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A dramatic overnight standoff erupted in the southern city of Ofakim after military police detained a yeshiva bochur classified as a draft dodger — only to release him minutes later when hundreds of protesters surrounded their vehicle following a “Black Alert” callout.

During the late-night hours, a military police team arrived at the home of a young man who had not appeared at the draft office. He had been officially designated as a “me’atzev” (absentee) and then as an “arrestable deserter.”

Upon the officers’ arrival, the bochur‘s family sent out an alert, which led to a mass message through the “Tzeva Shachor” (“Black Alert”) system, summoning crowds to the scene. Within a short time, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the street, surrounding both the home and the military police vehicle.

Although the officers managed to get the yeshiva bochur into the vehicle, the crowd blocked the patrol car on all sides, triggering a large-scale confrontation and preventing the unit from leaving.

A female IDF officer from the military police, who was inside the vehicle at the time, ultimately decided to release the detainee in order to disperse the crowd and allow the military police team to exit the area safely.

Activists celebrated the release, calling it “a tremendous success,” claiming that “the yeshiva bochur was freed by the crowd even after he was already inside the military police vehicle, thanks to the massive protest that erupted at the scene.”

A police source said afterward that the military police had carried out the arrest “without coordination” and “in violation of protocol.” According to the source, local police forces who were called to the scene worked to disperse the protest and escort the military police out unharmed.

{Matzav.com}

Secretary of State Marco Rubio unloaded on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro during an appearance on Hannity Tuesday night, as President Donald Trump escalates efforts to force the strongman out of power.

Rubio did not mince words when describing the Venezuelan government’s conduct, telling Sean Hannity, “The Maduro regime is not a legitimate government. What it is is a transshipment organization. It allows cocaine and other drugs that are produced in Colombia to be trafficked through Venezuelan territory and – with the cooperation of elements of the regime – are allowed to… leave Venezuela on airplanes and ships headed towards the United States.”

That critique comes as the administration continues to expand military activity around Venezuela. U.S. forces have been conducting operations targeting suspected narcotics vessels in the Caribbean, and the Pentagon recently boosted its presence in the region. Rubio underscored that initiative, saying, “The president has authorized a counter-drug mission in the region. The fact that Maduro is upset about it tells you that drugs are coming out of Venezuela.”

The administration is also preparing to terminate temporary protected status for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans currently residing in the United States, another move that aligns with the White House’s aggressive stance toward Caracas.

Rubio accused Maduro’s government of enabling and partnering with criminal networks, warning that the fallout has engulfed the broader continent. “The Venezuelan regime is a source of instability in the entire region,” he said. “Over eight million Venezuelans have flooded into neighboring countries as a result of the regime’s activities within their own country, including into the United States.”

He added that any attempt to negotiate with Maduro is bound to fail, pointing to what he described as a consistent pattern of broken agreements. Rubio argued, “If you wanted to make a deal with him [Maduro], I don’t know how you do. He’s broken every deal he’s ever made… Maduro has made five deals with different parties over the last 10 years and has broken every single one of them.”

Rubio also highlighted an arrangement between Joe Biden and Maduro that he said collapsed, claiming it never received proper scrutiny. According to Rubio, “Maduro asked [Biden] that his nephews, convicted drug traffickers, be released from U.S. prisons. He asked that his chief money launderer… be released from U.S. custody before he stood trial. In exchange, he promised to hold free and fair elections. He got the nephews back, the drug dealers, he got the bag man back, and he never did the free and fair elections.” Rubio followed that with a sharp assessment: “They suckered Joe Biden. They’re not going to sucker Donald Trump.”

President Trump has recently acknowledged having spoken directly with Maduro, warning him that refusing to step aside could provoke U.S. military action. The exchange followed a cabinet meeting in which Rubio lauded Trump’s global posture, calling this past year one of the most “transformational” periods in American diplomacy since World War II.

Despite the bleak outlook for negotiations, Rubio noted that Trump still remains willing to explore diplomatic avenues. He emphasized the president’s openness, saying, “The president is a unique figure in modern American history. He’s prepared to sit down and meet and talk to anybody. But at the end of the day, there has to be somebody that you can actually make a deal with. We’ve made a deal with the Chinese, but Maduro’s never kept a deal. That doesn’t mean the president won’t try.”

{Matzav.com}

Malcolm Hoenlein delivered an urgent message at the Yisroel Hayom Conference in New York, describing an alarming demographic and cultural trajectory he believes is endangering both Israel’s standing and the stability of the American Jewish community. As Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, he argued that shifts in population and political influence are rapidly outpacing the Jewish community’s preparedness to address them.

Reflecting on decades of public service—from his political activism in the 1950s during Adlai Stevenson’s presidential campaign to his lifelong battle against antisemitism—Hoenlein said the trends he long feared have now materialized. “Unfortunately,” he stated, “this prophecy has come true.” He noted that today’s manifestations of antisemitism echo troubling patterns he witnessed in Europe, warning that America is no longer immune to similar developments.

Hoenlein stressed that, despite widespread awareness, the community continues to avoid confronting the magnitude of the crisis. While hundreds of new groups have emerged over the last two years to combat antisemitism, many flush with funding, he said the overall effort lacks coherence. “For the past twenty years I have been warning about the phenomenon,” he said, adding that “we are winning a few battles but losing the war.” He emphasized the absence of a coordinated financial and strategic framework and pointed to the latest New York elections as evidence of how rapidly the political landscape is shifting. According to him, the city’s Muslim population now surpasses major ethnic communities such as Italians and Poles—and continues to expand.

During the conversation, Hoenlein addressed claims that nearly 30 percent of Jewish voters supported Zohran Mamdani. He dismissed the figure as inaccurate, explaining that the methods used to calculate the vote do not properly measure Jewish demographics. “They did not vote for him,” he said, noting that even if the number were closer to 20 percent, the real question is why those voters were drawn to Mamdani. “He spoke about the cost of living. He excited them. We are not exciting young people, and it is not only a revolt against Israel, Israel is just a symbol. It is a revolt against their families. We are not growing, and we are not building the future. We are the ones who carry this message we always have and now is the time to focus on the future.”

When asked if the community can still turn the tide, Hoenlein pointed to the limits of political maneuvering when stacked against demographic trends. “Ten years ago I said, ‘Don’t run, prepare,’ because you can argue with politics and policy but not with demography,” he explained. He called for investment in a new generation—one that is deeply educated, confident, and tied to Israel—but urged that the approach must be innovative and fundamentally different from past efforts.

{Matzav.com}

The authors of a study that examined climate change’s potential effect on the global economy said Wednesday that data errors led them to slightly overstate an expected drop in income over the next 25 years. The researchers at Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, writing in the journal Nature in 2024, had forecast a […]

  A widowed father of ten is now fighting the very same cancer that took his wife. He is the only parent his children have left — and now he is slipping. Their home is falling apart, bills are piling up, and the children are doing everything they can just to hold their world together. […]

Malaysia’s transport ministry said Wednesday that a private firm will resume a deep-sea hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 later this month, renewing hopes of finally locating the jet that vanished without a trace more than a decade ago. The search will be carried out by Texas-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity, which signed a […]

President Donald Trump ignited a new national debate on Tuesday when he hinted that Americans could soon see the federal income tax vanish entirely, suggesting that soaring tariff revenue may make such a sweeping change possible under his watch.

Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting, Trump declared that “at some point in the not too distant future you won’t even have income tax to pay,” insisting that the money now flowing into the Treasury is “so great… so enormous.” He went even further, musing that income taxes might be scrapped or reduced to a symbolic level, saying, “Whether you get rid of it or just keep it around for fun or have it really low, much lower than it is now, but you won’t be paying income tax.”

If realized, the elimination of income tax would constitute the most dramatic transformation of America’s tax structure in more than 100 years. Trump has often signaled interest in funding the government through tariffs, but his comments on Tuesday represent his clearest embrace of that direction.

Earlier in his second term, he put forward the idea of exempting individuals earning below $150,000 from income tax altogether and relying on tariffs to compensate for the lost revenue. That plan echoed the rhetoric he used in January, when he said, “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens.”

His stance surfaced again during an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan while on the campaign trail, when he was asked directly whether he was serious about abolishing personal income taxes. Trump replied, “Yeah, sure, why not?” explaining that tariffs could serve as the government’s primary funding source in place of wage-based taxation.

This position marks a departure from ideas he floated decades ago. During his brief consideration of a presidential run with the Reform Party in 1999, Trump toyed with a proposal for a one-time “net worth” tax on individuals whose wealth exceeded $10 million.

Should he pursue elimination of the income tax now, the initiative would entail massive revisions to the tax code and would meet heavy resistance in Congress, especially with the House majority holding only a slim margin.

Although abandoning income tax has traditionally been viewed as an outsider proposal, Trump’s push to rely heavily on tariffs has propelled the notion closer to the center of national discussion than it has been in generations.

{Matzav.com}

A new resolution at the UN General Assembly reignited international criticism of Israel on Tuesday, as the body approved a measure insisting that Israel relinquish the Golan Heights and labeling Israel’s control of the area as “illegal.”

Egypt brought the proposal to the floor, pressing the demand that, “Israel withdraw from all the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967 in implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.” The text accuses Israel of blocking progress toward stability in the region, asserting that its governance of the strategic plateau amounts to “a stumbling block in the way of achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.”

The vote divided the chamber: 123 nations supported the resolution, seven voted against, and 41 abstained. The opposing camp included Israel, the United States, Paraguay, Palau, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga.

The initiative mirrors a yearly effort driven by Syria and several Arab states, who routinely put forward similarly worded resolutions that typically gain majority approval with little difficulty.

Israel’s envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, blasted the move, responding sharply that, “The UN General Assembly once again proves how disconnected it is from reality.” He faulted the organization for fixating on Israel while ignoring real dangers unfolding in the region.

Danon emphasized that the UN was misplacing its focus, saying, “Instead of addressing the crimes of the Iranian axis and the dangerous activities of militias in Syria, it demands that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights – a vital defense line that protects our citizens.”

He closed with a firm declaration of Israel’s stance on the matter: “Israel will not return to the 1967 lines and will not abandon the Golan. Not now, not ever.”

{Matzav.com}

The European Union on Wednesday revealed details of its plan to use billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s needs over the next two years, but Belgium rejected the scheme and insisted that it poses major financial and legal risks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU would […]

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Opposition Leader Yair Lapid launched a fierce broadside Tuesday night against the government’s latest version of the chok hagiyus, dismissing it outright as a “draft-dodging law.”

Lapid argued that Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu withdrew his planned statement on the matter simply because “Bibi ran away, because he knows we know the details of the law and he has no way to defend it.”

Lapid accused the government of orchestrating “a complete fraud,” claiming the bill is being controlled not by the IDF but by Shas leader Aryeh Deri and United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzchok Goldknopf. “This law is full of holes that were put there deliberately. No quotas, no sanctions, no enforcement,” Lapid insisted.

He said the Israeli public expects responsibility and fairness, but “instead gets yet another betrayal of the soldiers. When faced with a choice between the fighters and the draft-dodgers, Netanyahu chose the draft-dodgers and betrayed the fighters.”

Lapid also charged that the aim of the bill is “to restart the flow of money to the yeshivas,” and claimed that Israeli taxpayers are funding “60 billion shekels a year for draft-dodgers who don’t show up at the induction center.” The bill, he said, “disgraces the soldiers, the 920 who fell, and the 20,000 wounded,” vowing: “This law can’t be defended and it will not pass. We will stop it.”

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett likewise tore into the proposal, warning that the IDF is currently short 20,000 soldiers. According to Bennett, Israel faces only two realistic paths: “Either draft the chareidim or impose 120 reserve-duty days a year on reservists and destroy their lives.”

Bennett said the government is advancing legislation that “will block any chance of drafting chareidim. It’s Israel-bluff. It’s a fully political law. Its purpose is to funnel billions into a system that doesn’t enlist.”

He added bluntly, “This is a law written by Aryeh Deri. It’s a fully political law.”

{Matzav.com}

An unusual notice posted this week inside the Ponevezh Yeshiva dormitory in Bnei Brak has stirred conversation among the bochurim, as the yeshiva temporarily suspended its longstanding early-morning wake-up system amid internal tensions over daily schedules.

The dramatic message, which appeared on the dormitory door at the start of the week, informed students that the yeshiva’s designated vekker—the individual responsible for waking bochurim before Shacharis—would not be coming as of Monday “until further notice.”

In major yeshivos, the role of vekker is traditionally filled by a devoted bochur or yungerman appointed by the administration. His duty is to walk through the dorm rooms, and ensure the bochurim are up in time to begin the day properly.

Talmidim at Ponevezh were taken by surprise to discover that the yeshiva’s management has halted this system entirely. The notice instructed them to assume full personal responsibility for their mornings: “Everyone should make sure to wake himself—and his friends.” It concluded with the pointed message now echoed throughout the yeshiva: “Know that it depends on you alone.”

For now, Ponevezh has no officially appointed vekker. Typically, this is a respected and sought-after role entrusted to a standout bochur, but the position is currently open. Anyone interested in taking on the responsibility is expected to speak directly with the hanhalah.

{Matzav.com}

A coalition of ninety one-time House members is pushing congressional leadership to advance a comprehensive ban on individual stock ownership and trading by sitting lawmakers and their families. Their appeal, unveiled Tuesday, calls on Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to fast-track the Restore Trust in Congress Act and bring it to the floor this year.

Their message urges the House’s top Republican and Democrat to anchor the measure to any essential legislative package, insisting they “strongly recommend attaching this legislation to a ‘must pass’ package before the conclusion of the year.” The signatories span Democrats, Republicans, and independents, reflecting broad bipartisan agreement among those no longer in office.

The group described the bill as the culmination of years of efforts to rein in congressional stock trading, arguing that its adoption “would eliminate the persistent appearance of insider trading among members of Congress.” They pointed to the erosion of public confidence in Washington and referenced surveys showing that Americans across the political spectrum overwhelmingly back restrictions on stock trades by lawmakers.

Their letter also highlighted a Wall Street Journal review that documented a burst of trading activity by lawmakers and relatives in early April, shortly before markets dived following President Trump’s sweeping tariff move. They raised this as evidence of why tougher guardrails are overdue.

“As former members of Congress from both parties, we’re deeply committed to the ongoing health of our democracy and the institution of Congress,” the letter stated. It continued, “The American people understand that our elected lawmakers cannot be both the referee and the player – that presents a clear conflict of interest. Even the appearance of self-dealing does damage.”

The Restore Trust in Congress Act sets strict limits, barring legislators, their spouses, and dependent children from purchasing, holding, or selling individual stocks, securities, or futures—with a few narrow exceptions. Investments such as mutual funds, ETFs, municipal bonds, and treasuries would remain permitted.

Under the proposal, current lawmakers would be required to unwind any prohibited investments within 180 days of the bill becoming law. Newly elected members would have 90 days to divest. The legislation additionally empowers the legislative ethics office to impose tougher penalties and enforce compliance more aggressively.

{Matzav.com}

A fierce political and legal storm erupted again this week after Leon Panetta weighed in on allegations of a second U.S. strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean. Speaking on CNN, Panetta did not mince words, insisting, “I don’t think there’s any question that that’s a war crime, if it happened in that way.” He emphasized that the matter now rests with congressional oversight, noting that “the Armed Services Committee in both the Senate and the House have indicated that they’re going to do a full investigation of this issue.”

Panetta continued by highlighting that Washington is bracing for differing interpretations of what occurred, especially after recent public comments by the president. “And I think that’s what’s needed, because, there’s obviously going to be a lot of different viewpoints, you heard what the president said. But, I think, ultimately it’s up to those committees to find out exactly what happened. And if it was a war crime, to make sure we hold people accountable,” he said.

The renewed pressure on the administration follows reports from CNN and The Washington Post that surfaced late last week, asserting that two survivors of an initial strike in September were killed in a subsequent U.S. attack. Lawmakers from both parties have since demanded clarity about what unfolded and who authorized the operation.

Against that backdrop, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly rejected the allegations, firing back at the reporting and accusing the media of distorting the facts. He blasted the coverage as “fake news,” setting off a wave of commentary across political circles.

Hegseth doubled down in a follow-up message posted on X, writing, “As usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.” He insisted the mission parameters have been clear from the outset, stating, “As we’ve said from the beginning, and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be ‘lethal, kinetic strikes.’ The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people. Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization.”

The controversy now moves to Capitol Hill, where committees will determine whether the operation was within legal boundaries—or whether, as Panetta suggested, the incident demands accountability at the highest levels.

{Matzav.com}

BREAKING: The Trump administration has officially halted all immigration and naturalization for people from 19 designated third-world countries — including migrants who already passed their citizenship tests and those who have entered the U.S. since January 20, 2021.

Talks between Russia and the U.S. on ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were constructive, but much work remains, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Wednesday. Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin in talks that began late Tuesday as part […]

AP projects James Solomon (D) has won the race for Jersey City, NJ mayor. He defeats ex-NJ governor Jim McGreevey (D)