Roughly a year and a half after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack prompted major airlines across the globe to pause flights to Israel, many of them still haven’t resumed service or said when they plan to do so—including in countries led by bitter opponents of the Jewish state.
US President Donald Trump expressed his surprise after meeting with released hostages earlier this week, learning that none of their Hamas captors showed them any kindness.
"I said, ‘Did you see anybody in there who was kind? They said no,’" Trump recalled while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.
He continued, "The answer was nobody. There was nobody. Just the opposite. They’d be slapped and punched. One man broke his ribs. He couldn’t breathe for a month. It was brutal,’" which seemed to reference the testimony of recently freed hostage Eli Sharabi.
"I was so surprised. Because you think there’d be a couple of people that would be kind, that would say, ‘You’re going to be okay.’ But they had none of that. It’s pretty amazing," Trump added.
Once again, Congressman Fatso Jerrold Nadler (NY-12) has proven that his loyalty lies not with Americans or his own Jewish people, but with the far-left ideology that has overtaken the Democratic Party.
In a shameful statement, Fat Nadler and fellow progressive Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) slammed the Trump administration’s decision to revoke $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University, an institution that has allowed antisemitic harassment to flourish unchecked.
Nadler and his allies claim that pulling these funds isn’t about combating antisemitism, but about waging a “war on education and science.”
Columbia University has been a hotbed of anti-Jewish hate, with Jewish students facing harassment, threats, and intimidation. Yet, instead of standing up for his own people, Nadler is more concerned with protecting the woke academic elites who have done nothing to ensure the safety of Jewish students.
This is nothing new for Nadler. Time and again, he has abandoned Jewish interests in favor of radical leftist policies. In 2015, he backed the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, turning his back on Israel and aligning himself with a regime that openly calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. His betrayal was so blatant that many accused him of stabbing Israel in the back.
Now, with antisemitism surging on college campuses across the country, Nadler had another chance to do the right thing. Instead, he chose to play politics, accusing Trump of using antisemitism as a “ploy” rather than acknowledging the reality that Columbia has failed its Jewish students. His suggestion that pulling funding is about forcing universities to “align with the MAGA agenda” is not only dishonest but an insult to every Jewish student who has been harassed, threatened, or attacked simply for being Jewish.
Let’s call this what it is: a pattern. Fat Nadler consistently sides with those who put Jewish lives at risk. Whether it’s supporting a deal that empowers Iran, defending antisemitic rhetoric from the left, or shielding universities that allow antisemitism to fester, he has made it clear that Jewish safety is secondary to his political ambitions.
The Trump administration’s decision to revoke funding from Columbia is not an attack on education—it is a necessary measure to hold universities accountable for protecting all their students. If a campus allowed open hostility toward any other minority group, would Nadler be so quick to defend it? Of course not. But when it comes to Jewish students, he suddenly finds excuses.
Fat Jerry Nadler may be Jewish by birth, but his actions show that he has long since abandoned the values of his own people. He is the worst kind of politician—one who sells out his own for the sake of party loyalty. And history will remember him as exactly that.
The Torah world mourns the passing of Rabbi Nota Schiller, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Ohr Sameach and one of the founders of the Teshuva movement 60 years ago, who passed away Friday night at Shaare Tzedek hospital after a short illness.
Rabbi Schiller was born in 1937 and raised in Brooklyn, New York, where he attended the high school division of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, studying under Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Weinberg. He graduated from Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore.
The 1960s and 1970s were a time of searching for meaning by Western-educated, college-age men and women. In 1972, Rabbis Noah Weinberg, Mendel Weinbach, Nota Schiller, and Yaakov Rosenberg founded the Shma Yisrael Yeshiva to teach young Jewish men with little or no background in Jewish studies.
After a few years, Rabbi Weinberg left the yeshiva over a difference in approach and founded Aish HaTorah in 1974, whereas Rav Rosenberg left and founded Machon Shlomo in Har Nof. Shma Yisrael subsequently changed its name to Ohr Somayach, after the commentary on the Mishneh Torah written by Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, the Ohr Somayach. Rabbi Schiller succeeded in creating a cadre of Talmidei Chachamim who established Torah homes worldwide. He believed that even in a yeshiva for ba’alei teshuva, the emphasis should be on studying Gemara and led his yeshiva accordingly, educating thousands of students across the world.
Rabbi Schiller was the driving force behind the development of Ohr Somayach International, which has opened yeshivas and learning branches in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, South Africa, and Australia. He founded the first international Ohr Somayach program in Yonkers, New York in 1977. The program became an independent spin-off in 1979 and relocated to Monsey.
Security sources told Israel Hayom that one country has already expressed interest in accepting construction workers from Gaza, but international controversy surrounding the issue has caused it to freeze its involvement in the matter for the time being.
Migration to destination countries could be carried out via sea, with passage through Israel at the Ashdod port.
An additional route, by air, would be through Ramon Airport in Eilat. It should be noted that this route has been operating for several months for wounded individuals who have left the Strip, and so far approximately 1,500 Gaza residents are known to have left via this route to other countries.
Another departure route is the Rafah crossing. Through this crossing, according to information available to Israel, about 35,000 people have evacuated from the Strip to Egypt since the beginning of the war. In many cases, those leaving continued from Egypt to other destinations around the world.
Israel is interested in allowing as many Gaza residents as possible to leave the Strip. Therefore, the policy is to allow family members of sick and wounded individuals to leave with them to other countries. In the vast majority of cases, those who left Gaza were absorbed into Arab countries, but there are also those who have already migrated to Romania and Italy with the intention of not returning.
"Our interest is to let as many people as possible leave. That's the rationale of the Trump plan that Israel has expressed support for. We are trying to implement it," said a security source.
Meanwhile, the "The Israeli Reservists – Generation of Victory" movement has also published its own framework for the voluntary migration of Gaza residents, based on principles of international law. The plan proposes the removal of 1.7 million Gazans via air, sea, and land routes to various host countries around the world, including Egypt, Libya, Gulf states, and other countries.
The initiative includes full funding for departure from Gaza, temporary housing solutions, and a financial grant for migrants, at an estimated cost of up to $100 billion – less than the cost of rehabilitating the Strip. According to Major (res.) Gilad Ach, chairman of the movement: "We are presenting an orderly plan to remove the ongoing threat to Israeli citizens from the Gaza Strip... A one-time opportunity has now been created to exploit the window of opportunity opened by the current US administration."
Interesting! I have spoken to American Jews, frum American Jews, Chareidie American Jews who believe the Palestinian propaganda that "Jewish Settlers " are perpetrating violence against innocent Palestinian.. this is a lie!
Once you realize how much you've been lied to about Israel, you should understand that the entire “settler violence” claim is a myth.
— Yehuda Teitelbaum (@chalavyishmael) March 5, 2025
Here’s how they manufacture propaganda, and here’s video proof of Basel Adra and Yuval Ibrahim staging it in Masafer Yatta, where their… pic.twitter.com/JlWTjTCJvO
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| Rescued foreign workers from India held captive in an Arab village near Jerusalem. |
In a coordinated nighttime operation, Israeli authorities rescued ten foreign workers from India who had been held captive for over a month in A-Zaim, an Arab village near Jerusalem. The workers, who had arrived in Israel for employment in the construction industry, were stripped of their passports by their captors and left without the ability to leave the village or return to Jerusalem.
Workers Lured with Job Offers, Stripped of Passports
The workers had entered Israel legally with the expectation of securing jobs in construction. However, after being promised employment by a resident of A-Zaim, their passports were confiscated by their captors in the village, leaving them stranded. Without documentation, they apparently believed they were unable to leave the village or seek legal recourse. The authorities did not say under what physical conditions the men were being held.
According to information received by the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority, the workers’ passports were misused by the Arab residents attempting to bypass Israeli security checkpoints. Israeli forces eventually identified the individuals involved and recovered the stolen documents leading them to locate the kidnapped foreigners.
The authorities did not say if any of the Arabs trying to bypass security were involved in terrorism.
Complex Operation Ensures Safe Extraction
The rescue mission required coordination between the IDF, the Population and Immigration Authority’s Enforcement and Foreigners Administration, and the Israeli Ministry of Justice.
Under the cover of night, the workers were safely extracted from the village and transported them to a secure location.
The operation concluded successfully at 2:30 AM. Israeli authorities are now working to ensure the workers’ legal employment status is properly regulated.
Official Statement
The Population and Immigration Authority confirmed the details of the operation, stating [translated]:
The Enforcement and Foreigners Administration at the Population and Immigration Authority led a rescue operation last night for ten Indian workers who had come to Israel to work in the construction industry and were being held in the village of A-Za’im.
In a coordinated operation with the IDF and the Ministry of Justice, the ten workers were rescued from the village in the dead of night.”
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel said that his office will do everything to protect their rights and integrate them into the Israeli labor market
Israel’s deep concerns over secret negotiations between the Trump administration and Hamas resulted in a heated exchange between a top Israeli official and the US envoy leading the talks, sources familiar with the matter told Axios on Friday.
According to the report, senior Israeli officials had cautioned the US against engaging directly with Hamas, particularly without preconditions. However, despite Israel’s warnings in early February, the US moved forward with the discussions.
The report further said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly avoided direct criticism of President Donald Trump since reports of the talks surfaced, but behind closed doors, tensions have been high.
Netanyahu’s closest confidant, Minister Ron Dermer, expressed Israel’s frustrations directly in a phone call with US hostage envoy Adam Boehler. Sources familiar with the discussion described the conversation as particularly intense.
The contentious call between Dermer and Boehler came just hours after the American envoy met in Doha with Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas political official and the head of its negotiating team. The talks, which had begun a week earlier with lower-ranking Hamas officials, were part of Boehler’s efforts to secure the release of American hostage Edan Alexander, 21, as well as the remains of four other American hostages.
According to sources, the Trump administration saw an opportunity to expand the talks beyond hostages. The US signaled to Hamas that a deal could lead to broader discussions, potentially involving a long-term ceasefire, safe passage out of Gaza for Hamas leaders, the release of all remaining hostages, and an end to the war.
Despite the urgency, the discussions failed to yield the breakthrough Trump and his team had hoped for before his scheduled address to Congress. Hamas’ response was deemed insufficient, according to Axios.
The report said that the talks also broached sensitive matters Israel had not agreed to—specifically, the number of Palestinian prisoners that would be released in exchange for Alexander’s return.
Sources described Dermer’s call with Boehler as “difficult,” with the Israeli minister objecting to any US proposals made without Israel’s prior consent. In response, Boehler reassured Dermer that no deal had been reached and that he was fully aware of Israel’s red lines. One Israeli official suggested that Dermer’s strong opposition led the White House to reconsider its approach.
Following internal discussions on Wednesday, Trump and his advisers decided to publicly pressure Hamas, at which point Trump issued his latest ultimatum to Hamas, writing on his social media channels that Hamas must release all the hostages “or it is over for you”.
On Thursday, Trump commented on the direct talks that his administration has had with Hamas and stated, "We are having discussions with Hamas. We are helping Israel in those discussions, because we're talking about Israeli hostages.”
Earlier on Thursday, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff also acknowledged the talks that Boehler had been holding with Hamas.
"We feel that Hamas has not been forthright with us and it's time for them to be forthright with us, and Edan Alexander would be a very important show [of goodwill]. We'll see how they're gonna react. The President has issued a statement about what's acceptable to him and what's not, and hopefully we'll see good behavior [from Hamas] next week and I'll be able to go in there and have discussions," he said.
Despite the focus on Edan Alexander, Witkoff stressed that "lives matter" to Trump, not just American lives, but "all lives," including all of the remaining hostages.
