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Prager U, the Conservative non-profit advocacy group and media organization, was removed from the Google Play Store – preventing Android users from downloading the application.

PragerU announced it was removed for “content asserting that a protected group is inhuman, inferior, or worthy of being hated.” Prager U attributed this to the recently released short documentary Dear Infidels: A Warning to America.

The documentary features people who escaped the oppressive Islamic regimes in the Middle East, and has gained over 42 million views on X.

The documentary featured Ayman Abu Suboh (later Dor Shachar), a Palestinian who escaped to Israel from Gaza and the oppression of Hamas. He later converted to Judaism. It also features Sophia Salma Khalifa, an Arab Muslim born in Israel who moved to the US, and a number of US military members.

Prager U said: “This is not PragerU’s first time battling Big Tech censorship,”. They continued: “as the non-profit has notoriously sued Google and YouTube in the past for restricting over 200 videos, including videos on the Ten Commandments, which continue to be restricted by YouTube today.”

CAIR, a group no stranger to actual hate speech, described PragerU last week as an “anti-Muslim propaganda group.”

Meanwhile, the Louisiana Department of Education has been moving closer to incorporating the platform into some educational activities.

{Matzav.com}

Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz announced his resignation from the emergency government during a press conference on Sunday evening. On May 18, Gantz stated that his party would exit the government on June 8 unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met six key objectives: returning the hostages, demolishing Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza, providing a governing alternative in the Strip, returning residents of the North to their homes by September 1 and rehabilitating the western Negev, promoting normalization with Saudi Arabia, and adopting a standardized national service plan requiring all Israelis to serve the country. The move does not immediately pose a threat to Netanyahu, who still controls a majority coalition in parliament. But the Israeli leader becomes more heavily reliant on his far-right allies. Gantz said Netanyahu is “preventing true victory” and “making empty promises,” adding that the country needs to take a different direction as he expects the fighting to continue for years to come. He scrapped a planned news conference Saturday night after four Israeli hostages were dramatically rescued from Gaza earlier in the day in Israel’s largest such operation since the eight-month war began. Gantz called for Israel to hold elections in the fall, and encouraged the third member of the war Cabinet, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, to “do the right thing” and resign from the government as well. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC / AP)

Yossi Jan, 57, died on Shabbos just hours before his son Almog Meir Jan was rescued from captivity in Gaza along with three other Israeli hostages.

Officials arrived at Yossi’s home in the central Israeli city of Kfar Saba around noon to inform him of his son’s rescue, only to find him unconscious. Magen David Adom paramedics called to the scene determined his death. The cause of death remains under investigation.

Almog, 21, Noa Argamani, 26, Andrey Kozlov, 27 and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were rescued on Shabbos morning in a complex operation in the heart of a crowded Gaza residential neighborhood.

All four were abducted by Hamas from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im during the Oct. 7 massacre.

They are recovering at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, where they were reunited with their families.

“My brother died of grief and didn’t get to see his son return. The night before Almog’s return, my brother’s heart stopped. He didn’t get to see his son return,” Dina Jan, Almog’s aunt, told Kan News.

Rabbi Lior Engelman, Yosef’s friend, sent a message to a WhatsApp group in Kfar Saba on Motzei Shabbos, writing that “Yosef loved Almog with all his heart and was tormented day after day. His heart couldn’t stand it, and tragically, 20 hours before the happiness that awaited him—he fell asleep.”

Yossi will be buried at 5:30 p.m. at Kfar Saba’s Neve Yamin cemetery.

Orit Meir, Almog’s mother, pictured during an emotional reunion at the hospital on Shabbos, celebrated her birthday on Sunday.

“He had a kind of calendar, a diary, and knew how many days he was there [in captivity]. He knew that I had a birthday today, and he knew a month ago that he had a birthday,” she told Army Radio.

{Matzav.com}

In a terribly tragic turn of events, Yossi Jan, z’l, the father of Almog Meir Jan, one of the hostages rescued from Gaza on Shabbos, passed away only hours before he was rescued and never got to reunite with his son. When IDF officials tried to contact him to tell him about his son’s rescue, they were unable to reach him. They called his sister, who came to his Kfar Saba apartment, where Yossi lived alone, and found him unresponsive. MDA paramedics were called to the scene and pronounced his death. According to Israeli media reports, Yossi, z’l, 59, has been ill in recent years. Dina Jan, Almog’s aunt, told Kan News: “My brother died of grief…Yossi, my brother, was glued to the television for the whole eight months, clinging to every piece of information. He loved Almog so much, he cared about him so much, he wanted to know what was happening to him and what he was going through. He couldn’t bear it, every deal that blew up in his face broke his heart.” Yehi Zichro Baruch. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi voiced her disapproval on Friday regarding Congressional leaders extending an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to address lawmakers next month.

“I think this is wrong,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CNN about the anticipated address of the 74-year-old Israeli leader to a joint meeting of Congress on July 24.

“I feel it’s very sad that he has been invited,” the 84-year-old added.

Pelosi, who led House Democrats for two decades before stepping down in January 2023, stated she would “absolutely not” have invited Netanyahu if she were still in charge. She recalled opposing the previous invitation for Netanyahu to address Congress in 2015, which was extended by then-Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Among her objections, Pelosi questioned whether Netanyahu would still be in office by the time of his scheduled speech.

“Everything I read is that they’re unhappy about this or unhappy about that. Not just [Israeli minister without portfolio Benny Gantz], but other members of his cabinet,” said Pelosi. She also suggested that Netanyahu should step down due to his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“I wish that he would be a statesman and do what is right for Israel.”

The top four congressional leaders – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) – all agreed on the initial invitation to Netanyahu last month.

“The horrific attacks of October 7th shocked the world and forced your nation into a fight for its very existence,” read the formal invitation. “We join the State of Israel in your struggle against terror, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive and its leaders jeopardize regional stability.”

“For this reason, on behalf of the bipartisan leadership of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, we would like to invite you to address a Joint Meeting of Congress.”

In March, Schumer criticized Netanyahu as an “obstacle” to peace in the Middle East and called for a “new election” in Israel to replace the prime minister as soon as possible after the war ends.

“I have clear and profound disagreements with the Prime Minister, which I have voiced both privately and publicly and will continue to do so,” Schumer said in a statement on Thursday. “But because America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister, I joined the request for him to speak.”

“I respect his view,” Pelosi told CNN anchor Dana Bash regarding Schumer’s statement. “I don’t necessarily share it.”

Pelosi expressed concern that Netanyahu’s appearance on Capitol Hill would attract protesters and increase “discontent” over Israel’s war against Hamas.

“I think it’s going to invite more of what we have seen, in terms of discontent among our own people about what’s happening there,” she said.

“I don’t think it’s a wise decision, but I respect other people to have their own view of it.”

Netanyahu’s July address will mark his fourth to a joint meeting of Congress, the most by any foreign leader.

{Dov T. Heller – Matzav.com}

Yesterday’s meeting between newly freed hostage Noa Argamani and her mother Liora, who is battling stage four brain cancer, was “very difficult,”  said Yaakov Argamani in an emotional interview with Army Radio. “Unfortunately, her mother is in a very difficult situation,” Yaakov said, tearfully. “Her mother barely looked at Noa. This was not the reaction I was hoping for after eight months. It was very difficult.” Despite the challenges, Yaakov believes that Liora, 61, understood the significance of the moment. “There was a response, or half a response. She understood but was unable to convey her emotions and can’t say what she has really been waiting to say to Noa when she saw her,” he explained. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

CNN faced significant backlash after airing a segment that inaccurately described Israeli hostages as being “released” during a bold rescue operation in Gaza.

Network anchor Victor Blackwell and Eurasia Group founder Ian Bremmer were discussing the dramatic mission to save the four hostages when the word “release” appeared on a chyron.

Critics quickly responded, highlighting that Hamas did not voluntarily release the hostages.

“Come on @CNN the four hostages were RESCUED not released. Do better,” the account StopAntisemitism posted on X.

Yaari Cohen, an Israeli student, called the chyron “disgusting” and said the network “should be ashamed.”

“Hamas didn’t ‘release’ these hostages, the IDF rescued them after Hamas held them for 8 months!!” Cohen wrote on X.

Neither Blackwell nor Bremmer used the word “release” during the interview, which was centered on Israel’s war cabinet minister Benny Gantz and his anticipated press conference regarding his expected resignation from Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s government.

{Dov T. Heller – Matzav.com}

The judge overseeing former President Trump’s criminal trial in New York informed his defense team on Friday about a comment on the court’s public Facebook page, suggesting that a juror had discussed the guilty verdict with family members before the trial concluded.

Fox News acquired the letter from Judge Juan Merchan, which was sent to Trump’s defense attorneys and Manhattan prosecutors.

“‘Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System’s public Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention. In the comment, the user, ‘Michael Anderson,’ states:

“‘My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted! Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!'”

The comment appeared on May 29, related to oral arguments in the Fourth Department of the Appellate Division, which is not connected to this case.

A Trump campaign official informed Fox News Digital that they are “investigating the matter.”

Al Baker, a spokesperson for the state’s Office of Court Administration, stated on Friday, “as appropriate, the Court informed the parties once it learned of this online content.”

The comment surfaced a day before Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump had entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.

{Dov T. Heller – Matzav.com}

A journalist and a doctor were among the family members holding 26-year-old Noa Argamani hostage in their home in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (EuroMed).

Argamani, along with three other Israelis, was rescued by Israeli forces on Shabbos in a daring daylight raid.

Abdullah al-Jamal, 36, was killed during the raid, according to EuroMed, a Geneva-based NGO led by Gaza-born Palestinian financial expert Ramy Abdu and Richard Falk, a harsh critic of the Jewish state and the former United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories.

Al-Jamal is a contributor to The Palestine Chronicle, with his latest article published on April 9. He also has a profile page on the Al Jazeera website, where he was described as reporting often from the 2018–2019 Gaza border riots, called the “Great March of Return” by Palestinians. The only Al Jazeera article he is attributed to as a co-author is an opinion piece titled “Tales of torture from Israeli prisons” published in 2019.

He was also separately listed as a spokesman for the Hamas-run Labor Ministry in Gaza.

Imran Khan, a senior correspondent at Al Jazeera English, attempted to distance the Qatari network from Al-Jamal, i24NEWS reported, citing an Instagram post by Khan on Sunday.

“Also, the news that an Al Jazeera journalist was harboring one of the captives is completely false. The individual in question who was killed in the raid along with his family was, at one point, a freelance journalist. He has never worked for Al Jazeera Arabic or English. He is certainly not in any way, shape, or form an Al Jazeera Journalist,” Khan wrote.

“In an initial testimony documenting the killings committed by the Israeli army in the Nuseirat camp today, the @EuroMedHR reported that the Israeli army used a ladder to enter the home of Dr. Ahmed Al-Jamal,” Abdu tweeted.

“The army immediately executed 36-year-old Fatima Al-Jamal upon encountering her on the staircase. The forces then stormed the house and executed her husband, journalist Abdullah Al-Jamal, 36, and his father, Dr. Ahmed, 74, in front of his grandchildren. The army also shot their daughter, Zainab, 27, who sustained serious injuries.”

JNS asked for clarification of this story from the Israeli government and had received no reply by press time.

Hamas is paying Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip up to 70 shekels ($19) a day to watch over Israeli hostages taken on Oct. 7, a freed captive said last week.

Ada Sagi, 75, was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas-led invasion and was held in a family home in Gaza until she was released as part of the hostage-for-ceasefire deal on Nov. 28.

Asked on June 2 by Israel’s Channel 12 News what would motivate a Gaza family with children to imprison Jews, Sagi said: “Money.”

Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi on Sunday signed a 45-day extension of a temporary ban on Al Jazeera‘s local operations, following a unanimous Cabinet decision.

Karhi said the decision was based on updated opinions from security sources, “which state unequivocally that the channel’s broadcasts are a real threat to the security of the state,” adding that further extensions were likely given the security threat posed by the Qatari-based channel, which Jerusalem accuses of aiding its enemies.

“In light of the seriousness of the damage to the security of the state by the Al Jazeera terrorist channel, I am convinced that the closure orders will be extended in the future as well, along with the extension of the time limit stipulated in the law authorizing the minister of communications to act against foreign broadcasters that harm the security of the state,” Karhi tweeted.

“I thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the members of the government for approving the extension of the orders and for the commitment to act in every way for the safety of our soldiers and citizens,” he added.

The government approval of the extension ban came days after the Tel Aviv District Court on June 5 gave legal backing to the original closure order a month earlier.

In his ruling, Judge Shai Yaniv set the ban for 35 days from the day Karhi issued the instructions, until June 8. The court said in its ruling that “convincing, clear and unambiguous evidence” had been presented to it regarding “the close, long-term connection between the Hamas terror organization and the Al Jazeera media network,” adding that Hamas “advances its goals through the channel.”

The court found that Al Jazeera‘s broadcasts include “clear incitement” and that the channel “describes in ‘real-time’ the positioning of IDF forces.”

The Israeli Cabinet voted unanimously on May 5 to approve a Knesset bill from the previous month to bring about the closure of Al Jazeera’s bureau in the country.

“The government headed by me unanimously decided: The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel,” tweeted Prime Minister Netanyahu at the time, while thanking Karhi.

The Knesset voted 71-10 in April for the bill, that gives the prime minister authority to shut down the anti-Israel broadcaster’s local operations.

The legislation states that the communications minister may act against a foreign channel that harms the state’s security, with the consent of the prime minister and the approval of the Cabinet or the government. The prime minister and Cabinet can approve the measure after security officials prove that the channel poses an actual security risk.

The measures enable authorities to order television providers to stop broadcasting the outlet; close its offices in Israel; seize its equipment; shut down its website; and revoke press credentials for staff.

Communications Ministry inspectors confiscated Al Jazeera television broadcast equipment during a May 9 raid on the station’s studio in Nazareth.

Al Jazeera was founded with the financial backing of the Qatari royal family and has served for decades as a mouthpiece for the regime, which provides asylum for the leaders of Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, European Union, Israel and other nations.

The Arabic-language network is notorious for its anti-Israel reporting, antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial, even as its English outlet has sought to offer a veneer of objectivity to Western viewers through some high-profile international anchors.

In February, the IDF exposed a Palestinian reporter working for Al Jazeera in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Abu Omar, as a Hamas terrorist operative. That revelation came days after the IDF exposed Al Jazeera employee Mohamed Washah as a Hamas officer, citing documents seized in the Gaza Strip.

In January, the IDF presented evidence that two Al Jazeera journalists killed in Gaza were moonlighting as terrorist operatives, and said that they were operating drones that put soldiers at risk.

{Matzav.com}

WATCH: As you prepare for your Kabbolas HaTorah, embrace the zechus of helping all of Klal Yisroel be Mekabel the Torah as well.                                                                Since October 7th, many non-religious families have been registering their children in a Shuvu school in Eretz Yisroel to learn about Torah and Mitzvos.          In fact, close to 6,000 children are registered to learn Torah in a Shuvu school next year! Yet, 400 of those children may be turned away for lack of funds. Their families are asking Shuvu to take them in so they too can learn Torah – but we lack the funding to do so! Please go to shuvuusa.org/donate to help us take in these children. With the haskamos of Harav Reuven Feinstein shlita and Harav Elya Brudny shlita, we ask that you please help this desperate situation. Head into Shavuos showing HKB’H  that you are thinking of Kabbolas HaTorah for ALL of Klal Yisroel, including these 400 children from non-religious homes, so desperate to grow in Yiddishkeit. Thank you in advance and a great Yom Tov. Shuvuusa.org/donate

Here is a timeline of the hostage rescue operation – Operation Arnon. All times are in Israel time.

Thursday, 6:30 PM: In a classified meeting, political leaders approve the operation following weeks of meticulous planning, drills and advanced intelligence tracking. The operation is initially dubbed Summer Seeds.

Shabbos, 10:00 AM: Two main strike teams, disguised as Arabs, embark from multiple directions toward the Nuseirat refugee camp near the coast. Moving stealthily in broad daylight, both teams approach the two buildings where the hostages are held, unnoticed by thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of local Hamas operatives.

Palestinian reports claimed the forces entered using a humanitarian aid truck, and Al Jazeera aired footage purportedly showing IDF vehicles from the moments following the operation. The IDF denied this, and denied the use of the American pier in the operation.

10:45 AM: Various un-identified ground surveillance and airborne technological tracking technologies confirmed the area was clear, with no suspicious movement detected in the two buildings. Noa Argamani was held in one building, while the other three hostages were in the second building, along with Gazan families and armed guards.

10:50 AM: Live footage the alleys, spanning hundreds of meters between the two targets, were transmitted to screens in two command centers overseeing the operation. One command center was the Shin Bet’s central command, attended by service head Ronen Bar and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and the second command center was the Southern Command in Be’er Sheva, where the regional commander directed the surrounding forces and the rescue operation.

11:00 AM: The two ground teams are given the official go-ahead command, which was personally approved in real-time by the Shin Bet head and IDF chief. The teams simultaneously storm the buildings to prevent the terrorists in the second target from discovering the operation and endangering the hostages.

1:10 AM: The elimination of the guards and the rescue of Noa Argamani proceed relatively smoothly. However the operation in the second building encounters significant complications. Chief Inspector Zamora’s team reports casualties during the firefight. After neutralizing the terrorists, the commandos tend to their wounded commander and attempt to evacuate him under heavy gunfire.

11:15 AM: “The diamonds are in our hands,” message is relayed over the radio, indicating the hostages are secured.

11:20 AM: Dozens of terrorists gather around the building where the three hostages were held. Hundreds of terrorists, armed with RPGs, PK machine gun, and AK-47 rifles start approaching from all directions. They navigate through the narrow alleys and the nearby market, crowded with thousands of Gazans.

11:22 AM: The forces attempt to escape in their rescue vehicle, but it is hit by heavy fire. Southern Command chief Yaron Finkelman activates a pre-planned extraction strategy.

11:25 AM: Dozens of munitions are fired by air Force fighter jets and helicopters at the terrorists to isolate the area. Hundreds of reinforcements from the 7th Armored Brigade, Paratroopers, Givati and Kfir brigades, mobilized as backup, are deployed on foot, in tanks and Namer APCs into the refugee camp, with Navy vessels providing cover from the west.

11:30 AM: The main combat area is successfully isolated by the reinforcement troops and the Air Force. They secure a safe escape route for the main force with the three hostages. In a rare move, Southern Command authorizes Air Force Sikorsky helicopters to land deep within the Gaza Strip for extraction, under the cover of fighter jet fire. Aerial strikes target terrorists just a few dozen yards away from the soldiers.

11:50 AM: The last special forces operatives board the helicopters, which take off for hospitals in Israel. Sadly, despite continued efforts to resuscitate Chief Inspector Zamora during the flight, he is pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. The reinforcement troops from IDF brigades continue fighting with terrorists on the operation’s perimeter, eliminating dozens more until the mission concludes.

1:33 PM: The IDF, Shin Bet and police officially announce the rescue of the four hostages.

{Matzav.com}

Developers of mind-bending drugs for medical use are distancing themselves from the first company to seek regulatory approval for a psychedelic compound, after its application encountered strong opposition from a government panel.

A resoundingly negative vote by an advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday – though not binding – has diminished the chances of the sponsor, Lykos Therapeutics, from winning full approval for MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, industry observers said. But biotech executives, investors and researchers said in interviews that their enthusiasm for psychedelics to treat mental health disorders remains undimmed. They are betting that a by-the-books clinical trial design run by a more conventional drugmaker will ultimately succeed.

In making this case, other potential applicants described the approach by Lykos, and its nonprofit parent, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, as an outlier in its clinical trial design and execution. They said that made it a weak candidate for the first test of whether the FDA will permit such drugs to go mainstream.

MAPS and Lykos combined the drug – better known by its street name, ecstasy – with psychotherapy, adding complexity to the design of an already challenging trial. Investigators didn’t collect certain lab tests or data on the potential for abuse that the FDA specifically requested. And the push has been dogged by a perception that MAPS’s evangelism for psychedelics has seeped into Lykos’s work of scientifically proving the therapy’s benefits, along with allegations of misconduct in clinical trials.

Kabir Nath, chief executive of Compass Pathways, said the vote was an opportunity to “pivot away from some of the, shall we say, psychedelic baggage,” referring to misconduct allegations. Compass is developing a synthetic form of psilocybin, a chemical found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, for severe depression. After Lykos, Compass Pathways is the next closest psychedelic developer to seeking FDA approval.

Unlike Lykos, the company is not pairing its drug with psychotherapy. It is testing a low, medium and higher dose to mask which version patients get and mitigate the risk of bias.

Investors saw the advisory panel vote as potentially negative for the whole category of drugs, however. Compass saw its stock drop by 15 percent the day after the vote, before rebounding to close down 2.6 percent. Shares of Mind Medicine, which is testing a form of LSD, and Atai Life Sciences, which is investing in psilocybin and DMT, fell 10 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively.

Some hope that the advisory committee’s strong recommendations against the Lykos application will provide a dose of reality to the psychedelics-as-medicine movement. The committee voted 9-2 that the Lykos trial did not prove effectiveness and 10-1 that its benefits did not outweigh the risks.

“My hope is that we will start to get a more balanced and nuanced picture of the real risks and benefits of psychedelics,” said David Yaden, a psychedelics researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who has written about the psychedelics “hype bubble” driven by industry and media. “Maybe the committee hearings will help adjust some people’s understanding of the state of the evidence.”

Representatives of Lykos provided a statement from chief executive Amy Emerson, in which she pledged to continue working with the FDA and acknowledged the advisory committee meeting was “unprecedented in many ways,” including reviewing an application “that combines a drug and psychological intervention.”

Lykos delivered two studies to the FDA showing powerful reductions in PTSD symptoms, displaying the kind of statistical significance that is usually persuasive to regulators. Its work has won over many academics, clinicians and veterans groups, which have expressed profound disappointment with the advisory committee vote.

Following that vote, Amber Capone, co-founder of Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions, urged the FDA to “carefully consider the compelling testimony from PTSD sufferers who have found relief through MDMA-assisted therapy.”

Discussion in the committee Tuesday quickly focused on how much to trust the positive study outcomes. One key concern was that 40 percent of the participants in the MDMA trials had previous experience with the drug, raising the prospect that such patients were predisposed to believe that it would help them and potentially biasing the results.

“If you had a prior positive experience, you’re probably going to have a positive experience again,” said Ritu Baral, a TD Cowen analyst. She called the trial conduct “subpar,” referring to the lack of data on lab tests for patient safety and that Lykos did not collect information the FDA had requested on euphoric reactions that could lead to abuse.

Then there was the design of the trial itself, in which patients were supposed to be blind to whether they had received actual MDMA or a placebo, but – owing to the drug’s mind-altering affect – the vast majority could tell what group they were in.

That challenge was well known to the FDA and isn’t unique to psychedelics. The lack of effective blinding came up during a 2019 advisory committee for Spravato, a nasal spray derived from ketamine, but members overwhelmingly endorsed it and the FDA approved it. But for Lykos, adding therapy to the mix appeared to compound concerns for some committee members: If therapists could also tell whether trial participants received the drug, they could treat them differently and affect the results.

“This is unusual. This is not something the FDA has seen before,” Srinivas Rao, chief executive of Atai Life Sciences, said of the potential for therapists to treat patients differently based on knowing what treatment group they were in.

Alia Lilienstein, senior medical director for Lykos, acknowledged the complicated design in Tuesday’s meeting, saying that the company is “creating a new field of medicine.”

MAPS’s founder, Rick Doblin, has pitched MDMA as a humanity-changing force for good that could eliminate the world’s trauma. While many in the industry respect Doblin’s success in ushering psychedelics into serious research, some have chafed at how the organization’s evangelism has colored perceptions of their work.

But not everyone involved in the clinical trials endorses such grandiose goals, said Ingmar Gorman, a psychologist and clinical investigator at a MAPS trial site. “A lot of us clinicians aren’t taking up that kind of rhetoric.”

Within the psychedelic community, “many of us are feeling shocked, surprised, confused and bewildered,” said Raquel Bennett, a ketamine specialist and founder of the KRIYA Institute, questioning why concerns about trial design hadn’t been addressed before.

“If FDA had concerns about any aspect of the methodology, they could have addressed it with MAPS at any point during the past several years,” she said.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, an influential nonprofit, in March published a draft report on MDMA-assisted therapy that raised concerns that participants felt “pressured to report good outcomes and suppress bad outcomes.”

(c) Washington Post

The hostages who were rescued from captivity in Gaza over Shabbos have told medical teams about some of what they endured while in captivity. The hostages reported facing emotional abuse, and that the terrorists forced them to read the Quran and learn Islamic rulings.

According to a Channel 13 News report, Noa Argamani told her family that she was in captivity together with Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky, who were died while in Hamas captivity.

The IDF acknowledged that Sharabi was likely killed during an airstrike on a building near the place where he was held, and that Svirsky was murdered by terrorists a few days later. Noa reportedly told her family, “I saw the missile enter the house, I was sure I was going to die. I thought that was it – but I remained alive.”

Noa said that she was moved between multiple locations, and was not held in a tunnel. Any time she was allowed to be outside she was disguised as an Arab woman.

Noa was rescued from an apartment on the first floor in the heart of Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, only a few hundred meters away from the building where the three other hostages who were rescued were held: Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov.

Noa reported hearing loud knocks on Shabbos morning: “She told me that, out of nowhere, all of a sudden she was told that it was the IDF, ‘we have come to rescue you,'” said Assaf Shahibi, her relative, who met her at Sheba Hospital, where the four rescued hostages were taken.

Sharon Sharabi, the brother of the late Yossi Sharabi who was with Noa in captivity and whose other brother Eli remains in captivity, told Ynet on Saturday night, “I feel enormous joy, I am so excited. This heroic operation lifted the nation, we were all grounded, we went through psychological ups and downs in the last few months.”

{Matzav.com}

Former president Donald Trump’s campaign is taking steps ahead of a rally on Sunday in Las Vegas to prevent sweltering conditions from leading to heat exhaustion or other heat-related injuries like those seen at a recent campaign event in Phoenix.

Rallygoers at Trump events often arrive hours before the former president’s remarks are scheduled to begin, standing in long security lines. The campaign says it will open up for the event at 9 a.m. and the former president’s remarks are scheduled to begin at noon in an outdoor park.

Temperatures in Las Vegas reached 111 degrees on Thursday and the city remained under an excessive heat warning as of Saturday. The heat is expected to slightly ease up on Sunday, but temperatures in Las Vegas are expected to still climb to 104 degrees, according to forecasts. Early-June high temperatures are typically in the upper 90s.

The campaign’s preparation in Las Vegas follows Trump’s remarks at an event in Phoenix on Thursday – the same day the city reached 110 degrees for the first time in 2024. Prospective attendees at the Arizona event waited outside for hours to enter a town hall organized by Turning Point Action and held at a megachurch. Local fire officials have said that 11 people were taken to the hospital due to heat exhaustion.

In preparation for Sunday’s rally, the Trump campaign announced that it will be giving water bottles to attendees waiting in line, setting up misting and cooling stations, ensuring “ample medical staff will be present” and providing “limited tent space with shade and air conditioning” that would be available “on a first come first served basis.”

While security at these types of events can sometimes ban liquids or umbrellas, the campaign said plastic water bottles and small umbrellas would be permitted. The campaign also encouraged attendees to check the weather and wear suitable clothing in anticipation of the heat.

The ongoing heat wave spanning Texas to California is a direct result of a high-pressure heat dome that has scorched Mexico for weeks – resulting in the country’s hottest and driest May on record. It has now expanded north and west into portions of the United States. Such heat domes suppress clouds and compress the air beneath them, causing the air to warm.

The effects of extreme heat on the human body can be deadly. Last year, there were more than 600 heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, Ariz., where Phoenix is located.

– – –

Dan Stillman contributed to this report.

(c) Washington Post

National Unity Chairman Benny Gantz will address the media this evening at 8 p.m., following a last-minute cancellation of a planned news conference last night. The initial announcement was expected to confirm his party’s exit from the government, but was scrapped in light of yesterday’s successful rescue of four Israeli hostages from Gaza. Despite the cancellation, sources indicate that National Unity still intends to leave the coalition due to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s failure to address Gantz’s concerns. In a tweet, Netanyahu urged Gantz to remain in the government, stating that “now is the time for unity, not division.” Gantz responded by acknowledging the hostage rescue, but emphasized the need for responsible leadership and a clear vision for addressing Israel’s challenges. Last month, Gantz issued an ultimatum to Netanyahu, threatening to withdraw from the coalition unless a agreed-upon vision for the Gaza conflict was presented by June 8. National Unity has since submitted legislation to dissolve the Knesset, signaling the likely end of the alliance. However, the government remains stable with 64 seats in the Knesset, even without National Unity’s support. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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The United States provided some intelligence that aided in the rescue over Shabbos of four Israeli hostages, according to several people familiar with the matter.

An American team based in Israel furnished the information, these people said, though it appeared to be secondary to intelligence gathered by the Israelis ahead of the operation. One person said the U.S. material included overhead imagery. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the operation’s sensitivity.

That team, composed of special operations and intelligence personnel working out of the embassy in Yerushalayim, has been in Israel since the war began in October. Since then, it has shared with Israeli counterparts information about hostages’ potential location gleaned from U.S. drone surveillance over Gaza, communications intercepts and other sources, said the people familiar with the matter.

“The United States is supporting all efforts to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, including American citizens,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. He noted this work includes ongoing negotiations and “other means.”

Axios and the New York Times also reported on U.S. involvement in the rescue operation.

Hamas and other militants took approximately 250 hostages amid their brazen cross-border assault into Israel on Oct. 7, a gruesome attack that left 1,200 dead. At least 112 people have been freed, either as part of a negotiated deal between Israel and Hamas late last year or through coordinated rescue operations.

Of the hostages who remain in Gaza, fewer than 80 are believed to be alive. Eight American citizens are thought to be among those still in captivity, including the remains of three who are dead.

Saturday’s daytime mission was part of a broader Israeli operation in central Gaza that Hamas said left at least 210 Palestinians dead. Israeli officials described the rescue operation as weeks in the making and enabled by “precise intelligence.” Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said two buildings were targeted and that the personnel involved took fire.

Washington maintains what one U.S. official characterized Saturday as a “very deep partnership” with Israel on its hostage-rescue efforts.

Days after the Gaza war began, the Pentagon acknowledged that a “small number” of U.S. military personnel were at the embassy in Yerushalayim to assist the Israeli government through planning and intelligence support.

U.S. intelligence analysts also are helping Israeli officials in some of their work to map out the extensive network of tunnels that Hamas has built beneath Gaza, contributing powerful analytic technologies that fuse fragments of information, according to officials with knowledge of that work.

U.S. defense officials have said that while American military personnel have been advising the Israelis, they have not accompanied Israel’s military on any missions in the Gaza Strip. President Biden has been adamant that he will not put American “boots on the ground” there.

– – –

Shane Harris contributed to this report.

(c) Washington Post

The parents of rescued hostage Andrew Kozlov landed in Israel from Russia on Sunday and reunited with their son at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. Kozlov, 27, immigrated from Russia to Israel by himself only a few months before he was abducted. When President Isaac Herzog called him following his rescue, Kozlov told him that he learned Hebrew during his captivity. “I had plenty of time to practice Hebrew with my friends Shlomi and Almog [his fellow captives],” he said, laughing. On Motzei Shabbos, Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated that the Consul in St. Petersburg, Russia accompanied Kozlov’s parents to the airport. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Call it the story of the Oct. 8 Jew.

This past Sunday at the Yerushalayim Conference in New York, executives of Israel’s government and nonprofit immigration agencies were joined on stage by a high-ranking official from Israel’s Diaspora affairs ministry to dissect a tug-of-war now in American Jewry: Should we stay, or should we go?

“As an Israeli, as a Jew, I personally believe that every Jew belongs in Eretz Israel and should be living there,” Ron Brummer, deputy director general at the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, told attendees. “But ultimately, it’s an individual decision, and as long as Jews choose to live abroad in the Diaspora, it is our obligation to make sure that there is prosperous, secure Jewish life everywhere.”

Brummer said American Jews needed to understand that the Israeli government is working to combat antisemitism—“we are fighting it”—and to make sure that “every Jew, wherever he wants, will be able to have a rich, full Jewish life for him and for his family.”

Zev Gershinsky, executive vice president at Nefesh B’Nefesh, concurred with Brummer’s emphasis on choice. The key, Gershinsky said, is giving Jews the tools to deal with their choices, whatever they may be.

Eric Michaelson, director of aliyah at the Israeli Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, said he had toured the Boston area over the weekend, including on college campuses where antisemitism has run rampant since the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel’s military reaction to it.

But having spoken to Israelis there and in New York, Michaelson said he’s under the impression that Jewish communities in America feel strong where they are. “What the government of Israel is trying to say,” Michaelson emphasized to those thinking of immigrating to Israel, “is you’re not running away from something. You’re running to something.

Gershkinsky said that plays out in the numbers. Since Oct. 7, as many as 6,000 North Americans have applied for aliyah.

Gershinsky said only 4.5% mentioned that antisemitism is a reason for wanting to immigrate to Israel.

“The vast majority of the applications we get are saying that the reason is Zionism and wanting to serve in the IDF because of the war. And these are facts,” he said. “We see more and more people that feel solidarity and want to come because of a real connection to the State of Israel.”

‘Ripple effect way past the war’

Michaelson said despite the intentions of Hamas and its violent supporters to decrease the spirit of Zionism, he has seen a new concept of American Jew emerge. He described meeting that very morning with college-age students participating in one of the ministry’s flagship programs to hear their stories.

“Some of the people said pre-Oct. 7, they weren’t even contemplating” moving to Israel. “There’s this new concept called the Oct. 8 Jew,” said Michaelson, describing Diaspora Jews who, under fire at home and in solidarity with their Israeli brothers and sisters, have kindled or rekindled their Jewish identity and connection to their homeland.

That spark, claimed Michaelson, makes for a stronger oleh—new immigrant—and “I think it’s going to be prolific, and there will be a ripple effect to this way past the war.”

Some 19,000 people globally have opened up an immigration application file with the Israeli government since the war’s outbreak, with exponential increases in applications in France, the United Kingdom and Canada, according to Michaelson.

That has resulted in a special $45 million allocation of funds to accommodate and integrate those who want to come. It is part of an umbrella program called Af Al Pi Chen, which is roughly translated to “in spite of” or “especially now.” The program includes increased rental and tuition assistance; remote pre-immigration Hebrew instruction; and a program to aid with the Israeli licensing of medical professions.

In the end, Michaelson said there is no contradiction or competition between those like him looking to increase immigration to Israel and those such as Brummer who work to strengthen Diaspora communities.

“I don’t even call it Diaspora. I call it global Jewry,” said Michaelson. “The stronger we are over there, the stronger we’re going to be over here—and vice versa.”

Brummer said the Diaspora Ministry’s work includes strengthening Jewish identity and a connection to Israel.“A Jew abroad with a strong Jewish identity and a strong connection to Israel is a great thing for everyone, whether he decides to make aliyah or not,” stated Brummer. “We’re absolutely not competing. We are completing each other.”

{Matzav.com}