Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Full SNAP Payments

 https://www.newsweek.com/supreme-court-temporarily-blocks-full-snap-payments-11014816

The High Court granted the Trump Administration's request to appeal a previous ruling that would require SNAP to be fully funded amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.

The Supreme Court’s administrative stay pauses District Judge John J. McConnell Jr.'s previous mandate for full SNAP payments, giving the First Circuit Court of Appeals additional time to review the case.

Meanwhile, millions of SNAP recipients face continued uncertainty about the timing and amount of their benefits.

Trump on Truth Social on Tuesday: "SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly 'handed' to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT"

Democrats swept elections far beyond the big races in referendum on Trump

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/08/democrats-local-election-sweep-trump

From clerks to coroners, Democrats on Tuesday flipped city councils, school boards and county commissions.

Much of the attention Tuesday night focused on the Democrats’ big wins in the Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, as well as in the New York mayor’s contest. But the party also won hundreds of lower-profile state and local contests — often swamping Republican incumbents with overwhelming turnout, suggesting that voters’ desire to send a message opposing President Donald Trump was deep and wide.

Voters seemed intent on showing their displeasure with Trump even if that meant voting against a random Republican city council member. In a recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, 41 percent of Americans said they approved of Trump’s performance while 59 percent disapproved — the president’s worst showing since January 2021, a week after the attack by a pro-Trump mob on the U.S. Capitol.

Rabbi Rottenberg

 

Baltimore Beis Din

 

Omens

 Sefer Chasidim (59) For there was no enchantment in Jacob and we are not to look for omens. Due to our current sinful state,,there are many Jews that utilize charms and omens. For example they are mindful not to eat eggs Saturday night after Shabbos and not to take fire twice when there is a sick person in the house or a new mother within 9 days of giving birth.  They also are involved in divination. When they see fire and burning coals standing, they say we will have a guest, if you extinguish it with water, they say the the guest will fall into the water. They are violating a number of Torah commandments.  The only omens that are permitted is that which our Sages have permitted such as the signs on Rosh HaShanna. People say  not to start teaching a child or begin any mitzva until Rosh Chodesh. While this is not divination it is improper since no one knows whether he will die before Rosh Chodesh and thus miss doing the mitzva. The rule is always to do the mitzva as soon as it is available. 

The Night Democrats Finally Stopped Losing

 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/11/05/democrats-election-night-of-winning-00637076

It wasn’t just that Democrats won every closely-watched election — it’s that their victories were so sweeping. An expected victory in the Virginia governor’s race became a 15-point landslide, a gubernatorial race thought to be closer in New Jersey became a 13-point thrashing of its own and that referendum to redraw California’s House lines to add more Democratic seats was winning by nearly 30 points.

If the message was in the margins, there was no mystery in the why. Voters are, again, unhappy with the political status quo and, again, fault a White House they see as unfocused on their priorities. And Trump isn’t just failing to address the cost of living — many voters see him as abusing his power.

And the deeper problem Republicans have is that Trump is a one-man turnout machine for Democrats. There’s no such similar force for Republicans when the president isn’t on the ballot, and every election for a decade that’s about Trump (rather than the Democrats) has turned out poorly for the GOP.

For now, Democrats were happily reminded that there’s no tonic for a demoralized party like success.

New York Post editorial board says Trump sounds like Biden on affordability

 https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5595698-trump-criticized-affordability-inflation/?tbref=hp

The editorial board of the New York Post is blasting President Trump, arguing the president sounds like former President Biden on issues of affordability and the cost of living.

“Americans didn’t appreciate being lied to by Biden and Democrats, and the party paid for it at the ballot box. But Americans also won’t appreciate being called liars for what their own eyes — and their own wallets — are telling them,” it concluded. “Don’t deny things are tough, Mr. President. Take another look at some of your economic policies and help make things better.”

The Waiting Game

 https://mishpacha.com/the-waiting-game-2

At the time of press, SNAP benefits (food stamps) have not gone out due to the US government shutdown and its future looks uncertain. This will affect many members of our frum communities.

No one goes into the chinuch field for the money, and it turns out that the administrator who encouraged me to apply for government benefits to supplement my meager salary wasn’t planning to cover the shortfall when the government decided to shut down. At least she seemed slightly embarrassed when she told me that I’m not the only one who approached her this week. I should feel angry, but instead it’s a comfort — at least I’m not the only one. This isn’t my failing.

Zionist?

 

Israel Importance

 Kesubos (110b): One should always live in the Land of Israel, even in a town most of whose inhabitants are idolaters, but let no one live outside the Land, even in a town most of whose inhabitants are Israelites; for whoever lives in the Land of Israel may be considered to have a G-d, but whoever lives outside the Land may be regarded as one who has no G-d. For it is said in Scripture, To give you the Land of Canaan, to be your G-d. Has he, then, who does not live in the Land, no G-d? But this is what the text intended to tell you, that whoever lives outside the Land may be regarded as one who worships idols. Similarly it was said in Scripture in the story of David, For they have driven me out this day that I should not cleave to the inheritance of the Lord, saying: Go, serve other gods. Now, whoever said to David, ‘Serve other gods’? But the text intended to tell you that whoever lives outside the Land may be regarded as one who worships idols.

Affordability is an urgent and burning issue, Mr. President — Americans want action - Even Trump supporters are complaining

 https://nypost.com/2025/11/06/opinion/affordability-is-an-urgent-and-burning-issue-mr-president-americans-want-action/

Trump’s Truth Social post on Thursday suggested that higher costs are all in our heads, that “the Democrats ‘affordability’ issue is DEAD! STOP LYING!!!”

Americans didn’t appreciate being lied to by Biden and Democrats, and the party paid for it at the ballot box. But Americans also won’t appreciate being called liars for what their own eyes — and their own wallets — are telling them.

Don’t deny things are tough, Mr. President. Take another look at some of your economic policies and help make things better.

Trump Really Was on the Ballot

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/2025-elections-donald-trump-gop-democrats-mikie-sherrill-abigail-spanberger-f9729d9d?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

President Trump on Wednesday blamed Tuesday’s Republican election defeats on the government shutdown and the fact that he wasn’t on the ballot. If he really believes this, the GOP is heading for bigger problems in 2026.

Mr. Trump was on the ballot—not literally, but nonetheless as the main motivating force behind a dominating Democratic turnout. Winning Democratic candidates for Governor in New Jersey and Virginia linked their opponents to Mr. Trump, driving Democratic voters to the polls and erasing the GOP gains in 2024 among Hispanics, black men and independents.

Thanks to Trump’s overreach, Democrats won big

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/11/05/election-results-trump-exit-polls-democrats-virginia/

They voted blue, no matter who. Democrats swept the off-year elections, largely in response to President Donald Trump’s first nine months back in office. Yet the future of the Democratic Party remains up for grabs.

Most voters said in exit polls that their ballot was intended to send a message to Trump. Every county in Virginia and New Jersey voted more Democratic than in the previous governor’s race. Trump’s gains last year with minorities evaporated.

While being anti-Trump was enough to win this year, and might work again in the midterms, the exit polls reveal that the Democratic brand remains underwater. Spanberger won 20 percent among voters who hold an unfavorable view of her party, and Sherrill won 17 percent. In the New York mayor’s race, Zohran Mamdani won 33 percent.

Satan was the father of Caine

 Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezar (21:01). Sammael riding on the serpent came to her, and she conceived; afterwards Adam came to her, and she conceived Abel, as it is said, "And Adam knew Eve his wife". What is the meaning of "knew"? He knew that she had conceived. And she saw his likeness that it was not of the earthly beings, but of the heavenly beings, and she prophesied  and said: "I have gotten a man with the Lord". 

Trump wasn’t on the ballot on Tuesday — but still took a major loss

 https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/trump-election-2025-loss-democrats-win-rcna242024

President Donald Trump’s name may not have been on the ballot Tuesday, but he suffered a resounding defeat anyway as voters rejected Republican candidates and registered their strong disapproval of how the president is doing his job.

From gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, to the mayoral race in Trump’s hometown, to a redistricting measure in California, Americans opposed Trump’s endorsed candidates and expressed deep dissatisfaction with the country's direction while signaling their dismay with the cost of living and their financial situations.

As the results became clear, the president took to social media to say the first election during his second term had nothing to do with him. "'TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters,” Trump posted.

When did MAGA become Make Argentina Great Again?

 https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/when-did-maga-become-make-argentina-great-again

While farmers wind down the harvest season without their previously reliable customers, like China, lined up to buy their product, you’d think the administration might reignite its "Farmers First" agenda. Instead, President Trump is using his power to boost one of our top agricultural competitors and kick American farmers while they’re down. Enter: his $40 billion taxpayer-funded bailout to Argentina.

In fact, the only people who will benefit from this bailout are President Trump and his ally, Argentine President Javier Milei, whose corrupt politics have driven Argentina into an economic crisis. Well, and the Wall Street financiers who placed bad bets on his unstable economy.

If there is any semblance of truth to "Farmers First" – or "America First," for that matter – President Trump should end his affair with Argentina and focus on the Americans struggling here at home.

Two competing views of Marriage

  Berachos (8a) For this let every one that is godly pray unto Thee in the time of finding. R. Hanina says: In the time of finding’ refers to [the finding of] a wife. For it is said: Whoso findeth a wife findeth a great good.

The above indicates marriage entails finding that which was lost. In other words marriage partners are preordained and the task is recovery of what was lost. This is the idea of basherte found in various places in the Talmud and is now the dominant view

This is contrasted by the gemora with the view it ascibes to Israel as opposed to Babylonia

Berachos (8a) In the West (Israel) they used to ask a man who married a wife thus: Maza or Moze? Maza , for it is written: Whoso findeth [maza] a wife findeth a great good. Moze, for it is written: And I find [moze] more bitter than death the woman.

The question is raised why ask the man only after he married  whether he got a good or bad wife? If it is preordained he needs to simply accept his lot. If not preordained he should be asked before they get married? And why was this viewed as an Israeli practise only and not Babylonian? The Chida answers that in Bavel they learned Torah prior to marriage and this protected them from a bad wife. In Israel they learned Torah only after marriage and had no protection. It is important to note that the Rambam in Shemona Perkim strongly rejects the idea of besherte

One of the commentaries in the Ein Yakov says this question was raised to remind the man that whether the marriage is good or bad is determined by constant effort

In other words in Bavel marriage involves primarily finding a lost part and thus involves only one significant event while the view in |Israel is that marriage is a life long process. 

Democrats win across the spectrum as voters reject Trump

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/04/politics/election-takeaways-new-york-new-jersey-virginia

Voters up and down the East Coast delivered Democrats a sweep on Tuesday, electing candidates across the party’s ideological spectrum in a vivid show of discontent with President Donald Trump nearly a year into his second term.

The Democratic wins by candidates with sharp ideological differences will do little to settle the party’s long-raging internal debate about its way forward, with a host of competitive midterm primaries just months away and the 2028 presidential primary already looming.

But their campaigns had some things in common. Though their solutions were different, the candidates focused on the issue of affordability. And they were all fiercely critical of Trump’s performance.

A Letter Every Lawyer Should Read

 https://vinnews.com/2025/11/04/a-letter-every-lawyer-should-read

I am a lawyer. I take money to tear families apart. I specialize in divorce, which is a polite way of saying I weaponize the law for whoever pays me. My current client has what I used to call “control issues” before I stopped using clinical terms to describe what I enable. She doesn’t want her ex-husband to see their daughter. She doesn’t want his parents—people who once rocked that child to sleep, who celebrated her first steps, who love her—to see her either. I help her do this.

I draft the motions. I coach her testimony. I know exactly which phrases make a judge hesitate, which insinuations plant doubt without proof. I am very good at what I do. Do I enjoy this? I used to tell myself no. Now I’m not sure I’m capable of honest self-reflection anymore. I rationalize it the way every lawyer learns to rationalize: if I don’t take this case, someone else will. Someone less skilled, perhaps, who won’t win as decisively. At least I’m competent. At least I’m professional. At least I return phone calls promptly.

‘Hakirah’ Explores Chassidic Origin of Hashgacha Pratis

 https://anash.org/hakirah-explores-chassidic-origin-of-hashgacha-pratis

Virtually all of contemporary Orthodox Jewry believes that hashgacḥa pratis affects the entirety of Creation and every occurrence including the most minor details, and this belief is manifest in their daily lives. Yet Orthodox Jews are generally not aware that this doctrine, so common today, only became dominant starting in the eighteenth century, nor are they familiar with its rather complex history since that time.

Moreh Nevuchim (3:17-18) “I do not believe that a leaf falls as a result of Divine Providence, not that this spider devours this specific fly as a result of Divine Decree...I do not believe that...when a fish snatches a specific worm floating on a river that such was the will of G-d. Rather this was all through absolute chance, as Aristotle contends

Moreh Nevuchim (3:17-18) : 1)      The first view is the claim of some people that there is no Divine Providence at all regarding anything in existence, and everything...is merely the result of chance...this is pure heresy (or alternately the view of Epicurus).2)      The second is the view that over some things there is Divine Providence... but other things are left to chance. This is the view of Aristotle. 3)      The third view...is that nothing in existence is the result of chance, not specific individuals nor general groups...This is the view held by the Muslim school known as Asharites. 4)      The forth view is...that all divine acts are a result of Divine Wisdom which can bear no injustice (even in regard to animals and inanimate objects). This is the (Muslim) school of Mu’tzalites[, where a guiltless mouse that is devoured by a cat will be compensated in Heaven.5)      The fifth view is the Torah view that...man is completely in control of his actions...and everything that occurs to man is fitting to occur as a result of Divine Providence.

Shomer Emunim (2:81) “Nothing occurs by accident, without intention and Divine Providence. This is learned out from the verse; ‘And I will walk with you in chance (be’keri).’ From this we see that even the state of apparent ‘chance’ is actually Providence. “But that does not apply to the non-human species...whether this ant will be trodden upon or saved. There is no special Providence for animals and certainly not for plants and minerals, as they are governed by species and not individuals. Whatever occurs to individual animals, plants and objects is purely by chance, and not by Divine Decree – unless it is ultimately connected to humankind

Due to anti-Israel bias: Wikipedia founder blocks edits to 'Gaza genocide'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/flashes/669774

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales personally intervened Sunday to block user edits to the site’s “Gaza genocide” article, citing severe anti-Israel bias and a violation of Wikipedia’s neutrality standards, the New York Post reported.

Wales criticized the article’s opening sentence, which refers to a “Gaza genocide” without attribution, presenting the claim as fact rather than a contested allegation.

“This article fails to meet our high standards and needs immediate attention,” he wrote, referencing Wikipedia’s policies on neutrality and attribution.

The intervention sparked debate among Wikipedia editors. Some praised Wales for restoring neutrality, while others accused him of yielding to political pressure and questioned his ties to Israel. Wales has reportedly visited Israel at least ten times and received the Dan David Prize from Tel Aviv University in 2015.

The price Israel paid to save the hostages

 https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-price-israel-paid-to-save-the-hostages/

Even though it's Trump, Israel's great friend in the White House, we should say plainly: the very idea of giving Turkey any role in Gaza, a country that even after the massacre still hosts Hamas terrorists on its soil, is a grave moral distortion.

Erdogan is currently far more troubling and dangerous for Israel and the West than Mamdani. His personality, his moves, his plans and, above all, the religious and ideological engine that directs his path are urgent and necessary subjects for examination. Admittedly, the Turkish president played a decisive role in securing the release of hostages by applying heavy pressure on his protégé, the Hamas terrorist organization. We found ourselves in a situation in which, to save hostages, there was no choice but to speak and do business even with the devil. But now the moment has come to internalize, explain and understand that this is indeed the devil.

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.

Trump blocks Israeli plan to expand control in Gaza following ceasefire violation

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/417032

US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli proposal to shift the yellow line in the Gaza Strip and expand IDF control in response to a serious ceasefire violation by Hamas that resulted in the death of Master Sergeant (Res.) Yona Efraim Feldbaum.

In the aftermath of the incident, Israel had planned for the IDF to assume control of the targeted area, contingent on American approval. However, Trump ultimately blocked the initiative.

The decision raised eyebrows in Israel, particularly as it followed Trump’s own remarks in which he appeared to support a strong Israeli response.

Social Pressure

 Hi – I'm reading "SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance" by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner and wanted to share this quote with you.

For example, the abort rate among American bombers leaving England for daytime sorties over Germany was found to be unnaturally high,""about 20 percent. The pilots gave a variety of explanations for failing to reach the target: a malfunctioning electrical system, a spotty radio, or illness. But a closer analysis of the data led McNamara to conclude that these reasons were “baloney.” The real explanation, he said, was fear. “A helluva lot of them were going to be killed, they knew that, and they found reasons to not go over the target.”""McNamara reported this to the commanding officer, the notoriously headstrong Curtis LeMay, who responded by flying the lead plane on bombing missions and vowing to court-martial any pilot who turned back. The abort rate, McNamara says, “dropped overnight.”"

Start reading this book for free: https://a.co/4Rp1k6f

Netanyahu orders ‘forceful’ strikes in Gaza, testing ceasefire

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/28/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-strikes-ceasefire-00625432

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday ordered his military to conduct “forceful” airstrikes in Gaza, his office wrote on social media, putting new pressure on a weeks-old ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Netanyahu’s office said hours earlier that remains that were recently returned by Hamas were actually just additional remains of a hostage who was already previously recovered “in a military operation about 2 years ago.”

“This constitutes a clear violation of the agreement by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the prime minister’s office said earlier Tuesday. “Prime Minister Netanyahu will hold a security discussion with the heads of the security establishment to discuss Israel’s steps in response to the violations.”

Trump: ‘Nothing’ will jeopardize Gaza ceasefire, Israel ‘should hit back’ if troops killed

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/vance-downplays-israel-hamas-flareup-argues-gaza-ceasefire-is-holding

US President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that “nothing is going to jeopardize” the ceasefire in Gaza, but added that Israel “should hit back” if its soldiers were killed. His remarks came a day after an exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas, and as Jerusalem and the terror group accused each other of violating the ceasefire deal.

“They killed an Israeli soldier. So the Israelis hit back. And they should hit back,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

A senior Trump aide told reporters earlier this month that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and fellow Trump adviser Jared Kushner provided a verbal assurance to Hamas that Washington would hold Israel to the terms of the deal and not allow it to resume the war so long as Hamas kept its end of the agreement.

Trump has claimed that Hamas officials told his aides Witkoff and Kushner that they would disarm, but the terror organization has repeatedly said otherwise.

The new pirates of the Caribbean

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/28/boat-strikes-piracy-illegal-hegseth/

Attacks against alleged drug boats are lawless.

There’s a name for attacks on civilian ships on the high seas: Piracy. That’s also an unfortunately plausible description of the Trump administration’s bombings of vessels around South America that it says are carrying drugs.

Trump hasn’t bothered seeking Congress’s approval for these attacks, probably because a majority wouldn’t approve of the intentional killing of noncombatants. The made-for-social-media boat explosions will likely continue, but they should be called what they are.

Red Cross slams Hamas for staging fake hostage recovery

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/416981

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued a rare and sharply worded statement on Tuesday, criticizing the Hamas terrorist organization for staging the recovery of a hostage’s remains in Gaza.

Footage released by the IDF on Tuesday showed Hamas terrorists burying the body in the ground before summoning Red Cross personnel and then retrieving it in their presence, creating the false impression of a genuine discovery.

It was later announced that the remains that were handed over to Israel were those of hostage Ofir Sarfati, whose body was retrieved by the IDF in a special operation two years ago.

Netanyahu orders "powerful" strikes in Gaza as ceasefire breaks down

 https://www.axios.com/2025/10/28/israel-break-ceasefire-hamas-bodies-rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he had ordered "powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip immediately" in retaliation for what Israeli officials say was a Hamas attack on Israeli forces in the city of Rafah.

The big picture: The deal to end the war in Gaza was easily President Trump's biggest diplomatic achievement this term. It's now looking incredibly fragile.

The hostage crisis takes new turn – What are Israel's options?

 https://www.israelhayom.com/

Israel examining punishment measures after terror group returned additional remains of Ofir Tzarfati, who was not among 13 deceased hostages remaining in Gaza. Events have triggered renewed pressure from Right to escalate military action.

Israel strikes Gaza after it accuses Hamas of violating ceasefire and staging hostage discovery

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/28/middleeast/israel-military-strikes-gaza-latam-intl

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to carry out “immediate, powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” his office said in a short statement. The US was notified of the decision to carry out strikes in Gaza, a US official told CNN.

A military official said Hamas had attacked Israeli troops east of the so-called yellow line, which separates Israeli-occupied Gaza from the remainder of the territory. The troops, in the Rafah area of southern Gaza, had come under RPG and sniper fire, the official said.

Trump, 79, Gets Confused Explaining Water to the Navy

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-gets-confused-explaining-water-to-the-navy

The president went on a baffling rant about the scientific properties of water on board the USS George Washington.

Donald Trump went on a deranged rant about the power of water to destroy magnets during a rambling address to the U.S. Navy just off the coast of Japan.

Speaking aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier during his tour of East Asia, the president appeared to suggest—in a largely incoherent speech—that he is pushing for aircraft carriers to use “steam for the catapults” and hydraulics for elevators, while wrongly claiming that water can disable magnets.

Wall Street Journal editorial board: Trump ‘wrong’ on Reagan, tariffs

 https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5575025-wall-street-journal-slams-trump

“Mr. Trump is wrong about the Reagan speech, and he was wrong when he said on social media that ‘Ronald Reagan LOVED tariffs for purposes of National Security and the Economy,'” the Journal wrote in an editorial published on Sunday.

“The Gipper was a free trader. In the 1987 speech, Reagan was trying to explain why he was making an exception to his free-trade policies on semiconductor imports from Japan,” the newspaper argued. “Mr. Trump has been fortunate that his tariffs haven’t triggered much retaliation, which has spared us from a global trade war. But the tariffs are doing economic damage by raising costs for consumers and businesses and by dampening animal spirits that should be soaring with his tax bill and deregulation.”

Trump reacted in anger to the ad, which featured remarks from Reagan that criticized tariffs, calling the spot “fake” and terminating all trade negotiations with Canada over the ad.

“He can boast about tariffs all he wants,” the Journal added. “But he shouldn’t get away with taking Reagan’s trade beliefs in vain.”

Trump 'taking Reagan's trade beliefs in vain': WSJ editorial board slams tariffs on Canada

Ford doubles down on Reagan ad that got Trump fuming

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/27/ford-doubles-down-reagan-ad-trump-tariffs-00624042

 Ontario Premier Doug Ford has no regrets about being a pain to the Trump administration.

Trump abruptly terminated trade talks with Canada on Thursday night over an ad paid for by Ford’s government that used excerpts from a 1987 radio address by Reagan in an effort to sway public opinion on tariffs in Republican-held districts. The ad, Trump claimed, was intended to interfere in the Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling on whether the president can unilaterally impose tariffs.

Republicans Want Zohran Mamdani to Win: ‘Leftist Agenda in Action’

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-want-zohran-mamdani-to-win-leftist-agenda-in-action-10946752

 Zohran Mamdani is poised to become New York City's next mayor — and some high-profile critics are already licking their chops, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

“Assuming he gets elected, Mamdani will be the most prominent Democrat in America the day he takes office,” DeSantis posted on X. “Voters across the country will be able to watch his leftist agenda in action and know that his path is the Democrat path nationally.”

A victory on November 4 by Mamdani, who leads former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa in polls with early voting already underway, will “be good for Republicans, bad for New York City,” DeSantis said.

Former DOJ officials say Comey case is vindictive, call for dismissal

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/10/27/comey-vindictive-prosecution-amicus

More than 100 former Justice Department officials urged a federal judge in Virginia on Monday to dismiss charges against former FBI director James B. Comey, arguing that the prosecution was fueled by political animus and not guided by legal standards.

The brief to U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff, who is presiding over the Comey case, was signed by former senior Justice Department officials across multiple Republican and Democratic administrations, including former Obama administration attorney general Eric Holder, former Bush administration acting attorney general Peter Keisler and dozens of former U.S. attorneys across the country.

Victims of Palestinian Attacks Say Prisoner Releases Will Lead to More Violence

 https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/victims-of-palestinian-attacks-say-prisoner-releases-will-lead-to-more-violence-1086498f?mod=hp_lead_pos8

Some of those freed as part of Gaza cease-fire were serving long sentences for crimes like murder

Tal Hartuv was at home in northern Israel on the afternoon of Oct. 11 when she saw the list of Palestinian prisoners slated for release as part of the Gaza cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. She recognized a name: Iyad Fatafteh. He was one of two men convicted of stabbing her multiple times with a machete and murdering her American friend 15 years ago.

“There is no justice, and I feel helpless,” said Hartuv, 59 years old, who was born in the U.K. and has been living in Israel for over 40 years. She said Fatafteh’s release has undone the past 15 years of healing. “It brings it all back up again,” she said.

Senator Graham: Trump’s Gaza ceasefire lets Hamas grow stronger

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/416908

Senator Lindsey Graham criticizes President Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, citing King Abdullah’s doubts about a peace enforcement mission and Hamas’s growing power.

US Senator Lindsey Graham expressed deep concern over President Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan, warning that it may unintentionally empower Hamas rather than neutralize the terror group.

In a social media post published Sunday, Graham said he fully agrees with King Abdullah of Jordan's analysis of the current security proposal for Gaza, calling the idea of an international force tasked with disarming Hamas "unrealistic."

"To expect an international force to go to war with Hamas to require their disarmament is unrealistic. To expect Hamas to disarm without the threat of confrontation is unrealistic," Graham wrote.

London’s sad decline is a warning to New Yorkers

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/27/london-decline-mamdani-sadiq-khan-new-york/

London’s economy has gone into a sad decline. And as New York prepares to elect a left-wing mayor, perhaps voters there should reflect on London’s lessons — because their city could easily be going the same way.

The depreciation of the British capital’s once powerhouse economy is becoming more obvious every day. The City of London used to be the key financial hub for all of Europe; this year it dropped out of the list of top 20 initial public offering markets in the world, overtaken by Mexico and Oman. Major British companies have shifted their listings to New York, while some newer ones don’t even bother considering London. Many of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs have decamped for Milan or Dubai, with Nikolay Storonsky, the founder of the wildly popular fintech app Revolut, the latest to join the exodus. House prices, which admittedly had reached eye-watering levels, have started to go into decline, with sales of properties of at least 5 million pounds ($6.67 million) down by about 15 percent over the last year and multimillion-pound price cuts in the ultra-luxury market.

But the main problem is surely this: London has shifted a long way to the left. The Labour Party’s Sadiq Khan is now in his third term as mayor, and has partnered with the Labour government in power nationally to crush the economic life and energy out of the city. Under Khan and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, new ideas get blocked and wealth creation is demonized. Wealthy “non-doms” (residents whose primary homes are outside Britain), who used to be taxed only on their British rather than their worldwide income, now find all of it subject to some of the highest levies in the world. Unsurprisingly, they are fleeing elsewhere. Tourists, who in most of Europe are spared the 20 percent VAT, or sales tax, now must pay it in Britain — deterring the big spenders from Asia and the Gulf who used to flock to London’s high-end stores.

Canada is poised to lose its measles elimination status — and the US could, too

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/27/health/measles-elimination-canada-us-who

Monday marks a full year of continuous measles transmission in Canada, a milestone that’s poised to set the country back decades on a global health commitment. Ongoing transmission in the United States puts it among a group of countries that also face scrutiny from international leaders and are at risk of a similar fate.

All of the World Health Organization’s regions have committed to eliminate measles by 2030, defined by the absence of local virus transmission for any period longer than 12 months. Canada achieved this goal in 1998, but falling vaccination rates set the stage for cases to grow into a massive — and ongoing — outbreak, putting the country and region at risk of losing elimination status.

The potential to lose elimination status “highlights the severity of the measles outbreak,” Bowdish said. “If you look at the other countries that also have circulating measles, you see that they are countries without strong public health like Canada and they are countries that have been torn apart by war or civil unrest. It is an eye-opener about how you need to have constant vigilance and consistent support for public health in order to fight infectious disease.”

And Canada isn’t the only country posing a risk to the region. Six others — including the US and Mexico — have active measles transmission situations that will be discussed at the PAHO commission meeting. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January to withdraw the US from WHO, but PAHO says that it expects US officials – both from the CDC and the National Sustainability Commission – to attend the commission meeting on measles elimination next month.

But measles counts continue to grow in the US, and ongoing outbreaks in multiple states — including one on the border of Arizona and Utah and one in South Carolina — are being investigated for possible connections to the Texas outbreak. If links are confirmed and cases continue to spread into January, the US will have also lost its claim to the measles elimination status that it earned in 2000.

America Can Give Refuge to British Jews

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/america-can-give-refuge-to-british-jews-d846104b?mod=hp_opin_pos_5

The U.K. has made clear they’re no longer welcome there.

The latest news out of the U.K. is beyond belief. No fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club will be allowed to attend its Europa League game against Aston Villa in Birmingham—because of “safety concerns.” British authorities are admitting they can’t protect Jews from antisemites. Instead of confronting the haters, they’re punishing the victims. The local member of Parliament, Pakistan-born Ayoub Khan, gloated: “I welcome the news that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will not be permitted to watch the match at Aston Villa! Well done to all those that signed our petition!”

I left Britain 14 years ago. Once a haven for Jews fleeing persecution, the country of my birth has become unrecognizable. Antisemitism isn’t creeping anymore. It’s marching down the high street, waving flags, shouting slogans, while authorities stand on the sidelines pretending it’s a “protest.”

Kelly: Senate evidence ‘does not back up’ Trump’s claims on Caribbean boat strikes

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5573828-kelly-trump-caribbean-boat-strikes-evidence

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) said he and his fellow senators were presented with evidence “that does not back up” the Trump administration’s claims that targeted boats in the Caribbean Sea are smuggling fentanyl into the U.S. 

Kelly said Sunday that while the evidence the administration presented showed there were drugs on the boats, it was not fentanyl.

Trump defies ‘America First’ agenda with Argentina beef plan

 https://thehill.com/business/5572249-argentina-beef-trump-controversy

President Trump is breaking from his “America First” trade agenda and feuding with some of his most loyal supporters in a fight over U.S. beef prices. 

Trump has centered his economic agenda around reducing the U.S.’s reliance on cheaper foreign products and boosting domestic production of goods and food. 

“I have no idea who is telling our great president — our ‘America First’ president —  that this is a good idea,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a staunch Trump ally, in an appearance on The Tucker Carlson show this week. “Because, honestly, it’s a punch in the gut to all of our American cattle ranchers, and they are furious and rightfully so.”