PM rules out granting safe passage to 200 Hamas gunmen stuck in IDF-held Rafah

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-rules-out-granting-safe-passage-to-200-hamas-gunmen-stuck-in-idf-held-rafah

Following reports on Monday that Israel was considering granting terrorists hiding in tunnels safe passage from Israeli-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip to the Hamas-run zone, a statement attributed to an “Israeli official” — often a euphemism for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office — said the premier “is not allowing safe passage for 200 Hamas terrorists.”

According to Israeli estimates, some 200 Hamas gunmen are currently located in the tunnels underneath the IDF-controlled parts of southern Gaza, especially in Rafah, and are unable to retreat to the Hamas-controlled areas without emerging from their tunnels and being spotted by Israeli troops

UK lawmaker says there is now a ‘constituency for hating Jews’ in formerly friendly Britain

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-lawmaker-says-there-is-now-a-constituency-for-hating-jews-in-formerly-friendly-britain

Following Manchester terror attack, Blue Labour leader Maurice Glasman says working-class Brits are ‘last bulwark’ against rising antisemitism brought on by progressivism and migrants

Gay marriage vs Israel

 As we all know, there are those in our communities who are supporting Cuomo for NYC Mayor as an evil, albeit a lesser one, vis-a-vis Assemblyman Mamdani, in their (flawed, in our view) analysis. As we've explained on our radio program repeatedly over the past several weeks, we argue that their arguments are encumbered by faulty presumptions about the relative dangers presented by Cuomo vis-à-vis Mamdani. However, that's not our focus at the moment. (Cuomo, given his experience, contacts, and persona, actually poses a considerably graver danger of successfully implementing much of what Mamdani flamboyantly talks about, beyond what Cuomo has already perpetrated in those areas, including spiking crime.)

Unfortunately, some who purport to represent our views and/or interests are supporting Cuomo as a good person, a "friend" (sic) of our communities, כביכול, a qualified leader - whom we ostensibly should support per se', not just as a lesser evil. Such support for a one-man crime-wave - especially under the guise of Orthodox "leadership" - is disgusting beyond description.

Some Background:

Predictably, some of the community organizers aligned with Cuomo, for their own self-centered reasons, opted early on to collaborate in the unforgivable political rehabilitation of the prime-mover behind same-sex marriage (SSM) in NY - Andrew Cuomo.* 

[* Passage of SSM in NY in June 2011 predictably led to a cascading effect, culminating in reaching a critical mass of supporting - enabling five miscreant judges on the US Supreme Court to get away with sanctioning SSM four years later (in the infamous June 2015 Obergefell edict).]

This is no minor objection, as you may imagine reading some of what passes for news reportage in some quarters. Recognition of SSM triggered the annihilation of the world via the Flood, as Chazal exhort us (Midrash Rabbah 23:9 on Va'Yikra 18:3).  Rav Shmuel Faivelson, ZT"L, talmid muvhak of Rav Aharon Kotler ZY"A, over two decades ago, explained the Gemara in Chullin 92b - stating that writing same-sex marriage contracts is a sin that even the depraved amongst the nations of the world have traditionally avoided. He related that this Gemara indicates that the entire existence of the world is predicated on compliance with that prohibition. Once they they start undermining observance of that core commandment - they endanger the very existence of civilization.*

{* This is precisely what I meant when I was prominently quoted in the media years ago stating that recognition of SSM poses an "existential threat."}

To rehabilitate Cuomo after all of his iniquities, including his pivotal role in SSM - and after his subsequent, well-deserved, and miraculous fall from power - is an unforgivable evil.

Additionally, the aforementioned askonim behind the exhumation of the political career of Cuomo have been promoting someone who's ego-driven run - in a race he had almost been guaranteed to lose - is perhaps the biggest asset for the Mamdani campaign. Cuomo's greatest accomplishment heretofore had been that he's impeded others - far more qualified (=less criminal) - from getting a fair chance to put up a realistic opposition to Mamdani.

To those self-serving individuals, we offer congratulations: "You Pick Spoilers"...

Whatever happens - we must never, ever forget what Cuomo did, and, more fundamentally, what he is. The same applies to those inexcusably enabling him as a good person, who is a "friend" of the Jewish community.

We urge all recipients to please share this in the manner you deem fit, and to please consider doing what you may be able to do to counter this horrific חילול השם בפרהסיא.

We dare not forget:

מאריך אפיה - וגביה דיליה.

And:

מידה טובה מרובה (ערש"י על המשנה מכות סוף דף כ"ג ע"א).

Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,

Executive Director,

Help Rescue Our Children

845.642.1679

Direct: 771.215.8892

Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337

torahjewsfordecency@gmail.com

Tomim Tih'yeh [countering "New-Age" infiltration]: 

Tomim1679@gmail.com

Presentations on New-Age dangers: 605-313-6831 ext. 2

Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).

Cuomo warns a vote for Mamdani, is a vote for Trump trying to ‘take over’ NYC

 https://www.newsweek.com/nyc-mayor-election-mamdani-cuomo-polls-live-updates-10980297

Former New York governor, and independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, claimed on Monday that a vote for "poser" Zohran Mamdani, was a vote for President Donald Trump trying to "take over" New York City.

"If you want President Trump to try to take over the city - national guard on streets, choking federal funding - vote for @ZohranKMamdani because Trump just said he will be coming and this poser @ZohranKMamdani won’t be able to stop him," he wrote in a post on X.

"That is a fact. The next Mayor has to be able to get us more, not ensure our demise. I am the only person in this race who can do that," he added.

Trump to 60 Minutes: I had to push Netanyahu to agree to the ceasefire

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/417199

In interview with “60 Minutes”, Trump says he secured all Israeli hostages from Gaza, pushed Netanyahu, and “knocked the hell out of Iran.” He warns Hamas: “They’ll be taken out if they misbehave.”

Trump dismissed concerns that the ceasefire was fragile. “It’s not fragile. It’s a very solid - you know, I mean, you hear about Hamas, but Hamas could be taken out immediately if they don’t behave. They know that.”

Asked how he would disarm Hamas, Trump replied, “If I want 'em to disarm, I’ll get 'em to disarm very quickly. They’ll be - they’ll be eliminated. They know that.”

Shas spiritual leader: Confront anyone who says world created more than 6,000 years ago

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/shas-spiritual-leader-arrest-anyone-who-says-world-created-more-than-6000-years-ago

“If there are teachers who explain [to students] that the world has existed for millions of years — gentlemen, stop them, don’t stay silent and listen because it’s unpleasant to comment,” continues Yosef. “Don’t tell me when the world was created. The world was created less than 6,000 years ago.”

Dispute breaks out in Satmar Hasidic movement over NYC mayoral endorsement

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/dispute-breaks-out-in-satmar-hasidic-movement-over-mamdani-endorsement/

A dispute breaks out in the Satmar Hasidic movement in New York City over which candidate to endorse in the upcoming mayoral election.

Local media reported earlier today that Rabbi Moishe Indig, a prominent leader in the Satmar Ahronim faction, was set to endorse State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a far-left, anti-Israel candidate. Indig and Mamdani then met this afternoon.

Around the same time, three other leaders of the faction released a statement endorsing former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a pro-Israel centrist and Mamdani’s leading challenger

Laura Loomer: Heritage Foundation president a ‘liability for GOP’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5584479-laura-loomer-heritage-foundation-gop-ties-fuentes-carlson-roberts/?tbref=hp

Far-right activist Laura Loomer on Friday slammed the Heritage Foundation after its president, Kevin Roberts, spoke out in support of Tucker Carlson’s interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

Her criticism of the Heritage chief and former Fox News host comes after GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Mitch McConnell (Ky.) pushed back on Roberts, citing Fuentes’s history of antisemitism. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress, also denounced the interview as “deeply disturbing,” and suggested the content was hazardous.

Trump administration tells Congress war law doesn’t apply to cartel strikes

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/01/trump-venezuela-war-drugs-law/

The president needs lawmakers’ approval for sustained military action under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which was passed in the wake of the Vietnam War to prevent another drawn-out, undeclared conflict.

The official said the administration does not believe U.S. troops are in danger in the ongoing operation, so the law did not apply. “The operation comprises precise strikes conducted largely by unmanned aerial vehicles launched from naval vessels in international waters at distances too far away for the crews of the targeted vessels to endanger American personnel,” the official said in an email.

Israel says the latest remains returned from Gaza by Hamas are not of hostages

 https://thehill.com/policy/international/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-remains-not-hostages/?tbref=hp

The remains of three people Hamas handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza do not belong to any hostages, Israel said Saturday, in the latest setback to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

The handover followed Israel’s return on Friday of the bodies of 30 Palestinians to Gaza, which completed an exchange after militants turned over remains of two hostages earlier in the week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the remains of the three people did not belong to hostages. It was unclear who the remains belonged to.

‘At What Point Does This Cross a Line Into International Criminality?’

 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/11/01/trump-boat-strikes-international-law-interview-00632077

The Trump administration continues undeterred in its campaign to kill alleged drug traffickers in international waters near Central and South America despite an emerging consensus among legal experts who say that the effort is illegal.

As of this writing, the U.S. military has killed at least 61 people. On Friday, Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the killings and said they were illegal under international law. President Gustavo Petro of Colombia has accused the Trump administration of “murder” in connection with the death of a man that Petro described as a fisherman on one of the boats. Meanwhile, the administration is stonewalling Congress.

Two-thirds of Israelis believe US now calls the shots on IDF operations in Gaza

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-thirds-of-israelis-believe-us-now-calls-the-shots-on-idf-operations-in-gaza-poll

Two-thirds of Israelis believe the United States, not Israel, is now steering military operations in Gaza, according to a survey by Channel 12 released Friday evening.

The poll found that 67 percent of respondents think the US is the main decision-maker when it comes to Israel’s policy and IDF actions in the Strip.

Just 24% said Israel is the one calling the shots, while 9% were unsure.

Trump says he’s ordered Pentagon to ‘prepare for possible action’ in Nigeria

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/01/politics/trump-pentagon-nigeria-action

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he has ordered the Defense Department to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria as he continues to accuse the nation of not doing enough to stem violence against Christians — an accusation Nigeria has repeatedly denied.

In a social media post criticizing what he called the “mass slaughter” of Christians in the country, Trump wrote the United States would “immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria” and warned the government there to “move fast.”

In the lengthy message, Trump said the US “may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

JD Vance epitomizes the GOP’s move from morals to whataboutism

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/15/politics/jd-vance-young-republicans-texts-analysis

Pointing to recently disclosed violent messages from Democratic Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones, Vance basically argued Republicans should hold their tongues.

“This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia,” Vance wrote on X. “I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”

It’s hard to find a better epitome of the MAGA movement’s evolution on hateful rhetoric. The moral high ground is out; whataboutism is very much in.

It’s a remarkable entry in the GOP’s long-running shift toward a no-apologies approach to politics. The attitude seems to be that as long as the other side is perceived as worse, the GOP shouldn’t bother with policing its own.

Controversy over Tucker Carlson interview reveals conservative movement’s conflict over antisemitism

 https://apnews.com/article/heritage-foundation-roberts-tucker-carlson-nick-fuentes-e7347c9f414dfea41de7d63a0977d3b9

 As Republicans accuse Democrats of tolerating antisemitism in their party, the GOP on Friday was roiled by its own schism after the leader of a powerful right-wing think tank defended prominent conservative commentator Tucker Carlson for his friendly podcast interview with a far-right activist known for his antisemitic views.

The outrage began when Roberts on Thursday posted a video in which he denied his group was “distancing itself” from the former Fox News host, one of the most powerful voices on the right, after Carlson’s podcast hosted Nick Fuentes, whose followers see themselves as working to preserve America’s white, Christian identify.

“The American people expect us to be focusing on our political adversaries on the left, not attacking our friends on the right,” said Roberts, adding that, while antisemitism is wrong, conservatives do not need to always support Israel.

The flare-up comes as criticism of Israel and blatant antisemitism have risen in right wing circles. Activists such as Fuentes and Candace Owens have seen the popularity of their podcasts and videos grow, particularly among young conservatives who are increasingly skeptical of the notion that the Republican Party should stand by Israel’s side and support its war in Gaza, given President Donald Trump ‘s “America First” agenda

Heritage Foundation shakes up staff in wake of Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes controversy

 https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5584905-heritage-foundation-shake-up-carlson-fuentes-criticism

He made the announcement in an email to staff late Friday with the subject line: “Heritage’s Stand Against Antisemitism and for Civilizational Truth.”

The email, obtained by The Hill, opened by saying the thank tank had “launched and expanded numerous explicit efforts to combat antisemitism” under his leadership.

“Our position on Israel is principled and balanced: there’s a great deal of space between believing Israel can do no wrong and blaming it for every wrong,” the Heritage chief wrote.

ICE and Border Patrol’s use of tear gas injures, sickens and tests the law

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/11/01/dhs-ice-border-patrol-chicago-tear-gas

Federal officers have thrown chemical agents out of vehicles on city streets, creating a hazard for motorists. They have thrown tear-gas canisters near stores and schools, exposing children, pregnant women and older people to the noxious gas. And on numerous occasions federal officers have fired pepper balls directly at protesters — in one case, striking a pastor in the head.

The use of tear gas has persisted in recent days despite a court order forbidding officers from using chemical agents against demonstrators and journalists unless they pose a safety threat. Last week, Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official leading the Chicago operation, was videotaped throwing a tear-gas canister into a crowd. In another incident, immigration officers deployed tear gas as families were walking to a Halloween parade.

On Oct. 9, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a temporary restraining order blocking DHS federal agents from using riot control weapons, including tear gas, on journalists, protesters and religious practitioners who do not pose an immediate threat. The temporary restraining order also required federal agents to give “at least two separate warnings when feasible” at an appropriate sound level before using a riot control weapon.

Ellis questioned Bovino on Tuesday and warned him that agents appear to be violating her temporary restraining order barring them from using chemical munitions on protesters or journalists who do not pose a threat.

Ted Cruz to Jewish Republicans: Antisemitism is ‘an existential crisis in our party’

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/ted-cruz-to-jewish-republicans-antisemitism-is-an-existential-crisis-in-our-party

Ted Cruz warned of rising antisemitism on the right — and a lack of Republican voices calling it out — as he kicked off the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit Thursday night.

The speech reiterated comments he made at a San Antonio megachurch last week, including the core message that he’s recently seen more right-wing antisemitism than ever before.

“In the last six months, I’ve seen more antisemitism on the right than I had in my entire life,” Cruz said.

“This is a poison,” he continued. “And I believe we are facing an existential crisis in our party and our country.”

The MAGA Right’s Antisemitism Problem

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-maga-rights-antisemitism-problem-ddbc39cb?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

By failing to draw a clear line, JD Vance and the Heritage Foundation put conservatism in jeopardy.

The right has a racism problem. This doesn’t mean that the Trump voter coalition is full of racists. Rather, the racism is concentrated in a faction of MAGA’s online leadership. They call themselves “America first.” Their detractors call them the “woke right.” These people mirror the woke left’s self-obsessed identity politics and fantasies of malign Jewish influence.

US footage shows: Hamas operatives loot humanitarian aid truck

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/417133

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) released footage from an MQ-9 drone showing suspected Hamas operatives looting a humanitarian aid truck in northern Khan Yunis, Gaza.

The truck was part of an international humanitarian convoy delivering essential aid to civilians during the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

According to CENTCOM's statement, the suspects stopped the truck, assaulted the driver, and moved him to a central traffic island. They then boarded the truck and stole both its contents and the vehicle itself.

A Rude Awakening for Israel

 A Rude Awakening for Israel

Judging from a series of jarring public statements US officials have made, starting with President Trump and then the caravan of top officials he dispatched to Israel last week, America, too, is parroting the same long-standing misconceptions from previous administrations that are more likely to hinder peace instead of promoting it.

When Trump blames “rebel forces” for killing Israeli soldiers and avoids holding Hamas leadership accountable, he is following the Clinton-Rabin-Peres playbook, which blamed the “enemies of peace” for the wave of terror the Palestinian Authority unleashed on Israel’s streets right after the Oslo Accords, as if the PA leadership had no culpability. When the president excuses Hamas gangs conducting revenge killings against rival gangs in Gaza as “rambunctious,” as if they were a bunch of rowdy boys out for a night on the town, it emboldens Hamas to believe that the efforts to disarm them and demilitarize Gaza, which is the next phase of Trump’s 20-point plan, are not serious.

Kushner’s efforts to shift the responsibility onto Israel to “make life easier” for the Palestinians are also rooted in the failed Oslo paradigm. The Palestinian Authority and its predecessor, the Palestine Liberation Organization, have made life difficult for Israel, murdering nearly 5,000 Jews in various terrorist attacks since 1948. The Jerusalem-based NGO Palestinian Media Watch reported last week that 160 of the 250 Palestinian terrorists serving life terms who Israel released in exchange for the 20 hostages are now millionaires, in shekels, thanks to 229 million shekels in PA pay-for-slay payments. This sum does not include additional stipends the PA paid to their spouses and children. Wouldn’t that money have gone a long way toward making life easier for the Palestinians if spent on honorable causes?

J. D. Vance’s Bad Answer to an Anti-Semitic Question

 https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/10/jd-vance-answer-anti-semitism/684780

But Vance should not have been surprised to face a baldly anti-Semitic assertion at a Turning Point gathering. At his own campus events, Kirk regularly fielded hostile questions from far-right acolytes of his archnemesis, the white-supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes. Among other lowlights, Fuentes has denied the Holocaust, called for the execution of non-Christians and “perfidious Jews,” and labeled interracial relationships as “degenerate.” “Oh, I’m anti-Semitic?” he said in 2022 on his web show, rhetorically addressing religious Jews. “I piss on your Talmud.” Once a fringe figure, Fuentes has moved closer and closer to the center of conservative power—dining with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2022, shaking hands onstage with a grinning Marjorie Taylor Greene that same year, and finally being interviewed by the most influential right-wing commentator in America, Tucker Carlson, just this past week.

Carlson is a longtime ally of Vance and was reportedly influential in helping him secure the vice-presidential nod from Trump. The former Fox host spoke before the president did at the 2024 Republican National Convention, and his son now serves as a press aide in Vance’s office. Carlson has also spent years mainstreaming anti-Semitic voices and ideas. He has hosted a parade of Hitler apologists on his podcast; claimed that Israel had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks but did not share the information with the U.S.; slurred the prominent Jewish conservative Ben Shapiro and those like him as foreign anti-American subversives who “don’t care about the country at all”; and, in his speech at Kirk’s funeral, blamed a cabal of people “eating hummus” (i.e., Jews) for killing Jesus. And all that was before he sat down for a cordial conversation with Fuentes.

Vance tells anti-Israel student Trump secured Gaza deal by using ‘leverage’ on Jerusalem

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/vance-tells-anti-israel-student-trump-secured-truce-by-using-leverage-on-jerusalem/

US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that President Donald Trump was able to secure the current Gaza deal because he used “leverage” over Israel.

The assertion was a relatively rare boast by a Trump official of the power imbalance between the US and Israel and appeared to undercut efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push back on criticism that Washington is dictating the manner in which Israel can uphold the ceasefire in Gaza.

It also came in response to a question that accused Israel and the Jews of working to undermine the US and Christianity, highlighting a growing animosity to the Jewish state by young US conservatives.

This Was His Last Social Media Post: Chabad Man Falls to Death at Jerusalem Rally

 https://www.jfeed.com/news-israel/teen-suicide-jerusalem-rally

Tragic news from Jerusalem: A 20-year-old Haredi (Chabad) man, Menachem Mendel Litzman, fell to his death from a construction site during the Million Man rally. Authorities say the fall was suicide, following a farewell note he left for friends.

Trump Third Term? And other lies

Road closures, canceled trains: Haredi draft protest expected to cause mass transportation chaos

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-872128

Road closures will begin at noon, and Israel Police and Netvei Israel have called on the public to avoid driving to the entrance area to Jerusalem throughout the day.

Heavy traffic and significant disruptions are expected across Jerusalem and the roads leading to the city from 12:00 p.m. on Thursday due to ultra-Orthodox mass protests against the haredi draft law.

Israel Police and Netivei Israel have announced that Route 1 will be closed in both directions, from the Latrun area to Ginot Sakharov, including the entrance to Jerusalem via Route 16 and the Sha'ar Hagai area, depending on developments during the protests.

Givat Shaul-Ramot Interchange will be closed in all directions, Ben Zvi-Rabbi Shmuel Baruch Street will be closed towards the entrance to the city, Shazar Boulevard will be closed towards the Givat Shaul Interchange, Herzl Boulevard will be closed from the Bari intersection towards Gesher Mitamitarim, the Malki Yisrael-Shari Yisrael intersection will be closed towards Nordo Square and Yirmiyahu Street.

Haredim fume: Jerusalem train station closed for haredi rally

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/417042

Israel Railways announced that the Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon train station will be closed to service starting Thursday at 12:30 p.m. and will remain closed until the conclusion of a rally scheduled to take place in the city later that day.

According to the spokesperson’s statement, the decision was made in coordination with Israel Police due to expected overcrowding at the station, which is located in the heart of the affected area. “The decision is intended to ensure public safety,” the statement read. “All train lines and stations, except for Yitzhak Navon, will operate as usual. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

The rally, set to take place at the entrance to Jerusalem, is expected to draw hundreds of thousands from the haredi sector protesting the arrest of draft-evading yeshiva students who oppose IDF service.

‘Let it rain’: Mass prayer for rain held at Sea of Galilee as Israel faces worst drought in a century

 https://www.ynetnews.com/jewish-world/article/s1wu0fekwe#autoplay

With Israel facing its worst drought in a century and the Sea of Galilee 28 centimeters below its lower red line, dozens gathered on its shores to pray for rain, led by Safed’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, recalling past prayers said to have brought storms

If the dry conditions persist into the new year, the Water Authority is expected to impose deeper cuts to agricultural and environmental water allocations. Officials are also considering measures such as drying up public gardens in some municipalities to conserve what remains of the country’s water resources.

Senate Republicans defect, reject Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-republicans-defect-reject-trumps-tariffs-canadian-goods

Paul, one of the co-sponsors of Kaine’s resolution, has consistently rejected Trump’s usage of tariffs and argued that it was a tax on consumers in the U.S. rather than on foreign countries.

He noted that the message it would send to the White House, despite pressure from Vance to support Trump’s duties, was "that a rule by emergency is not what the Constitution intended, that taxes are supposed to originate in the House of Representatives."

McConnell staked his position against the tariffs in a statement, where he argued that retaliatory tariffs have negatively affected Kentucky farmers and distillers.

"Tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive. The economic harms of trade wars are not the exception to history, but the rule. And no cross-eyed reading of Reagan will reveal otherwise," he said. "This week, I will vote in favor of resolutions to end emergency tariff authorities."

Scandals of the Reagan administration

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandals_of_the_Reagan_administration#:~:text=The%20most%20well-known%20and,six%20U.S.%20citizens%20being%20held

 The presidency of Ronald Reagan was marked by numerous scandals, resulting in the investigation, indictment or conviction of over 138 administration officials, the largest number for any president of the United States.

The most well-known and politically damaging of the scandals since Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair came to light in 1986 when Ronald Reagan conceded that the United States had sold weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of a largely unsuccessful effort to secure the release of six U.S. citizens being held hostage in Lebanon. It was also disclosed that some of the money from the arms deal with Iran had been covertly and illegally funneled into a fund to aid the right-wing Contras counter-revolutionary groups seeking to overthrow the socialist Sandinista government of Nicaragua. The Iran–Contra affair, as it became known, did serious damage throughout the Reagan presidency. The investigations were effectively halted when Reagan's vice-president and successor, George H. W. Bush pardoned Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger before his trial began.[2]

Savings and loan crisis in which 747 institutions failed and had to be rescued with $160 billion in taxpayer dollars.[24] Reagan's "elimination of loopholes" in the tax code included the elimination of the "passive loss" provisions that subsidized rental housing. Because this was removed retroactively, it bankrupted many real estate developments which used this tax break as a premise, which in turn bankrupted 747 Savings and Loans, many of whom were operating more or less as banks, thus requiring the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to cover their debts and losses with taxpayer money. This with some other "deregulation" policies, ultimately led to the largest political and financial scandal in U.S. history to that date. The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $150 billion, about $125 billion of which was directly subsidized by the U.S. government, which further increased the large budget deficits of the early 1990s. 

Giving Hamas hope, Gaza’s future rests on three somewhat contradictory documents

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/giving-hamas-hope-gazas-future-rests-on-three-somewhat-contradictory-documents

Trump boasts that the world backs his 20-point plan, but no one even signed it. Hamas committed to the first phase of the deal, but has not said it will disarm

The first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza is still in effect, but it remains so only because of a concerted diplomatic effort from the United States.

“Do not act in a way that would endanger the ceasefire. We want to do everything to reach the second phase,” top White House Middle East advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff reportedly told Netanyahu.

On Tuesday, Hamas struck again in Rafah, with a sniper killing an IDF reservist. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the IDF to carry out “powerful strikes” on targets in Gaza in response to Hamas’s violation of the ceasefire. Gaza’s Hamas-affiliated health authorities reported more than 100 dead.

But by Wednesday morning, the ceasefire was back on. Netanyahu had ordered the strikes before notifying the Trump administration, but only carried them out after giving that notice; US officials had reportedly pushed Israel to limit its response to the sniper attack and to Hamas playing games with the return of bodies of slain hostages.

Much of the ceasefire’s turbulence has come from Hamas violations and Israel’s desire to respond forcefully. Hamas’s behavior has put the entire deal at risk, but the truce and hostage-release phase had tensions baked in.

Its exact terms were not fully clear. The involved parties did not agree which ceasefire documents were binding. And no matter what Hamas believes its obligations are, the fact that the terms remain vague in important respects seems to give the group reason to believe it can find a way to evade the stated Trump vision of a Gaza in which Hamas plays no part whatsoever.

The ambiguity around what Israel and Hamas committed to, and to what exactly the countries overseeing the ceasefire’s implementation are bound, leaves plenty of room for Hamas to wriggle its way out of terms it does not like and to drag the process out.

It also leaves Israel clinging to Trump’s promises about Hamas disarmament, rather than a signed obligation by Hamas.

The Trump plan's moment of truth

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/10/30/hamas-qatar-pressure-trump-plan-hostage-bodies

Jerusalem and Washington have defined the coming days as especially important for the continuation of the ceasefire and the transition to the next stage of the Trump plan. An Israeli diplomatic source said attention should be paid to the Qatari Prime Minister's remarks in New York, where he repeated his country's commitment to bringing Hamas to surrender its weapons.

Jerusalem shuts train station, roads ahead massive ultra-Orthodox draft protest

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hj0oddx1wl

The protest, expected to bring together various factions within the ultra-Orthodox community, is being held in response to the arrest of several yeshiva students, including one from the prominent Ateret Shlomo yeshiva. A controversial campaign advocating for his release has compared him to hostages held in Gaza.

The Jerusalem Municipality and Transportation Ministry said that from noon until about 7 p.m., additional closures will affect key roads including the city entrance corridor, Jaffa Street near the central bus station, and the Chords Bridge area.

Light rail service will be reduced starting at noon, operating only between the Neve Yaakov and Davidka stations, and between Hadassah Ein Kerem and Denmark Square. Other central stations, including Mahane Yehuda, the central bus station, and Kiryat Moshe, will be closed.