They portray Hamas as a rising international player, sidelining Israel from direct talks with Washington, and declare this a “new phase in the conflict.”
“It didn’t start on October 7th.”
— Kosher🎗🧡 (@koshercockney) May 9, 2025
No.
You’re right.
No it didn’t.
Here is a list of Arab attacks and massacres on the Jews since 622 AD
Educate people.
Bookmark this pic.twitter.com/V5TOGAlc9y
New York lawmakers voted to weaken oversight over yeshiva education as part of the state budget deal struck under Gov. Kathy Hochul and approved Thursday evening.
The outcome represents a dramatic victory for the state’s Hasidic leaders, who have been fighting for more than a decade against efforts to ensure that Hasidic all-boys schools provide at least basic instruction in secular topics such as math, English, and science as required by a century-old state law.
Orthodox state Assemblymember Aron Wieder, who represents a district that includes Hasidic enclaves in Rockland County, praised the legislation as protecting “educational freedom” and ending the unfair targeting of Hasidic schools. His framing of the issue was echoed by a major Hasidic Satmar account on X in a statement celebrating the budget deal.
Hochul reportedly allied with Democratic state lawmakers in districts with large Hasidic concentrations on the changes with an eye to next year’s election. Because the Hasidic community tends to vote as a bloc, it is influential relative to its size and could be critical for Democrats in stemming recent Republican gains in the state.
During the British Mandate, the Jews of EretzYisrael were no more united than they are today. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the Chief Rabbi, extended a warm hand to the secular Zionists. But others, especially the deeply pious group in Jerusalem known as Neturei Karta—the “Guardians of the City”—bitterly opposed them. And for that, they opposed Rav Kook too.
One day, the daughter of a Neturei Karta leader fell gravely ill. A rare and dangerous condition. After much consultation, the doctors concluded that only one man could treat her properly—a world-renowned professor, abroad, a specialist with unmatched skill.
The father inquired and found out what that meant. The professor was in high demand, his time booked solid. And the fee was well beyond anything a simple Jerusalem family could afford. Even if they managed to get her there, they'd be lucky to see him at all.
But then he heard something: the professor was an admirer of Rabbi Kook. A personal letter from Rav Kook, and doors might open. The professor might even clear his schedule to take the case.
Now the man faced a bitter irony. How could he possibly go to Rav Kook? He had publicly disgraced the rabbi, slandering him numerous times. To ask now for a favor? The humiliation would be too great.
Then he had an idea. Rabbi Aryeh Levin, the saintly figure known as the “tzaddik of Jerusalem,” was close to Rav Kook. The man approached Reb Aryeh and, with visible discomfort, asked if he might intercede on his behalf.
Reb Aryeh didn’t hesitate. Of course he would. He went immediately to Rav Kook’s house.
Once Rav Kook understood the problem, he immediately agreed. “Of course I'll write the letter to the professor. What does this have to do with any difference of opinion between us? A child is sick.”
He sat down, took pen and paper, and composed the letter. Deliberately, he described the father in warm, generous terms.
“If I speak of him favorably,” Rav Kook explained, “I ensure no resentment finds its way into my words.”
Reb Aryeh took the letter and left, deeply moved. On his way out, he passed two prominent rabbis who, he knew, could never forgive the zealots of Jerusalem for their hostility toward Rav Kook. He greeted them politely and continued on his way.
Then, just as he turned the corner, he heard his name called. He was being summoned to return.
Reb Aryeh froze. For a moment, he feared that those two rabbis had said something to change Rav Kook’s mind, to revoke the letter.
But his feet carried him back. “If the Rav calls,” he thought, “I must go.”
He returned to the house with a heavy heart.
Rav Kook met him with a smile. “I had another thought,” he said. “The trip abroad is very expensive. I remembered that there is a shipping line that honors my requests, providing a substantial discount to those in need. Let me write a letter to that company as well.”
And so he did.
In a rare public break with Israel’s wartime policy, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff reportedly told families of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza that he believes a new ceasefire agreement — not continued military pressure — is the correct next step in resolving the conflict.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, Witkoff told the families during a closed-door meeting that “Israel is prolonging the war, even though we do not see where further progress can be made,” adding that while the U.S. seeks to return the hostages, “Israel is not ready to end the war.”
Witkoff’s remarks, described as unusually blunt, come amid a stalled negotiation process and increasing international pressure for a deal. He was quoted as saying there is currently “a window of opportunity” that the U.S. hopes Israel and mediators “will take advantage of,” noting that Washington is “putting pressure on all the mediators and doing everything to return the hostages.”
The reported comments drew sharp contrast to Israel’s current stance. Senior Israeli officials, speaking anonymously to Channel 12, said that if no agreement is reached by the end of President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to the region, Israel will launch a new ground operation in Gaza that “will not end quickly.”
“We won’t agree to quickly halt once we begin the intensified operation,” one Israeli official said. “Hamas will not determine the timeline.”
While Israel is reportedly open to various proposals, including what is being called a “Witkoff proposal-minus” — a plan that would see roughly half of the remaining living hostages released in exchange for a sustained truce — officials say Hamas continues to reject key conditions.
Witkoff is said to be actively engaging multiple sides in the region this week in an effort to shape a workable framework.
This is the first time families of the hostages have heard direct criticism of Israeli policy from Witkoff, who was appointed to the envoy role with strong backing from pro-Israel voices in Washington. His comments may reflect growing U.S. impatience with the war’s pace and outcome, just as political pressure mounts ahead of the 2026 midterms and Trump’s highly anticipated visit.
The Qatari government said a final decision hadn’t been made. Still, Trump defended the idea — what would amount to a president accepting an astonishingly valuable gift from a foreign government — as a fiscally smart move for the country.
“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” Trump posted on his social media site on Sunday night. “Anybody can do that!”
ABC News reported that Trump will use the aircraft as his presidential plane until shortly before he leaves office in January 2029, when ownership will be transferred to the foundation overseeing his yet-to-be-built presidential library.
The gift was expected to be announced when Trump visits Qatar, according to ABC’s report, as part of a trip that also includes stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the first extended foreign travel of his second term.
Before Trump’s post trumpeting the idea, Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attaché, said in a statement that the “possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense.”
“But the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made,” the statement added.
The battle, nearly 43 years ago, was a skirmish between the IDF and the Syrian army in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. It claimed the lives of 21 Israeli servicemen, and more than 30 were injured during it.
Feldman, a tank soldier, went missing during the battle along with Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz and Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel. Baumel’s remains were recovered and returned to Israel in 2019.
In a joint statement on Sunday, the Mossad and IDF said the body of Feldman was recovered from “the heart of Syria” in a special operation.
They said the “complex and covert operation” was made possible by “precise intelligence” and other capabilities, including “intelligence research and collection efforts and many activities and operations in enemy territory.”
The military said the efforts to locate the body had been ongoing for decades.
Defense officials said the operation to recover the remains was carried out by non-Israeli Mossad agents. The team operated deep inside Syria, dozens of kilometers from the Israeli border, to retrieve the body, while risking their lives.
The agents, operating on behalf of Mossad, had a cover story and had been inside Syria for several years. In the past five months, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, there were breakthroughs in the case and an opportunity to recover Feldman’s remains, the officials said.
The agents visited a graveyard several times, obtaining various findings that were sent to Israel for identification. Eventually findings matched Feldman’s DNA. The team also found the remains of the tank soldier’s overalls.
Officials said the team operated “under fire” during the mission.
The remains belonging to Feldman, including his overalls, were brought to Israel for identification some two weeks ago. Feldman’s family was notified early Sunday once the identification process was completed.
“For decades, Zvika was missing, and the efforts to locate him, along with the other missing soldiers from that same battle, never ceased for a moment,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
The Mossad, IDF, Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Israel Katz all said Israel would not stop its efforts until the remains of Katz are also returned.
“Just as we returned Zachary Baumel, and today Zvi Feldman, we continue to act in every way to also return Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz and fulfill our duty for him and his family,” the defense minister said.
Baumel’s body was recovered with Russian assistance from the Yarmouk refugee camp, home to one of the largest Palestinian communities in Syria. In 2016, an Israeli tank lost in the battle was returned to Israel by Russia.
The IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, mostly within a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries.
Troops have been operating in areas up to around 15 kilometers (9 miles) deep into Syria, aiming to capture weapons that Israel says could pose a threat to the country if they fall into the hands of “hostile forces.”
The Hostages Forum, which represents the majority of relatives of those held captive in Gaza, welcomes the return of Feldman’s body, while calling for the return of the remaining hostages, living and dead.
“The families of the hostages would like to extend a big hug to the Feldman family and to every family that is privileged to bring their loved one to burial,” the forum said in a statement.
“The return of Zvi Feldman is a moral, ethical and national reminder to the prime minister and members of the government — a grave is not a privilege, but a basic duty of the state to its citizens and fighters. In Israel, no one is left behind,” it said.
“As a society, we must not normalize a situation in which families have to wait over 40 years or more to be reunited with their loved ones,” it said.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF, one of whom is a soldier killed a decade ago. Israel has said there are grave concerns for the lives of a further three.
