President Herzog halts review of Netanyahu's pardon request

We are in the middle of a war — a literal fight for Israel’s survival — and yet President Herzog is insisting that Prime Minister Netanyahu continue appearing in court over allegations that boil down to cigars and a bottle of wine from years ago.

Anyone following the trial knows what’s happening: witness after witness has contradicted earlier claims, and the case is collapsing under its own weight. Herzog is fully aware of this. And still, he pushes for Netanyahu to be dragged back into court, day after day, while he is responsible for running a country at war.

This isn’t about “rule of law.” This isn’t about “ethics.” This is about politics — the same political pressure that has been applied since the moment Netanyahu returned to office.

Herzog comes from the ideological left, and his insistence on keeping the trial alive during wartime serves one purpose: to weaken Netanyahu, distract him, and undermine the government at the very moment Israel needs stability and unity.

You don’t have to agree with Netanyahu on everything to see how absurd this is. No functioning democracy demands that its wartime leader leave the war room to sit in a courtroom over gifts worth less than a weekend vacation.

Israel is fighting on multiple fronts — Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, the international arena — and the idea that the Prime Minister should be pulled away from managing all of this to deal with a trial that is falling apart is beyond irresponsible.

It’s dangerous.

And Israelis see it.

 President Isaac Herzog has decided to completely freeze all further review of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official pardon request, Kan 11 News reported Sunday evening.

According to the report, Herzog's decision was made after the Prime Minister's team failed to respond to an initiative to open a direct channel of communication aimed at exploring an agreed-upon compromise framework for his trial.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was briefed on the details and expressed her support in principle for the move. However, Netanyahu chose not to reply to the President's overture.

Sources close to the President interpreted Netanyahu's silence as a lack of willingness to cooperate, leading to the decision to remove the matter from the agenda and freeze the process.

Legal experts note that this decision carries critical significance, as Netanyahu's testimony in his criminal trial is expected to conclude shortly - and once it does, the pardon request may become obsolete.

Europeans worry sanctions on Ben Gvir may backfire

 

A broad initiative is currently being advanced to completely ban National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from entering all European Union countries, following the publication of a video in which he is seen together with participants in the pro-Palestinian flotilla to Gaza.

While Ben Gvir visited the detainees, one of the activists shouted, "Free Palestine," before being whisked away by the prison guards. Ben Gvir directly addressed the detainees while waving an Israeli flag, and then said to the camera: "The summer camp is over, whoever acts against the State of Israel will find a determined country, Am Israel Chai."

Meanwhile, Channel 12 News reported that European diplomats are finding that the decision to sanction Ben Gvir is not so simple and is encountering opposition precisely from some of the countries that are less fond of Israel. These countries worry that imposing personal sanctions on Ben Gvir would only strengthen his standing among his supporters and increase his power in Israel’s upcoming elections.

The move is being led, among others, by Italy and France. The Italian Foreign Minister has already announced that he will act to impose EU sanctions against Ben Gvir, and the French Foreign Minister has barred Ben Gvir from entering France.

However, after further consideration - mainly due to the understanding that such a decision would generate international media attention and opposition from countries in the EU that support Israel - the implementation of the move is now in doubt. The greatest concern among those promoting the decision is that while sanctions would be supported internationally, in Israel they would spark a wave of sympathy for Ben Gvir and his party.

Mamzarani Follows the Satmar SHIT'ah and won't attend the Israeli Day Parade

 The annual Salute to Israel Parade on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan will take place this year, for the first time since 1964, without the participation of New York City’s mayor - the city that is home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani officially confirmed that he will not participate in the parade, which will be held on Sunday. As a result, this year’s event is expected to see a record number of participants, along with an unprecedented presence of Israeli public officials traveling especially for this event from Israel.

Mamdani is the first Muslim mayor in the city’s history. He supports the BDS movement and previously stated that he would instruct the New York Police Department to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to the city, based on warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.

The Salute to Israel Parade, held annually since 1964, has become a central tradition in New York City. As part of the event, Jewish residents of the city march together along Fifth Avenue alongside allies from all backgrounds and faiths, with the aim of expressing love, solidarity, and support for Israel, its people, and its culture.

“Unfortunately, New York City’s new mayor is not acting as a unifying and calming force, but as a figure who fuels disputes and deepens divisions among residents. Instead of strengthening the sense of unity and stability in the city, he contributes to escalating tensions and encouraging conflict, while rejecting a cornerstone of our heritage - the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people," said Eric Goldstein, CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York.

It should be noted that Mamdani’s wife is also known for her strong positions against Israel and the Jewish people. She previously wrote that “Tel Aviv should not have existed in the first place." In addition, she praised Palestinian “freedom fighters" and commended the activities of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

In another post, she shared an antisemitic article by a pro-Palestinian activist who described Jews as “cockroaches" and “parasites."

In other posts, she used the racial slur “n****r." She also previously “liked" a post claiming that allegations of rape on October 7 were largely a hoax. Dawaji’s posts were published by the conservative media outlet Free Beacon.

Trump stuns Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia

 

Senior officials in the US administration report that President Donald Trump is demanding that Arab countries without ties to Israel - led by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan - immediately join the Abraham Accords and sign formal peace agreements.

Channel 12 News reported that Trump held a conference call with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain. The original purpose of the call was to secure the support of Sunni states for a deal with Tehran aimed at ending the war.

The various leaders, including UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed - who had previously taken a far more hawkish stance regarding confrontation with Iran - expressed sweeping support for the US president. “They all told him: we’re with you on this deal, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll still be with you," a senior administration official said.

The dramatic turn in the conversation came when Trump directly linked security arrangements with Iran to diplomatic recognition of the State of Israel. According to those present, Trump made clear that once the campaign ends, he expects every country at the table that has not yet done so to open embassies and normalize relations with Israel, while focusing primarily on a historic peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The direct and unexpected demand reportedly stunned some of those on the call, particularly Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan’s prime minister. “The moment those words were spoken, there was complete and awkward silence on the line. Trump immediately noticed the discomfort, joked aloud, and asked with a smile if they were still with him on the call," a senior official said.

To underscore his seriousness, the president added that he intended to contact Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately and expressed hope that in the near future Netanyahu would join them on the same conference call. He also announced that his special envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, would begin a dedicated round of talks on the issue in the coming weeks.

Good Luck

Excellent breakdown on the hypocrisy nobody wants to talk about.

 

Trump talks almost daily about other countries helping shape his Iran decisions.

Saudi Arabia. Qatar. UAE. Pakistan.

And suddenly the people who scream nonstop about “foreign influence” in American foreign policy go completely silent.

Why is influence from every other nation… pic.twitter.com/BN9IfGiTmD

— Erin Molan (@Erin_Molan) May 24, 2026

THE “BLACKSTONE MEMORIAL"

In 1891, decades before the Balfour Declaration, decades before the Holocaust, and more than half a century before the founding of modern Israel, hundreds of prominent Americans signed a petition calling for the Jewish people to be restored to their ancestral homeland.

🚨 EVER HEARD OF THE “BLACKSTONE MEMORIAL”?
Most people have not.

In 1891, decades before the Balfour Declaration, decades before the Holocaust, and more than half a century before the founding of modern Israel, hundreds of prominent Americans signed a petition calling for the… pic.twitter.com/PN3qnmkRI8

— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) May 24, 2026

Shabbos Kestenbaum Destroys Antisemite Ana Kasparian

 

I have NEVER seen @AnaKasparian so silenced before! @ShabbosK is just mentally breaking down her entire worldview and argument as she just sits there and looks sad!

The best she had was "actually Massie went on our show the day before the election but it wasn't a lot" lol pic.twitter.com/ml6kjXzOjU

— Nick Matau (@nick_matau) May 24, 2026

It's been 20 years of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."NOT ONE of his scary predictions have come true.

 

It's the 20th Anniversary of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."

NONE of his scary predictions have come true.

Mt. Kilimanjaro still has snow and Glacier National Park still has glaciers.

Here's why we are not doomed: pic.twitter.com/397ZSY5iNs

— John Stossel (@JohnStossel) May 24, 2026

Is the Fight for Agunos getting a Get Going over the Top? Flatbush Girl.....Talkline With Zev Brenner

 

I still don't understand why that bastard that calls himself Rafe Stein doesn't give the gett?

AMI Interviews Dan Goldman Running for Congress And wouldn't ask him his postion on Israel!

Dovid Lapinsky of AMI Magazine published a six‑page Shavuos‑edition interview with Congressman Dan Goldman, who is running in the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th District. His opponent is Brad Lander — a self-hating Jew whose record and positions in the Jewish communities' view as deeply hostile to Jewish interests.

This isn’t a city‑council race. A congressional seat shapes national policy, foreign aid, and America’s stance toward Israel. That makes the omissions in this interview all the more astonishing.

I don’t know much about Lapinsky personally, but one thing is clear: the interview was crafted in a way that avoided the single most important question on the mind of every frum Jew reading a Shavuos edition of a Jewish magazine:

“What is your position on Israel?”

Not one question. Not one paragraph. Not one line.

Instead, AMI opens by telling us that Goldman keeps kosher — as if that alone answers what voters need to know. I would rather he eat treif and vote like a Jew should!

So let’s spell out Goldman's record on Israel, since AMI chose not to:

1. He is openly hostile to Prime Minister Netanyahu, despite Netanyahu being elected in a fair democratic process.

2. He opposes Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, supporting restrictions on where Jews may live in their own ancestral homeland.

3. He supports a Two‑State Solution, a proposal repeatedly rejected by Palestinian leadership themselves.

Is Goldman better than Brad Lander? Many would say yes. But he is still firmly aligned with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, whose positions on Israel are increasingly troubling.

Which brings us back to AMI.

Why didn’t Lapinsky — or Yitzy Frankfurter — ask even a single question about Israel in a feature interview with a sitting congressman, printed in a frum magazine, on Shavuos of all times?

Do they believe Israel is irrelevant to their readership? Do they think the safety of millions of Jews in the only Jewish state is a side issue? Or were they simply unwilling to press a Democratic politician on positions that matter deeply to the Jewish community?

Whatever the reason, the result is the same: a missed opportunity, and a failure to provide readers with the information they deserve.

And in the end, voters will make their own decisions — and many may well choose the Republican candidate in November, especially if Goldman loses his primary. Personally I think that his chances of winning that primary is like a snowball in hell!