficiently to the country’s economy.

“Even when the state transfers budgets, it is giving us our own money. Today we are also enormous exporters! We bring in tremendous amounts of money that involve no raw-material costs and no production costs. Clean money that enters the country. Keren Olam HaTorah has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years. And they bring us nothing! These parasites only take from us and give us nothing. What do they give us?!”

Keren Olam HaTorah was established as part of the chareidi community’s effort to raise substantial funding abroad for the yeshiva and kollel world amid reductions and uncertainty surrounding Israeli government support.

Rav Chevroni argued that money brought into Israel from overseas to support yeshivos, kollelim and their families represents a significant injection of foreign funds into the Israeli economy, while chareidi households themselves generate considerable economic activity through housing and consumer spending.

“We are not such schnorrers; we give a tremendous amount of money. But of course, they are constantly trying to cover this up through incitement against the Torah world, to make it look as though we are eating off their backs, and that is simply not true.”

The Rosh Yeshiva went further, offering his own calculation of the financial support received by a typical avreich and arguing that a considerably larger portion comes from sources outside Israel than from the government.

“Even with an avreich, the ratio is two-thirds coming from abroad and one-third from the state — it’s not even fifty-fifty. And that is at the minimum; usually it is much more. And I haven’t even spoken about the quantities of apartments and chareidi consumption. Economically, what we contribute here to the state amounts to enormous sums.”

The remarks come amid a politically and legally charged dispute over chareidi military conscription and state support for yeshivos, an issue that has intensified since Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that there was no longer a legal framework allowing the government to exempt eligible chareidi men from military service. The precise structure of any replacement legislation and its effect on yeshivos has remained the subject of fierce political negotiations and opposition.

{Matzav.com}

An unusual meeting was held at the office of Israeli Defense Minister Yisroel Katz at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, where a delegation from Agudas Chassidei Chabad spent an extended period discussing Israel’s security challenges and the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s positions on matters of national security and foreign policy.

The meeting took place on 13 Tishrei, the yahrtzeit of the Rebbe Maharash, and just before Sukkos. The centerpiece of the discussion was the recently published Oseh Shalom, a volume compiling and presenting the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s teachings and positions on issues involving Israel’s security, diplomacy and territorial policy.

During the meeting, members of the delegation reviewed passages from the new volume and cited the Rebbe’s sichos as they discussed current security questions with Katz. The conversation reportedly continued at length, with participants examining broader strategic principles and how the Rebbe’s teachings might relate to Israel’s present security situation.

Rav Yosef Yitzchak Hakohen Aharonov, chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, spoke about what he described as the importance of Israeli decision-makers adhering to the principles articulated by the Rebbe on security and the governance of the country. He also emphasized the weight of responsibility borne by government officials when making decisions affecting the security of Israel’s population.

Katz, for his part, presented members of the delegation with Israel’s current security outlook, using maps displayed in his office to illustrate the country’s strategic environment. The participants discussed the geographic and security considerations underlying Israeli policy and compared some of those issues with positions expressed by the Rebbe over the years.

The delegation included Rav Ariel Lemberg, secretary-general of Agudas Chassidei Chabad; Rav Yechiel Gluchovsky, the Rebbe’s shliach in the Science Park and rov of the young community in Rechovot; Rav Elisha Pearl, who helped compile and edit Oseh Shalom and is a member of the committee that publishes the Rebbe’s talks in English; Rav Itai Boimengarten, also a member of that committee; and Rav Menachem Mendel Ofen, who directs the security forces division of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad.

During the conversation, members of the delegation pointed to the prominent role of nevi’im throughout Tanach in guiding the Jewish people, noting that Jewish kings and leaders were expected to know and heed the words of the navi. They argued that contemporary Israeli leaders likewise bear a responsibility to familiarize themselves with the Rebbe’s teachings, particularly his extensive statements concerning the security of the Jewish people in Eretz Yisroel.

The gathering also focused on the significance of 13 Tishrei, the yahrtzeit of the Rebbe Maharash, and his famous Chassidic teaching of Lechatchilah ariber — the approach of overcoming an obstacle from the outset rather than attempting to work around or beneath it. At one point, those present joined together in singing the niggun associated with Lechatchilah ariber.

With Sukkos approaching, the Chabad representatives presented Katz and members of his advisory staff with sets of arba minim.

{Matzav.com}

The chareidi community in Yerushalayim was plunged into mourning on Friday morning, Erev Sukkos, with the heartbreaking news of the passing of Mrs. Ruchama Chaya Maklev a”h, a young mother of three who passed away following a difficult illness. She was just 39 years old.

Mrs. Maklev a”h was an exceptional and refined woman who was distinguished by her outstanding middos, deep emunah and devotion to Hashem. Throughout her life, she stood devotedly alongside her husband, enabling him to dedicate himself to Torah and avodas Hashem, while serving as the foundation of her home with remarkable tznius and grace.

During the past year, Mrs. Maklev became seriously ill and endured tremendous suffering. Those close to her related that she accepted her difficult circumstances with extraordinary emunah and inner strength. Her condition deteriorated sharply during the final 24 hours, and she returned her neshamah to her Creator this morning, leaving her family and many acquaintances devastated.

Mrs. Maklev a”h was the wife of Reb Yochanan Maklev, a distinguished avreich, and the daughter of Rav Yosef Gad Weinberg. She was the daughter-in-law of MK Uri Maklev, the longtime Degel HaTorah representative who recently concluded his tenure in the Knesset.

She leaves behind her husband, her parents, brothers and sisters, and, most painfully, three young children who have now been left without their mother.

The levayah was held Friday morning, Erev Sukkos, at the Tze’irei Agudas Yisroel shul in the Ramot Polin neighborhood of Yerushalayim. The procession continued to Har Hamenuchos, where Mrs. Maklev was brought to kevurah.

Because of the approaching Yom Tov, the family is sitting shivah only until the onset of Sukkos. The shivah is being observed at the Maklev home at 13 Rav Yechezkel Shabtai Street, Apartment 2, in the Ramot neighborhood of Yerushalayim.

Yehi zichrah boruch.

{Matzav.com}

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed this week that his government has prepared for the possibility of a U.S. military invasion of Canada, saying that while such a scenario is not considered likely, Canadian leaders have a responsibility to plan for even the most extreme possibilities amid sharply deteriorating relations between the longtime allies.

“I think you have a responsibility in these roles to look at extreme tail risk,” Carney told the New York Times in an interview Wednesday while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. “That’s just risk management. That’s not a base case, but it would be irresponsible not to.”

Carney, 61, previously served as governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. His comments came one week after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed that Canada become the European Union’s first associate member, an idea President Trump suggested could amount to a “hostile act.” Canada has been seeking closer ties with Europe as its relationship with Washington has become increasingly strained.

The tensions have been driven in large part by an escalating trade confrontation. Earlier this month, Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs of between 15% and 50% on more than $20 billion in American products, targeting goods including steel, aluminum, lumber, wool, milk, T-shirts and air conditioners. The Trump administration responded with additional measures against Canadian trade, including restrictions affecting Canadian products.

The latest round of retaliation followed the U.S. decision on Aug. 22 to impose 50% tariffs on an estimated $28 billion in Canadian goods, including cheese, beer and electronics.

Carney responded at the time with unusually combative language.

“We were attacked. You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked. That’s fine. We’ve got the reserves. We’ve got the resilience. We’ve got the plan. We’ve got the focus. We will respond.”

President Trump subsequently signed an executive order directing the U.S. government to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America” and threatened additional tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks and automobile parts beginning Jan. 1. The lake’s new designation applies to U.S. federal usage and does not alter its name in Canada or internationally.

The current dispute follows an earlier period of friction during the premiership of Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau. Trump repeatedly raised the idea of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state and referred to Trudeau as “Governor,” remarks that contributed to the worsening atmosphere between Washington and Ottawa.

Despite the extraordinary nature of Carney’s acknowledgement, military contingency planning for a hypothetical conflict between the neighboring countries has historical precedent. The United States and Canada have enjoyed generations of close military cooperation, including extensive joint continental-defense planning, but both sides have also drawn up theoretical war plans during earlier periods. U.S. Army historical records document the countries’ later development of extensive joint defense arrangements.

Following World War I, Canadian military planner Lt. Col. James Sutherland Brown developed “Defence Scheme No. 1,” which envisioned Canadian forces carrying out preemptive operations inside the United States if war erupted between America and the British Empire.

American military planners devised their own contingency plan. Known as “War Plan Red,” it was one of a series of hypothetical U.S. military strategies created to prepare for potential conflicts with foreign powers and envisioned a war against the British Empire in which Canada would become a central theater.

The American plan contemplated an early assault on Halifax, Nova Scotia, followed by the seizure of strategically important facilities around Niagara Falls and offensives aimed at Montreal, Winnipeg and the nickel-producing region of northern Ontario.

War Plan Red was ultimately abandoned as the geopolitical circumstances surrounding World War II transformed the relationship between the two countries. By 1940, U.S. and Canadian military officials were instead developing joint plans for the defense of North America, beginning a defense partnership that would deepen considerably in subsequent decades.

Today, the military imbalance between the neighboring countries is enormous. The U.S. Armed Forces have approximately 1.3 million active-duty personnel spread among their six service branches, while Canada has just over 100,000 members in its regular and reserve forces.

{Matzav.com}

Former President Barack Obama is arguing that despite widespread public cynicism about Washington, corruption within the federal government has actually declined dramatically over the course of American history, saying that traditional forms of political graft such as bribery, patronage and favors are far less common today.

“People are always surprised when I tell them the federal government is so much less corrupt than probably it’s ever been, in terms of just pure bribes, or patronage or favors,” Obama said in a preview clip from his newly released podcast, “A Great Book with Barack Obama.”

The remarks appear in Obama’s new six-part Audible series, which premiered Thursday. Produced by Audible and Higher Ground, the media company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, the podcast features discussions with prominent writers and thinkers about books that influenced Obama’s thinking and broader American society. Audible confirmed that the series debuted Sept. 24 and consists of six episodes.

Obama made his comments about government corruption during the third episode, a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore centered on Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 novel “All the King’s Men.”

The discussion about the Pulitzer Prize-winning political novel, which traces the rise and downfall of a fictional Southern populist politician, led Obama to reflect on his own experiences in the Illinois state legislature, Congress and the White House and on the way political power was once exercised.

“It was interesting, as I was coming up through the state legislature, and then Congress and the presidency — you mentioned Lyndon Johnson, part of the reason that kind of cornering folks and hustling them for votes worked, it wasn’t just physical intimidation. It was like, ‘What do you need?’” Obama told Lepore while discussing the book about a fictional farmer-turned-populist governor’s rise and eventual downfall amid political corruption in the South.

Obama suggested that a series of political reforms, including changes implemented before and after the Watergate scandal, sharply reduced the ability of politicians to maintain the old-style political machines that relied on exchanging favors and votes.

“Part of what was interesting is that a lot of reforms that we think of as positive — pre-Watergate, post-Watergate — eliminated or greatly reduced the possibilities of maintaining those old political machines, and trading votes and doing favors,” Obama, 65, said.

But Obama argued that the disappearance of those practices also had an unintended consequence: It eliminated some of the mechanisms politicians had historically used to overcome ideological divisions and assemble coalitions in Congress.

“And it’s part of the reason why things got a little harder to get done because that was sort of some lubrication in a lot of Congress to help to bridge some of the ideological differences that were out there and get people to vote for things that weren’t that comfortable,” he said.

Lepore agreed that despite the corruption and other problems associated with the old political-machine system, those organizations sometimes played a meaningful role in connecting politicians, communities and civic institutions.

“I think there’s a degree to which that kind of political machine — I don’t mean to whitewash it in any way — but was kind of crucial to civil society.”

Lepore said Progressive Era reforms produced important changes, including campaign-finance rules and stronger protections for voters, while simultaneously contributing to the demise of traditional political machines. What emerged afterward, she argued, was a different political infrastructure centered around professional consultants.

“Like what happened in the Progressive Era, among the many good government reforms that these people were making — campaign finance reform and protections for voters — yeah, it did kill the political machine. But what replaced the political machine was the political consultants industry,” Lepore, a staff writer for The New Yorker, said.

Obama’s discussion with Lepore is one of six conversations in the Audible series.

{Matzav.com}

Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg issued a temporary injunction Friday morning barring the Satmar-affiliated Shekel HaTahor organization from giving, offering or promising money to voters in exchange for their commitment not to participate in the upcoming Knesset elections.

The order came after the Movement for Quality Government filed an urgent petition alleging that Shekel HaTahor had begun distributing $200 “support payments” to members of the chareidi community who declare that they will refrain from voting.

The organization is associated with Satmar, which has long opposed participation in Israeli elections. Reports ahead of the distribution said thousands had registered for the program, with the $200 grants intended for eligible participants who committed themselves to staying away from the polls.

The Movement for Quality Government argued in its petition that providing money in return for a commitment not to vote violates Israeli election law, which prohibits offering a benefit to influence a voter either to cast a ballot or to refrain from voting. The group therefore asked Sohlberg to intervene immediately and stop the payments.

After reviewing the material submitted with the petition, Sohlberg determined that the evidence raised a serious concern that election law was being violated. Section 122(1) of Israel’s Knesset Elections Law prohibits giving or offering a bribe to influence a voter to vote or refrain from voting, either altogether or for a particular list of candidates.

In light of those concerns, Sohlberg issued the temporary order without waiting for the full proceedings to be completed. The injunction specifically bars Shekel HaTahor from handing voters money for the purpose of influencing them not to vote, as well as from offering or promising such payments.

The ruling is an interim measure rather than a final determination that Shekel HaTahor violated the law. The organization had not yet submitted its response to the petition when the order was issued, and the proceedings remain ongoing.

Shekel HaTahor was established by Satmar approximately 13 years ago and has traditionally provided substantial financial support to mosdos haTorah and educational institutions in Eretz Yisroel that decline government funding, as well as assistance to needy families. This year, reports indicated that eligibility for the election-related distribution had been expanded beyond its previous circles to additional chareidi communities committed to not participating in the election.

The temporary injunction will remain in force until further notice as the petition continues to be considered.

{Matzav.com}

Two IDF reservists were killed in the northern Gaza Strip after an explosive military drone malfunctioned, crashed inside an Israeli army post and detonated when the soldiers approached it, the IDF announced Friday morning.

The fallen soldiers were identified as Master Sgt. (res.) Nadav Kali, 24, of Har Halutz, and Master Sgt. (res.) Ofek Moalem, 23, of Yerushalayim.

Both soldiers served in the 7007th Battalion of the Jerusalem Brigade. Their families were notified of their deaths before their names were released publicly.

According to an initial IDF investigation, Kali and Moalem were operating explosive first-person-view drones from a military position in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon. The drones, known in the IDF as “Atalef,” or “bat,” are designed to carry explosive payloads.

The soldiers first launched one of the drones, which successfully completed its intended mission. They then attempted to operate a second UAV, but the drone crashed inside the military post during takeoff for reasons that have yet to be determined.

Several minutes after the crash, Kali and Moalem approached the downed drone to examine it. According to the preliminary investigation, the soldiers picked up the UAV, at which point it suddenly exploded, critically wounding both of them.

Emergency personnel provided immediate treatment at the scene before the two reservists were evacuated from Gaza to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. Despite efforts to save their lives, both were pronounced dead at the hospital.

The IDF has launched an investigation to determine exactly what caused the drone to crash and subsequently detonate. Investigators are examining a range of possibilities, including a technical malfunction or some form of communications interference.

Pending the results of the investigation, the IDF has temporarily grounded small drones capable of carrying explosive payloads, including both attack drones designed to strike targets directly and UAVs that release explosives over a target.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir subsequently ordered the establishment of a special panel of experts to investigate the fatal accident. The team, headed by a Ground Forces brigadier general, will examine the circumstances surrounding the explosion and seek to determine what measures are necessary to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring again.

The deaths of Kali and Moalem add two more names to the IDF’s list of soldiers who have fallen since the October 7, 2023, massacre and the ensuing war. The IDF’s official figures, updated Friday, list 968 soldiers killed since the beginning of the war.

{Matzav.com}

White House border czar Tom Homan delivered a forceful defense of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday, declaring that ICE will continue its stepped-up immigration enforcement operations despite mounting criticism over several recent incidents involving federal agents.

“You can hate us all you want. We’re not going anywhere,” Homan said during remarks at the Justice Department’s Victims of Violent Crime summit in Washington. Homan also pledged that the administration would intensify immigration enforcement, particularly in sanctuary jurisdictions.

His comments come as ICE has dramatically expanded detention and deportation operations under President Donald Trump, while several recent encounters involving immigration officers have prompted investigations and demands for greater accountability.

One of the most closely watched cases unfolded Sunday in Austin, Texas, where an ICE officer shot 28-year-old Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garces Perez while he was working as a DoorDash delivery driver.

Garces Perez was hospitalized following the shooting and was subsequently transferred to ICE custody. His attorney disputes the federal government’s characterization of his immigration history, saying he entered the United States through the CBP One program in 2024 and sought asylum. Federal authorities say he is subject to a final order of removal.

The Department of Homeland Security has said the shooting occurred after Garces Perez made a “dangerous attempt to evade arrest.” Garces Perez has provided a different account, saying unmarked vehicles struck his car before he realized ICE officers were attempting to stop him. The precise circumstances leading to the shooting remain under investigation.

The case drew additional attention after reports emerged that the ICE officer who fired the shot was not wearing his agency-issued body camera. Another ICE officer at the scene reportedly had a body camera activated, but that footage did not capture the shooting itself.

Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, has been among the most outspoken critics of ICE following the incident, calling for the agency to leave Austin and demanding “full transparency” surrounding the shooting. Casar subsequently visited Garces Perez at an ICE detention facility and said a medical specialist had determined that surgery was needed to remove a bullet still lodged near his spine.

The Austin controversy comes as another ICE-related incident is under investigation in Michigan.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer directed the Michigan State Police to conduct an independent review of the circumstances surrounding a fatal crash in Grand Rapids over the weekend involving Mario David Coronado Juarez, a Guatemalan immigrant who fled from ICE agents before his vehicle struck a tree and caught fire.

Grand Rapids authorities have said local police officers were not involved in the pursuit and arrived only after the crash was reported. Questions remain about the circumstances of the ICE operation and the events immediately preceding the fatal collision, prompting calls from elected officials and activists for additional information from federal authorities.

Homan did not directly address either the Austin shooting or the Grand Rapids crash in his Thursday remarks. Instead, he broadly defended ICE and attributed much of the hostility directed toward the agency to media coverage.

“We’re going to keep pushing. We’re not going to apologize.”

Homan made clear that the controversies would not cause the Trump administration to scale back its immigration enforcement agenda. Instead, he said ICE would increase its presence in jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

“ICE will continue doing the job every day across this country, especially in sanctuary cities, where we’ll surge resources and flood the zone. We’re going to enforce the law without apology,” the border czar said. “You got my word on that.”

[Video below.] Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon confronted an Iranian representative on the floor of the UN General Assembly on Thursday night, offering him the Starlink terminal that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu had displayed during his speech just a short time earlier and suggesting that he take the device back to Tehran.

Video of the encounter shows Danon approaching the Iranian diplomat while holding the Starlink terminal. The Iranian representative refused to accept it, turned away from Danon and declined to engage with him. The encounter was independently reported by The Times of Israel, which said Danon attempted to hand the terminal directly to the Iranian diplomat.

“I thought it would be appropriate to give you the Starlink,” Danon told him. “It could be very useful for you to allow the Iranian people to gain their freedom, after what you have done to them.”

When the Iranian representative showed no interest in taking the device, Danon continued pressing him.

“So, do you want to take this and bring it back to Tehran? It could be very useful for you in Iran. We love the Iranian people and pray for regime change there. That day will come.”

The exchange came shortly after Netanyahu made the Starlink terminal one of the visual centerpieces of his address to the UN General Assembly. Holding up the satellite internet device from the podium, Netanyahu argued that Iran’s rulers fear technology that can give ordinary Iranians uncensored access to information.

“The Iranian regime is especially afraid when its people have something like this,” Netanyahu said while displaying the terminal. “It is a means of communication that allows people access to the truth, to exercise choice, to exercise freedom of thought and freedom of expression.”

Starlink, operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, provides internet service through a network of low-Earth-orbit satellites and can potentially allow users to bypass conventional terrestrial internet infrastructure. The issue has particular significance in Iran, where authorities imposed a months-long internet blackout beginning in January amid widespread protests. The blackout officially ended in late May.

Netanyahu announced from the UN podium that he would leave the terminal with the president of the General Assembly so that it could be passed along to the Iranian delegation.

He added a pointed jab at members of the Iranian regime: “That way, when they inevitably defect, they too will be able to freely tell their story on social media.”

Danon apparently decided not to wait for the diplomatic delivery process. Carrying the same device, he approached the Iranian representative himself and attempted to hand it over — an offer that was emphatically rejected.

The encounter came amid a highly confrontational week between Israel and Iran at the UN, with the renewed tensions between the two countries dominating much of the diplomatic activity surrounding the General Assembly. Israeli officials have also warned that the confrontation with Tehran could escalate again, with Israel preparing for several possible military scenarios.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had used his own General Assembly address a day earlier to attack Israel and the United States, while saying Tehran remained willing to negotiate with Washington provided that it was not subjected to what he characterized as pressure and “bullying.” The American delegation walked out as Pezeshkian began his address.

The Iranian delegation staged its own symbolic demonstration during Netanyahu’s appearance. A photograph of slain Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was placed on the Iranian delegation’s desk inside the General Assembly hall.

Israel, meanwhile, had begun its public-relations offensive even before Netanyahu stepped to the podium. The National Public Diplomacy Directorate launched an extensive campaign throughout Manhattan featuring more than 500 signs and mobile displays aimed at Iran, the UN and demonstrators gathering around the General Assembly. Some of the messages were placed specifically near the hotel housing the Iranian delegation.

But one of the evening’s most direct confrontations unfolded inside the UN itself: Danon standing before an Iranian diplomat with Netanyahu’s Starlink terminal in his hands, urging him to take the technology home to Tehran — while the Iranian representative turned away.

Sen. Bernie Sanders used a major foreign-policy address at New York City’s historic Riverside Church this week to accuse Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and demand an end to all U.S. military assistance to the Netanyahu government, remarks that drew applause from the audience.

The Vermont independent, who is Jewish and has emerged as one of the most outspoken congressional critics of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, delivered the speech Monday evening as world leaders gathered in New York for the 81st United Nations General Assembly. The event was hosted by South Africa’s delegation to the United Nations in collaboration with Progressive International and the Hague Group.

Speaking from the same Riverside Church pulpit where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” address, Sanders invoked King’s criticism of militarism while laying out his own sweeping critique of U.S. foreign policy, global military spending and economic inequality.

Sanders then turned directly to Israel and Gaza.

“That is why we must continue to speak out against the extremist government in Israel and the genocide they have committed in Gaza, and why we in the United States must end all military aid to the Netanyahu government.”

His comments were met with applause from the audience.

The description of Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” remains fiercely disputed. Sanders has repeatedly adopted that characterization, while Israel rejects the allegation, maintaining that its military operations have targeted Hamas and other terrorist organizations and that Hamas’ embedding of military infrastructure among civilians has contributed to the enormous civilian toll. The legal question has also been the subject of proceedings before the International Court of Justice following a case brought by South Africa; those proceedings have not produced a final merits judgment establishing that Israel committed genocide.

Sanders has increasingly focused his criticism not only on Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and his government but also on continued American military support for Israel. Earlier this year, Sanders wrote that the United States should halt military assistance to what he called the “extremist Netanyahu government,” while emphasizing that he regards Hamas as a terrorist organization and that Israel had a right to respond to the October 7, 2023, massacre.

The setting for Monday’s speech was particularly significant. Riverside Church has long been associated with political activism and was the site of King’s landmark anti-Vietnam War speech in April 1967. Nelson Mandela also appeared at the church after his release from prison.

Sanders explicitly connected his remarks to that history, arguing that King’s warnings about excessive military spending remained relevant nearly six decades later.

“What Dr. King said was true nearly 60 years ago, and it is even truer today, as our country, the United States of America, is now spending over a trillion dollars a year on the military, while some 800,000 Americans are homeless, 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, and millions of people cannot afford the basic necessities of life,” Sanders said.

Sanders’ remarks on Israel formed only one portion of a much broader foreign-policy address. He also denounced President Trump’s war with Iran, criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine and condemned the United Arab Emirates over its support for the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.

The senator additionally devoted a substantial portion of his address to what he described as the growing concentration of wealth and political power in the hands of billionaires. He argued that rising inequality is undermining democratic institutions both in the United States and abroad.

Sanders also sounded an alarm over artificial intelligence, describing AI and robotics as transformational technologies that could eliminate millions of jobs, enable mass surveillance and make sophisticated political deepfakes increasingly difficult to distinguish from reality.

He urged President Trump to use his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to pursue an international agreement aimed at preventing an uncontrolled race to develop artificial intelligence systems that could become too powerful for humans to control, comparing such an agreement to Cold War-era nuclear arms-control treaties.

The Israel-Gaza portion of Sanders’ address, however, was especially notable given both the venue and the sponsorship of the event. South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola also spoke at the gathering and repeated his government’s accusations against Israel, invoking South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Sanders has made ending U.S. military assistance to Israel a recurring theme of his foreign-policy agenda. In an April opinion piece, he described himself as a “proud Jewish-American” whose father fled antisemitism in Poland and whose relatives were murdered by the Nazis, while arguing that his opposition to Israel’s military campaign should not be characterized as antisemitic.

{Matzav.com}

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted Thursday that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive, healthy and actively directing the Iranian regime, despite Khamenei having remained out of public view since assuming power following the death of his father earlier this year.

Speaking during an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, Pezeshkian said he personally met with Khamenei roughly four to six weeks ago and spent several hours with him. Independent reporting confirms that Pezeshkian made the assertions during the Thursday interview, though Khamenei’s condition has not been independently verified.

Pezeshkian said he last saw Khamenei “about a month, a month and a half ago,” adding that their meeting lasted “about seven hours.”

Asked whether the supreme leader remains physically capable of governing Iran, Pezeshkian responded that he was “very much so, completely” able to do so.

Pezeshkian maintained that Khamenei continues to play an active role in the country’s leadership, with the Iranian government implementing policy while receiving strategic guidance from the supreme leader. The Jerusalem Post reported Pezeshkian as saying that while implementation rests with the government, consultations and directions continue to come from Khamenei.

Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after the elder Khamenei was killed in a Feb. 28 strike. Since taking over as supreme leader in March, however, Mojtaba Khamenei has not made a public appearance, fueling persistent questions about his health and whether he is actually exercising control over the Iranian government. He was also absent from his father’s funeral in July.

Baier pressed Pezeshkian on the unusual absence, asking why Iran has not released a photograph or video showing Khamenei since he became supreme leader.

Pezeshkian attributed Khamenei’s disappearance from public view to a “lack of security,” blaming the situation on outside forces and unnamed aggressors.

Questions surrounding Khamenei’s fate grew more intense in August following reports that rumors were circulating within Tehran that he might have died from injuries sustained during the Feb. 28 strikes. Reports at the time indicated that Khamenei had been seriously wounded in the same attack that killed his father.

President Trump addressed those reports during an August interview with conservative commentator Glenn Beck, saying he believed Khamenei had survived but suffered major injuries.

“He was very seriously wounded, but I don’t think he’s dead.”

Trump went further in that interview, saying the left side of Khamenei’s body, including his arm and leg, had been badly injured. He noted that Iranian officials continued to speak as though they were consulting Khamenei and seeking his approval on important decisions.

During Thursday’s Fox News interview, Baier also questioned Pezeshkian about who is actually exercising ultimate authority inside Iran while Khamenei remains unseen.

Pezeshkian did not directly answer that question, instead turning the discussion toward Tehran’s position on the U.S.-Iran peace agreement that collapsed in July and Iran’s disputed nuclear program.

His insistence that Khamenei remains fully engaged in governing Iran nevertheless represented one of the clearest public assertions by a senior Iranian official about the supreme leader’s condition since speculation about his fate intensified.

For now, however, Khamenei’s continuing absence from public view means Pezeshkian’s assertion that he is “completely” healthy remains a claim by the Iranian government rather than something independently demonstrated to the public.

Elon Musk is predicting that the future of computing lies overwhelmingly beyond Earth, declaring that virtually all computing capacity will eventually migrate into space as Google moves ahead with an ambitious project to test artificial-intelligence hardware in orbit.

“The amount of compute in space will obviously round up to 100% of all compute,” Musk wrote Thursday on X, responding to a post about Google’s Project Suncatcher, a research initiative aimed at determining whether large-scale AI computing infrastructure could eventually operate aboard networks of satellites.

The prediction is extraordinary in scope. Today, the enormous computing resources needed to train and operate advanced AI systems are concentrated primarily in terrestrial data centers, facilities that require vast quantities of electricity and significant cooling infrastructure. Musk is suggesting that, over the long term, those economics could shift so dramatically that Earth-based computing would represent only a tiny fraction of the world’s total computing power.

Google is now taking an early step toward determining whether such a future is technically feasible.

Through Project Suncatcher, Google is investigating whether satellites carrying its specialized Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, could function as interconnected AI data centers in space. Google describes the effort as a “research moonshot” and stresses that it remains at an experimental stage.

The concept centers on compact groups of satellites operating in low-Earth orbit. Each satellite would carry Google’s AI processors, while high-speed optical links using lasers would allow the spacecraft to communicate with one another. Rather than having one enormous computer in orbit, multiple satellites could potentially combine their computing resources to tackle larger AI workloads.

One of the biggest attractions is energy.

Data centers on Earth are facing rapidly increasing electricity requirements as AI models grow larger and more computationally demanding. In orbit, Google says solar panels can potentially generate as much as eight times the power they would produce on Earth, depending on the orbit, while receiving sunlight almost continuously. That could reduce both the need for batteries and reliance on terrestrial power grids.

The amount of available energy is enormous. Google researchers noted when unveiling Project Suncatcher that the sun emits more than 100 trillion times humanity’s total electricity production. The company is investigating whether some of that effectively continuous solar power could eventually support massive computing networks in orbit.

But getting an AI data center into space involves far more than attaching computer chips to satellites.

Google researchers say the spacecraft would have to fly in extremely precise formations so that enormous quantities of data could move rapidly between them. The company plans to use free-space optical communications — essentially laser connections — rather than conventional radio links.

The precision required is formidable. Google says the satellites would need to maintain extremely high-bandwidth laser connections while both spacecraft are moving at orbital speeds. The company compared the challenge to attempting to hit a coin-sized target from miles away while both the transmitter and target are moving.

There is also the question of whether sophisticated AI processors can survive the harsh conditions of space.

Google has already subjected its Trillium-generation TPUs to radiation testing designed to simulate conditions in low-Earth orbit. According to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the chips survived those tests without damage. The company cautions, however, that radiation is only one challenge; thermal management, long-term reliability and the physical stresses associated with launch and orbital operation must also be addressed.

Google is now preparing to move those experiments from the laboratory into space.

The company said Thursday that Project Suncatcher is preparing an initial orbital test aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission. The prototype spacecraft was developed in partnership with satellite company Planet and is intended to collect real-world data on how Google’s TPUs withstand radiation, temperature extremes and other conditions in orbit.

That initial experiment will be followed by a more ambitious milestone. Google and Planet plan to put two prototype satellites into orbit in 2027, allowing researchers to test whether two AI-equipped spacecraft can fly together and exchange enormous amounts of data through high-bandwidth optical links. Planet originally announced that the two-satellite mission was targeting launch by early 2027.

The involvement of SpaceX creates an unusual intersection between Musk’s prediction and Google’s experiment: the company whose orbital-AI project prompted Musk’s sweeping forecast is using Musk’s rocket company to help test the concept.

Musk’s statement came in response to an X post claiming that Google was “launching TPUs in space NEXT WEEK on SpaceX falcon 9 to test AI data centers orbit.” Google’s latest announcement does confirm that its first Suncatcher test will fly aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 mission, although the company’s own description presents the flight as an initial hardware experiment rather than the deployment of an operational orbital AI data center.

Even if those tests succeed, enormous technical and economic obstacles would remain before anything resembling a large-scale space data center could become practical.

Hardware failures that are routine inconveniences in terrestrial data centers become much harder to address when equipment is hundreds of miles above Earth. Heat must be dissipated in a vacuum, satellites must survive radiation for extended periods, and thousands of processors would need exceptionally fast communications links. Launch costs would also have to become sufficiently low to make replacing and expanding orbital computing hardware economically practical.

Google itself is careful not to portray Project Suncatcher as a near-term replacement for conventional data centers. The company describes the effort as a long-range experiment intended to answer fundamental engineering questions and says the first mission is primarily about discovering what works, what fails and what needs to be redesigned.

Still, Musk’s prediction takes the idea to its ultimate conclusion. Rather than envisioning space-based computing as a supplement to Earth’s data centers, he is forecasting a future in which the overwhelming majority of computing happens in orbit.

“The amount of compute in space will obviously round up to 100% of all compute,” Musk wrote.

For now, Google is considerably closer to the beginning of that experiment than to Musk’s envisioned endpoint. But with actual AI processors preparing to head into orbit and two interconnected prototype satellites planned for 2027, the idea of an AI data center in space is moving from theoretical research toward real-world testing.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted Thursday that Tehran has no intention of developing a nuclear weapon and said Iran is prepared to dilute enriched uranium and permit international verification of its nuclear activities, while accusing the United States and Israel of responsibility for the nearly seven-month Middle East war.

Pezeshkian made the assertions during an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report,” where he discussed Iran’s nuclear program, the collapse of negotiations with President Donald Trump’s administration, U.S. sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz and the ongoing military confrontation.

Pressed directly on whether Iran wants to obtain a nuclear bomb, Pezeshkian issued an unequivocal denial.

“Not at all. Not at all. Our martyred, esteemed supreme leader had announced several times that, from a religious decree, it is unholy. It is illegal,” he told Bret Baier, referencing religious edicts issued against weapons of mass destruction.

Pezeshkian’s denial comes against the backdrop of years of international concern over Tehran’s nuclear activities, including its enrichment of uranium to levels far beyond those ordinarily required for civilian nuclear-energy purposes. The Iranian nuclear program was among the central issues cited by President Trump in launching Operation Epic Fury in February.

During Thursday’s interview, however, Pezeshkian indicated that Iran would be prepared to reduce the enrichment level of its uranium and open its nuclear activities to outside verification as part of a potential agreement.

“So, that weapon’s mass destruction. We said we’re willing to dilute them. It’s not a big deal. We are willing to submit ourselves to verification,” he said.

Pezeshkian also pointed to the memorandum of understanding reached between Iran and the Trump administration in June, which was designed to halt hostilities and provide a pathway toward a broader agreement between Washington and Tehran. The White House said at the time that the agreement was intended to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and lead toward a final settlement of the nuclear dispute.

“We have no problems. We did reach an agreement with your president,” Pezeshkian said of Trump, who signed the agreement.

“That agreement was signed, and, based on that, we are willing and still wish to move forward.

“And the framework was agreed upon. We had not closed the Strait of Hormuz; it was open without any legal justification or framework,” he said.

Pezeshkian then accused the United States of derailing the diplomatic process through military action against Iran.

“They attacked us. They assassinated and martyred our esteemed supreme leader, our scientists, our military commanders and government.”

Despite his accusations against Washington, the Iranian president maintained that Tehran remains willing to negotiate and suggested that international inspectors could be granted broad access to Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“The problem is that America, instead of conducting dialog, they descend into the arena by bombing us first, by blocking every pathway. We are ready,” he said.

“This is not the way to conduct yourself on the world stage. They can have free access to see whatever we have, but not to put us under such pressure, under blockades, deny us access.”

Pezeshkian also rejected the contention that Iran is seeking a confrontation with the United States, instead portraying Tehran as defending itself against American military action.

“We do not seek to kill Americans, as shown by actions, demonstrable actions. America has sought to kill Iranians,” Pezeshkian said. “What we know is that if we’re attacked, we must defend ourselves.”

The Iranian president was also questioned about the continuing U.S. military campaign and the Trump administration’s use of secondary sanctions against Tehran. Pezeshkian acknowledged that Iran is facing serious economic difficulties but said his government would continue resisting American pressure.

“This is something that has been the doing of the United States,” he said. “We will keep resisting. We will find ways, and the life of our country will continue. We will remain.

“Yes, we do have economic issues, certainly. But in order to remain, we will go through any hardship and endure.

“If America thinks that they can keep sanctioning us, we have nothing to do, nor do we consider any type of American elections. If the current American government, within international legal frameworks, wishes to reach an agreement, fine. If not, before the elections or after the elections, what difference does it make for us?”

The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz remains another major obstacle to an agreement. Iran has recently indicated that it could reopen the strategically vital waterway if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade of Iranian ports. The strait has become a central point of contention in negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.

Pezeshkian repeatedly maintained during the interview that Iran did not seek the war, while accusing Israel of helping trigger the fighting and arguing that Washington now has the power to determine whether the conflict continues.

“We will stand resolutely to defend ourselves. We never sought war. We do not seek war,” he said.

“I deeply believe that humans should not cause the death of another human. But with the instigations conducted by Israel, they have imposed this war on us.

“But we do not wish to continue. It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not.”

His comments echoed the position he presented during this week’s UN General Assembly, where Pezeshkian said Iran remains open to negotiations with Washington while rejecting talks conducted under military threats and economic pressure.

Pezeshkian was additionally questioned about reports that Iranian forces obtained Chinese satellite imagery that was used in carrying out a deadly attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan. Three American service members were killed in the strike.

The Iranian president said he had no specific knowledge of the alleged intelligence assistance.

“I’m specifically unaware of these purported images that you talk about,” Pezeshkian said.

“Now, what do militaries do with one another between two countries? It is their own business within their own guidelines.”

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Some of the biggest names in technology and finance gathered at the White House on Thursday night as President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state dinner, with Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos among the high-profile business leaders invited to the event.

The black-tie dinner in the White House East Room concluded a day of diplomatic meetings and elaborate ceremonies surrounding Xi’s state visit to Washington. The visit marked Xi’s first trip to the White House in more than a decade and included discussions between the two leaders as the United States and China continue to grapple with major disputes involving trade, artificial intelligence, advanced computer chips and Taiwan.

According to the White House guest list, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos were among the prominent corporate figures invited to the dinner. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was also among the technology executives attending.

Trump had previewed the intense interest surrounding the dinner earlier in the week while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“Everyone wants to be there,” Trump said during the United Nations General Assembly. “It’s the hottest ticket in town.”

Asked who had secured invitations to the event, Trump indicated that the guest list drew from a broad cross-section of America’s most powerful industries.

“Sort of everybody,” he said, adding that it included “the entire tech world, the entire banking world and a lot more.”

The final roster reflected that description, bringing together dozens of executives from Silicon Valley, Wall Street and other major sectors of the economy. They were joined by members of the Trump administration, lawmakers, Supreme Court justices, media personalities and members of the Trump family. Reuters reported that the White House press office released the official list of invited guests Thursday night.

The particularly large contingent of technology executives came as artificial intelligence and advanced semiconductor technology have become increasingly important sources of competition between Washington and Beijing.

Nvidia and other American semiconductor companies have found themselves directly affected by that rivalry, as Washington has sought to limit China’s access to some of the most advanced American technology while U.S. companies continue to view China as a major commercial market.

Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to the White House ahead of the dinner. Melania wore a tuxedo-inspired ensemble featuring an oversized bow for the formal occasion. The White House had earlier welcomed the Chinese president with an elaborate state arrival ceremony involving hundreds of members of the U.S. military.

The corporate guest list extended well beyond Zuckerberg, Musk, Altman and Bezos. Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai was invited, as were Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison and Tim Cook, who recently stepped down as Apple CEO.

French billionaire Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH, was also among the guests. His company controls major brands including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. Arnault attended with his son Alexandre Arnault.

The judicial branch was represented as well, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh appearing on the White House guest list.

The dinner itself was held in the East Room, where guests dined using the Reagan State Service. The White House said the décor incorporated red flowers and linens in recognition of the color’s longstanding cultural significance in China, while the menu combined American ingredients with Chinese influences.

The meal began with yellow squash velouté accompanied by wild mushroom fricassee, crispy pancetta and scallion oil, followed by sesame-crusted sea bass with baby bok choy, roasted garden eggplant and sauce verte. Dessert featured vanilla crémeux, sour cherry confit, walnut frangipane and ice cream made with White House honey.

The evening also featured performances by tenor Christopher Macchio and military musicians from the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army.

The glittering guest list underscored the enormous economic stakes surrounding Xi’s Washington visit, with leaders of companies at the center of the global AI and technology race sitting down for dinner as Trump and Xi sought to navigate the increasingly consequential competition between the world’s two largest economies.

[Video below.] A remarkable display of humility unfolded today in Yerushalayim when the Dushinsky Rebbe chose to walk down eight flights of stairs rather than inconvenience a group of workers riding in an elevator.

The Rebbe had been visiting a chassid who resides in a luxury penthouse on the eighth floor of a building. When the visit concluded, the Rebbe and those accompanying him waited for the elevator.

When the doors opened, they found the elevator filled with Arab workers. Recognizing the Rebbe, the workers immediately began stepping out to make room for him.

The Rebbe refused to allow them to leave on his account. He warmly instructed the workers to remain inside and even directed one worker who had already exited the elevator to get back in.

One of the workers, astonished that the Rebbe would give up the elevator and walk down eight floors rather than inconvenience them, pleaded with him, “B’Chayat Rabbeinu!—Please, Rebbe!”

The Rebbe remained firm. The workers continued their ride, while he made his way down all eight flights of stairs on foot.

The moving incident, documented by photographer Shlomi Cohen, is an extraordinary example of the Rebbe’s humility and consideration for others.

Another episode illustrating the Rebbe’s sensitivity occurred during a separate visit that day. As he made his way to a shivah home located on the third floor of a building without an elevator, he noticed a man struggling to carry cases of soda and water.

The Rebbe asked where the delivery was headed. Upon learning that the drinks were intended for the very shivah home he was visiting, he took a six-pack of water from the man and began carrying it himself. He then instructed those accompanying him to help bring up the remaining packages.

{Matzav.com}

Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, rosh yeshivah of Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, left open the possibility of returning to Uman next Rosh Hashanah after telling a major donor that another visit would depend on his continued financial support for the yeshivah.

Rav Sorotzkin’s historic Rosh Hashanah visit to Uman generated considerable discussion throughout the Torah world. His trip to Ukraine was described as an unprecedented step prompted by an extraordinary donation to the yeshivah from a prominent benefactor. Additional donors subsequently joined the initiative, resulting in an enormous contribution that reportedly led Rav Sorotzkin to make the trip.

During the Yom Tov, one of the major donors approached Rav Sorotzkin and asked whether he would return to Uman the following year.

Rav Sorotzkin answered without hesitation: “Look in the mirror and answer the question yourself. That depends entirely on you.”

His response indicated that he was not ruling out another visit if it would generate further support for the bochurim and avreichim of Ateres Shlomo.

Those close to Rav Sorotzkin emphasized that he is prepared to do whatever is necessary for the institution’s bochurim and avreichim—including spending another Rosh Hashanah in Uman if such a trip would help strengthen and sustain the Torah world.

Israel’s Real Estate Enforcement Authority is launching a nationwide crackdown ahead of Sukkos on illegally constructed balconies, platforms and structural additions that could endanger the public. Violators may face administrative fines reaching hundreds of thousands of shekels.

Officials stressed that the enforcement campaign is not directed at ordinary temporary sukkahs erected for the holiday. It will instead target more substantial structures that require building permits and engineering approval.

As part of its preparations, the authority sent warning letters to suppliers, metalworking businesses and contractors, reminding them that all work must comply with the law and that structures may not be erected without the necessary permits and approvals.

Authority inspectors are also expected to conduct proactive operations throughout the country in an effort to identify unauthorized construction during its earliest stages. Enforcement proceedings will be opened against those involved when balconies or other structures are found to have been built without permits.

As a preventive measure, the Bnei Brak municipality and the Real Estate Enforcement Authority issued a special public notice on behalf of the city’s rabbanim. The announcement warned residents against constructing unauthorized balconies and building additions and highlighted the safety hazards they can create.

The authority said that construction performed without a permit—or in violation of a permit’s conditions—is illegal and can result in enforcement orders and administrative fines amounting to hundreds of thousands of shekels. Depending on the circumstances, both the property owner and the contractor who carried out the work may be held responsible.

“A balcony built without a permit and without the approval of a structural engineer is not a temporary solution for the chag, but could pose a danger to life,” the Real Estate Enforcement Authority said. “We are working with property owners, contractors and local authorities to stop this phenomenon before construction takes place. Anyone who chooses to build in violation of the law should know that the authority will be in the field and will use every enforcement tool at its disposal.”

{Matzav.com}