Watch Charedie & Arab Lady Stand with Respect at the Yom Hashoah Siren

JERUSALEM: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man and a Muslim woman stand together in silence during Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day siren at 10AM this morning. 

Holocaust survivor’s son and granddaughter sound national siren

Miki Zamir, a second-generation Holocaust survivor, and his granddaughter Maj. Noa Zamir from the Home Front Command pressed the button together to sound the nationwide memorial siren.

 From the Ashes to Strength

As Israel commemorates Yom Hashoah, we remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and the strength of those who survived.

In this video, newly liberated survivors are heard singing Hatikvah. It then cuts to 81 years later, with IDF soldiers singing the same anthem.

From broken survivors to a strong nation, roughly 7 million Jews in the tiny country of Israel now stand firm and more powerful than the 2 billion that surround them and see their destruction thanks to the IDF defending them and keeping threats at bay.

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The purpose of afflictions

 The holy Tzaddik, Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtel HY"D wrote the sefer “Eim HaBanim Smeichah" from where this article is excerpted. 

Rabbi Teichtal was a leader of the then ant-Zionist Hassidic community in Hungary, and was murdered while being transported in a crowded railway car from Auschwitz to the death camp Mauthhausen. 

Once a fierce anti-Zionist, he realized his error when he was forced to go into hiding during the Holocaust. Without any books whatsoever, he reviewed the entire Torah with his extraordinary photographic memory and reached the conclusion that, 

"The sole purpose of all the afflictions which smite us in our exile is to arouse us to return to our Holy Land…."

Excerpted from the Second Introduction to “Eim HaBanim Semeichah," translated by Rabi Moshe Lichtman:

Smotrich’s response to German Chancellor: "You won’t force us back into ghettos certainly not in our own land"

 A social media post by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz opposing what he called the “de facto annexation" of Judea and Samaria sparked a fierce confrontation on Monday evening with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Merz directly criticized the Israeli government’s policy in Judea and Samaria and revealed that he had demanded Prime Minister Netanyahu impose a ban on the “de facto annexation" of the area.

“I am deeply concerned about developments in the Palestinian territories. In my phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu, I made it clear: There must be no de facto annexation of the West Bank," the German Chancellor wrote on social media.

His remarks, posted just hours before the start of Holocaust Memorial Day events, immediately provoked outrage in the Israeli political system - particularly from Smotrich, who serves as Minister of Finance, Minister in the Defense Ministry, and head of the Settlement Administration.

“On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the German Chancellor should bow his head and apologize a thousand times on behalf of Germany," Smotrich wrote. “He should not dare lecture us on how to deal with the Nazis of our generation - who murdered, raped, slaughtered, and burned women, the elderly, and children in the most horrific massacre committed against the Jewish people since the terrible Holocaust."

The minister went on to blast European leadership as a whole, claiming it has lost its moral compass and its ability to distinguish between good and evil. “We will not accept instructions from hypocritical European leaders who are once again losing their conscience and their ability to tell right from wrong.

Smotrich then addressed the Jewish people’s right to their land and delivered a firm message to the Chancellor:

 “Mr. Chancellor, the days when Germans dictated to Jews where they are allowed to live and where they are not - are over and will never return. You will not force us back into ghettos - certainly not in our own land."

He concluded by stating that the Jewish people’s return to their biblical homeland is the ultimate answer to anyone who has tried to destroy them throughout history: 

“Our return to the Land of Israel - our biblical and historic homeland - is the resounding response to all those who have tried and continue to try to destroy us. We will not apologize for it even for a moment. Am Yisrael Chai."

Antisemitic Attacks In 2025 Caused Highest Number Of Deaths In 30 Years, Study Finds

 

Rabbi Yossi Friedman speaks to people gathering at a flower memorial by the Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, following Sunday's shooting in Sydney, Australia.

Last year saw the highest level of deadly violence against Jews around the world in over three decades, with 20 people killed in antisemitic attacks, according to an annual study released by Tel Aviv University on Monday.

The violence, including a deadly attack at a Chanukah celebration in Australia, continued a spike that began following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza, the report’s authors said.

“The data raise concern that a high level of antisemitic incidents is becoming a normalized reality,” said Uriya Shavit, the report’s chief editor.

Deadly antisemitic attacks were recorded on three continents. Fifteen people were killed at the Chabad event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in December. There were additional deaths in two antisemitic attacks in the U.S. in Washington, D.C., and Colorado; and in Britain, two people were killed at a Manchester shul on Yom Kippur.

Each year, Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Irwin Cotler Institute for Democracy, Human Rights and Justice releases the report about antisemitism ahead of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The day marks a national memorial for the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, which begins Monday evening.

The new report also tracked an increase in antisemitic attacks that resulted in physical harm, including beatings and stone throwing.

It found that 2025 was the deadliest year for antisemitic attacks since 1994, when the bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina killed 85 people and wounded more than 300. An Argentine court has blamed Iran and its Hezbollah proxy for the attack.

According to the report, there was a moderate increase in the overall number of antisemitic incidents last year compared with 2024, but that total represents a huge jump from 2022, before the war in Gaza. The report tracks incidents that range from physical attacks and vandalism to verbal threats and harassment on social media.

“The peak in the number of incidents was recorded in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack, after which we began to see a downward trend — but unfortunately, that trend did not continue in 2025,” Shavit said.

In the United Kingdom, there were 3,700 antisemitic incidents in 2025, up from 3,556 in 2024. In Canada, the number of incidents grew from 6,219 in 2024 to 6,800 in 2025, a number more than three times higher than in 2022.

The report found that even after the Gaza ceasefire took effect last October, antisemitic incidents continued to rise from the same period during the previous year. In Australia, there were 588 antisemitic incidents between October and December 2025, up from 492 during the same period in 2024. There were a total of 472 antisemitic incidents across Australia during all of 2022.

Most physical attacks were carried out by people acting on their own, which is why it is so difficult to try to prevent them, according to Carl Yonker, the study’s director of research. He noted that most attacks were carried out by extremist white Christians devoted to white supremacy or radical Muslims, and often the attackers were unemployed and struggling financially.

The statistics are based on reports from police, national authorities and local Jewish communities.

Cookie Company Sues Posek for 3 Million Shekels Over Pesach Psak

 A dramatic and highly unusual fight between halacha and the legal system is taking place after a major cookie manufacturer filed a 3 million shekel lawsuit against a prominent posek, after putting out a new psak right before Pesach.

The controversy began when Rav Binyomin Chuta gave a shiur and public psak advising consumers not to eat Papushado cookies on Pesach, he argued longstanding halachic concerns regarding the products and how they are made.

The cookies, produced by Papushado, have for years been discussed in the Halacha world. While many Rabbonim allow these products, others strongly discourage eating them, due to potential issues of chametz.

However, what is typically a classic halachic debate has now exploded into something much bigger and more unusual. The company is accusing Rav Chuta of causing severe financial damage by issuing what they claim was a misleading and harmful psak at the height of the Pesach shopping season. The lawsuit argues that while Rabbonim are entitled to express halachic opinions, presenting them in a way that impacts a specific product crosses into questionable territory.

The company has points to prior Rabbonim backing for its cookies, including relying on lenient opinions associated with leading Sephardic Poskim, arguing that the cookies have long been accepted in parts of the kosher market.

Outrage as Iran Elected to U.N. Committee on Human Rights, Terrorism

The United Kingdom, along with Australia, France and Canada — and indeed, nearly the entire 54-member Economic and Social Council of the United Nations — disgraced itself by throwing its support behind Iran and voting to elect the authoritarian regime to the U.N. Committee for Program and Coordination.

The committee works on such issues as gender equality and women’s empowerment, human rights, disarmament and preventing terrorism. In a case of real life imitating satire, the world’s greatest sponsor of terrorism and one of the world’s worst human rights abusers has just been elected to sit on a committee that is supposed to fight terrorism and protect human rights.

The United States stood alone in opposing the decision to seat Iran on the committee.

The decision is likely to hold because the U.N. General Assembly typically allows these votes to go through without casting its own vote on the issue.

The decision drew immediate fire from critics, who pointed out that last year, Iran executed an average of four people every day and tramples on the human rights of women and minorities.

If the regime “survives the current crisis, there is a serious risk that executions will be used even more extensively as a tool of oppression and repression,” said Iran Human Rights (based in Norway) and Together Against the Death Penalty (based in Paris) in a joint report on last year’s executions.

Amnesty International said that women and minorities face “systemic discrimination and violence.” The group added, “Authorities intensified their crackdown on women who defied compulsory veiling laws, the Baha’i community, and Afghan refugees and migrants. Thousands were arbitrarily detained, interrogated, harassed and/or unjustly prosecuted for exercising their human rights.”

Amnesty also said that the Iranian authorities applied the death penalty “arbitrarily.”

Zac Goldsmith, a Conservative member of the House of Lords, blasted his country for the decision, calling it “mind boggling.”

“On every international issue this U.K. government has not only made the wrong call – it has made a catastrophically wrong call,” he said.

“Actively voting to put Iran on a U.N. committee responsible for tackling gender equality and empowerment of women, disarmament, human rights, terrorism prevention … It is actually mind-boggling,” he added.

In his blistering condemnation, Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, said the vote could have gone differently, as it had with Russia.

“By their cynical actions at the U.N., major Western states have betrayed their own human rights principles, severely undermining the ruled-based international order that they claim to support,” he said.

“We note that Western states did take action in recent years to stop Russia from getting elected to similar … bodies, and we deeply regret that they failed to do the same now to stop the election of serial violators such as Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia and Sudan,” he added.

Cory Booker talks about "Yad Hashem"

 

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The persistent myth of Al-Aqsa “In Danger" Started with the Mufti in 1929 to trigger riots

 

The Palestinian Authority (PA) never wastes an opportunity to foment incitement against Israel. 

Since the US and Israel launched a military campaign against the Iranian regime on February 28, 2026, Israel initiated a nationwide state of emergency prohibiting mass gatherings at all major religious places of worship, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, citing the risk of retaliatory missile strikes in densely populated areas.

This emergency closure provided the PA with a convenient excuse to formally denounce the suspension of access to the site, claiming it prevented Muslims from fulfilling religious obligations during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr for the first time since 1967.

The Palestinian News & Information Agency (WAFA) accused the “Temple extremist Israeli groups" of initiating a campaign to perform animal sacrifices at Al-Aqsa during Passover by using AI-generated images and videos on their websites to marshal their supporters. What WAFA failed to report is that Israeli police have unfailingly apprehended and taken into custody anyone attempting to bring animals into the vicinity in order to preclude any conflict.

“Al-Aqsa is in Danger"

Millions of Jews will Observe Yom HaShoah

 

AMBASSADOR HUCKABEE

As Yom HaShoah begins this evening, we remember the six million Jewish men, women, and children murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust, the systematic attempt to annihilate the Jewish people from the face of the earth.

New developments in the investigation in the death of Bnei-Brak Eviatar Zarzar : The suspicion - he was kidnapped and murdered

New details were revealed today (Monday) in the case of the murder of the late Eviatar Azzar from Bnei Brak, whose body was found in 2019 in a pit in the area of the Morasha Junction. According to a report by the head of i24NEWS's criminal desk, Lee Ayish, there is a suspicion of kidnapping and premeditated murder, and three suspects have been arrested as part of the ongoing investigation.

One of the suspects who was arrested, a 32-year-old man from Bnei Brak, had previously testified during the interrogation and was released. Now that he has been re-arrested, he has chosen to maintain his right to remain silent, claiming that "I don't trust the police." His detention was extended by a week, and the police are expected to request an extension of the detention of the other two suspects.

According to the suspicion, the three suspects worked together in planning and committing the murder. One of them is currently serving a 24-year sentence for the murder of Michael Miller, who was killed in a hotel in Tel Aviv. Investigators believe that the three kidnapped the late Zarzar and murdered him, but the exact details of the investigation are being kept secret.

As you may recall, the shocking affair began at the end of 2019, when the late Evyatar, 18, a young man from a well-known ultra-Orthodox family in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem, who lived in Bnei Brak at the time, disappeared.

 For about three weeks, extensive searches were conducted, with his family and father, Rabbi Eliyahu Zarzar, head of the Daat Hochma Yeshiva, making excited calls to the public and his friends from the yeshivot in an attempt to locate every lead.

The hope of bringing him back alive was dashed on December 27, 2019, on the eve of Shabbat Hanukkah, when his body was found in a pit in an open area near the Morasha junction and the cemetery in Ramat Hasharon. Signs of violence were found on the body, and the harsh findings shocked the entire ultra-Orthodox public.

The family said at the time that the late Evyatar "was taken from his loving family by a man above me... And that's enough to understand." The funeral procession took place without eulogies due to the days of Hanukkah and the fact that it was Rosh Chodesh, and he was buried on the Har Hamnuchot in Jerusalem with the participation of his family and friends.

As part of the investigation conducted by the Central Unit of the Tel Aviv District of the Police, a variety of investigative actions and great efforts were made in order to decipher the case and reach the truth. The investigation was subject to a severe gag order, which was extended many times – most recently for 180 days, in a step that was considered unusual due to the length of time.

It should be noted that about three weeks before the body was found, the police received a report that gunshots had been heard in the area of the Morasha junction, but an examination conducted did not yield any findings. Now, as part of the renewed investigation, this detail is also being examined as part of an attempt to reconstruct the chain of events.

Trump brilliantly calls Iran’s bluff — with his own Strait of Hormuz blockade

 

Whoever’s calling the shots in Iran wasted yet another chance for peace over the weekend, and now President Donald Trump will again call Tehran’s bluff.

Iran’s negotiators refused to satisfy America’s demands Saturday in talks in Pakistan, as regime leaders bet that playing the Strait of Hormuz card would get Trump to blink.

Instead, he played it right back at them — announcing his own blockade, so that Iran’s oil exports (which had continued despite the war) will also be blocked.

The prez is thinking outside the box with this blockade and his plans to escort ships through the Strait; if necessary, he can later order US forces to take Kharg Island and eviscerate the regime’s power base.

This also guarantees that Tehran’s effort to charge a toll on all tankers crossing the Strait will fail — honoring an American commitment to freedom of the seas that goes back to President Thomas Jefferson, the Barbary Pirates and the US Marines’ triumphant excursion “to the shores of Tripoli.”

Of course Iran’s rulers (whoever they are at this point) responded with fresh bluster, vowing a “strong and forceful response” to Trump’s move and huffing that it would end the cease-fire.

Utter bull: Tehran has almost no offensive capabilities left except those that threaten Strait shipping, and those assets can now be eliminated as completely and readily as the rest of its Navy, missile launchers and drone capabilities already were.

It can’t seriously mine the Strait without choking off its own exports, nor can that blockade last once America and its allies’ minesweepers, backed by the US Navy, get down to work.

Trump’s blockade won’t much impact Europe or the Americas, while our Middle Eastern allies are switching to export routes that don’t rely on the Strait; it’s Iran and its allies (mainly China) that will now suffer most.

Beijing and its dependents in Moscow will soon regret vetoing the UN Security Council measure to reopen the Strait.

Meanwhile, the Iranian hardliners behind this lunacy will face more internal pressure from other regime factions; everything they’ve tried to do has blown up in their faces.

They assumed America would be help captive by conventional wisdom; our president proved them wrong.

Trump once again tried to reach a peaceful settlement; the Iranians again refused: Now they’ll pay yet a higher price for thinking they could get him to chicken out.

Rabbi urges Charedi participation in Holocaust Remembrance Day

 Rabbi David Leibel has called on the Charedi public to change its approach to Holocaust Remembrance Day and take an active part in it.

In an article published in the Achvata journal of the "Achvat Torah" network, Rabbi Leibel argued that changes in the character of the day require renewed consideration.

"In the past, this day was tied to an ethos of heroism and rebellion," he wrote. "Over the years, it has become a day of simple mourning for the six million. This change requires us to reexamine how we participate."

Explaining the difficulty felt by the broader public, he added, "Holocaust Remembrance Day is one of the more complex issues in our relationship with the secular public, which sometimes feels that we are alienated from the memory of the victims and struggles to understand why."

The first reason, Rabbi Leibel noted, is halakhic, or related to Jewish law: "It is difficult to establish days of mourning in the month of Nissan, during which eulogies and fasting are forbidden. For this reason, the Chief Rabbinate rejected the date of the 27th of Nissan even before the establishment of the State, and instead set [Holocaust Memorial Day for] the 10th of Tevet."

The second reason, he said, relates to identity: "The Charedi public uses strategies of conservatism and differentiation to cope with secularization. Establishing special [commemorative] days falls under the authority of Torah sages, and they determined that in our time there is no need for this."

However, in Rabbi Leibel's view, the time has come to reconsider.

He explained, "Over the years, the way the Holocaust is perceived has changed, even within the Zionist establishment. The public has abandoned the founders’ original intention. Today it is a day of simple pain over the six million, not a celebration of physical heroism."

"It is not wise to cling to old customs simply because that is how we acted in the past, without examining what is happening around us. There are valid foundations for resistance, but after we have firmly established our distinct identity, perhaps it is no longer appropriate that a large part of the nation is engaged in mourning and remembering millions of murdered Jews, while we appear as if it does not concern us."

Instead, Rabbi Leibel suggested, "It is possible to find ways to participate without compromising halakha or differentiation. Whether through reciting Psalms or other means - the main thing is to express solidarity with the rest of the nation, so they understand that we are part of them and that this pain belongs to us as well."

Israel Crippled Iran’s Satellite Control Centers During Operation Roaring Lion

 

Israeli airstrikes during Operation Roaring Lion damaged Iran’s ability to control and maneuver satellites in orbit, the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate has assessed, dealing what officials say could be a setback lasting years to Tehran’s space program.

Yisrael Hayom reported that the Israeli Air Force targeted ground bases operating Iran’s satellite array, degrading the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Space Command’s capacity to manage its satellites, including advanced maneuverable systems capable of approaching and potentially disrupting the satellites of other nations. The economic damage is estimated in the billions of dollars, with assessments suggesting Iran will need years to restore what was lost.

The strikes were driven in part by concern that Iran could turn those maneuverable satellites against Israeli assets in orbit. Officials at the IDF’s Space Center, part of Unit 9900, said that defending Israeli satellites from Iranian interference was a central mission throughout the war, carried out around the clock.

“In this war, space was significant in ways not seen before,” said Lt. Col. Sh., the Space Center’s commander. “When the IDF operates over great distances, the importance of satellites rises dramatically. We are relying on years of investment that have placed Israel among the leading countries in this field.”

The stakes were high. Israeli military satellites from the Ofek series provided critical intelligence throughout the campaign — essential given the distance from Iran, which limited other collection methods. Damage to even a single satellite, officials noted, could have materially affected the conduct of the war.

Iran has spent the past decade narrowing a long-standing gap in space capabilities, successfully launching satellites it claimed could photograph U.S. bases in the Gulf and collect electronic signals intelligence. The overlap between satellite launch technology and ballistic missile development added further urgency to the Israeli targeting effort.

The campaign also prompted a shift in U.S. policy on commercial satellite imagery. The Pentagon required commercial providers to delay releasing images from the conflict zone, and Planet Labs confirmed it would withhold imagery from Iran and surrounding areas for an indefinite period. The restrictions took effect as early as March 9, shortly after the war began, though they were only disclosed publicly afterward.

Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán Ousted After 16 Years in European Electoral Earthquake

 

Hungarian voters on Sunday ousted long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, rejecting the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement that he embodied in favor of a pro-European challenger in a bombshell election result with global repercussions.

Election victor Péter Magyar, a former Orbán loyalist who campaigned against corruption and on everyday issues like health care and public transport, has pledged to rebuild Hungary’s relationships with the European Union and NATO — ties that frayed under Orbán. European leaders quickly congratulated Magyar.

His victory was expected to transform political dynamics within the EU, where Orbán had upended the bloc by frequently vetoing key decisions, prompting concerns he sought to break it up from the inside.

It will also reverberate among far-right movements around the world, which have viewed Orbán as a beacon for how nationalist populism can be used to wage culture wars and leverage state power to undermine opponents.

It’s not yet clear whether Magyar’s Tisza party will have the two-thirds majority in parliament, which would give it the numbers needed for major changes in legislation. With 93% of the vote counted, it had more than 53% support to 37% for Orbán’s governing Fidesz party and looked set to win 94 of Hungary’s 106 voting districts.

It was a stunning blow for Orbán — a close ally of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — who conceded defeat after what he called a ″painful″ election result.

“I congratulated the victorious party,″ Orban told followers. “We are going to serve the Hungarian nation and our homeland from opposition.″

In a speech to tends of thousands of jubilant supporters at a victory party along the Danube River, Magyar said his voters had rewritten Hungarian history.

“Tonight, truth prevailed over lies. Today, we won because Hungarians didn’t ask what their homeland could do for them — they asked what they could do for their homeland. You found the answer. And you followed through,” he said.

Turnout in the election was nearly 80%, according to the National Election Office, a record number in any election in Hungary’s post-Communist history.

‘Choice between East or West’
Orbán, the EU’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, traveled a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired today by the global far-right.

The EU will be waiting to see how Magyar changes Hungary’s approach to Ukraine. Orbán repeatedly frustrated EU efforts to support the neighboring country in its war against Russia’s full-scale invasion, while cultivating close ties to Putin and refusing to end Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy imports.

Recent revelations have shown a top member of Orbán’s government frequently shared the contents of EU discussions with Moscow, raising accusations that Hungary was acting on Russia’s behalf within the bloc.

Members of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement are among those who see Orbán’s government and his Fidesz political party as shining examples of conservative, anti-globalist politics in action, while he is reviled by advocates of liberal democracy and the rule of law.

In Budapest, Marcell Mehringer, 21, said he was voting “primarily so that Hungary will finally be a so-called European country, and so that young people, and really everyone, will do their fundamental civic duty to unite this nation a bit and to break down these boundaries borne of hatred.”

Strained relationship with the EU
During his 16 years as prime minister, Orbán launched harsh crackdowns on minority rights and media freedoms, subverted many of Hungary’s institutions and been accused of siphoning large sums of money into the coffers of his allied business elite, an allegation he denies.

He also heavily strained Hungary’s relationship with the EU. Although Hungary is one of the smaller EU countries, with a population of 9.5 million, Orbán has repeatedly used his veto to block decisions that require unanimity.

Most recently, he blocked a 90-billion euro ($104 billion) EU loan to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid.

His challenger came from the inside
Magyar, 45, rapidly rose to become Orbán’s most serious challenger.

A former insider within Orbán’s Fidesz, Magyar broke with the party in 2024 and quickly formed Tisza. Since then, he has toured Hungary relentlessly, holding rallies in settlements big and small in a campaign blitz that recently had him visiting up to six towns daily.

In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, Magyar said the election will be a “referendum” on whether Hungary continues on its drift toward Russia under Orbán, or can retake its place among the democratic societies of Europe.

Tisza is a member of the European People’s Party, the mainstream, center-right political family with leaders governing 12 of the EU’s 27 nations.

Uphill election battle
Magyar faced a tough fight. Orbán’s control of Hungary’s public media, which he has transformed into a mouthpiece for his party, and vast swaths of the private media market give him an advantage in spreading his message.

The unilateral transformation of Hungary’s electoral system and gerrymandering of its 106 voting districts by Fidesz also will require Tisza to gain an estimated 5% more votes than Orbán’s party to achieve a simple majority.

Additionally, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries had the right to vote in Hungarian elections and traditionally have voted overwhelmingly for Orbán’s party.

Russian secret services have plotted to interfere and tip the election in Orbán’s favor, according to numerous media reports including by The Washington Post. The prime minister, however, has accused neighboring Ukraine, as well as Hungary’s allies in the EU, of seeking to interfere in the vote to install a “pro-Ukraine” government.

Such accusations are part of why many in the EU see Orbán as a danger to the bloc’s future.

But across the Atlantic, Trump and his MAGA movement are all-in for another Orbán term. Trump repeatedly endorsed the Hungarian leader and U.S. Vice President JD Vance made a two-day visit to Hungary last week meant to help push Orbán over the finish line.

Rosh Yeshiva Appeals to Students for Forgiveness Amid Sons’ Drowning Tragedy

 

An Israeli rabbi whose two sons were caught in a drowning incident, leaving one in critical condition and the other missing, issued an emotional appeal Sunday asking for forgiveness and urging spiritual reflection.

Bchadrei Charedim reports that, Rabbi Shlomo Spiegel, head of a yeshiva group in Jerusalem’s Beit Yisrael neighborhood, sent a message to his students calling on them to pray for his sons and to strengthen their conduct toward others.

In the message, Spiegel described the ordeal as a deeply personal and spiritual shock, writing that he felt singled out by divine providence. He reflected on the timing of the incident during the period of the Counting of the Omer, when Jewish tradition emphasizes respect and unity, and warned against failures in interpersonal conduct.

“With eyes swollen from tears, I ask forgiveness,” he wrote, urging anyone who may have been hurt by him or his family to grant full forgiveness. He also asked that anyone with financial grievances come forward so they could be addressed.

Spiegel also shared the names for prayer — Avraham Yeshayahu ben Shoshana and Yissachar Dov ben Shoshana — asking the public to pray for their recovery and safety.

He encouraged his students and followers to take on practical commitments, including avoiding hurtful speech and exercising greater sensitivity in daily interactions, saying such efforts could bring merit for his sons.

The incident, involving two brothers from a haredi family, has drawn widespread attention in Israel, as rescue teams continue searching for the missing son while the other remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Community members have responded with prayers and calls for unity as authorities continue efforts related to the case.

Trump ..."You gotta love this guy" Attacks Pope Leo XIV "stop catering to the Radial Left"

 President Donald Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV on social media on Sunday, saying the first American pope should “stop catering to the Radical Left.”

It was an extraordinary broadside against the global leader of the Catholic Church, exacerbating a feud that began over the war in Iran.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote on social media.

Soon afterward, he spoke to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, where he landed on Air Force One.

“I don’t think he’s doing a very good job,” Trump said, adding that “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”

Trump’s post followed Leo having denounced over the weekend the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace.

Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire.

The U.S.-born pope didn’t mention the United States or Trump by name in his prayer. But Leo’s tone and message appeared directed at Trump and U.S. officials, who have boasted of U.S. military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.

IDF Closes In on Bint Jbeil: The Fall of Hezbollah’s Most Symbolic City

 Hundreds of IDF infantry and armored troops have completely cut off Bint Jbeil, trapping hundreds of Hezbollah fighters inside, with forces now positioned near the site of Nasrallah’s infamous year 2000 speech. JFeed The Israeli army’s 98th Commando Division completed the encirclement of Bint Jbeil in the central sector of southern Lebanon in the early morning hours of Thursday.

The operation caught dozens of Hezbollah fighters who had taken refuge in the town by surprise. Some attempted to flee as Israeli forces closed in and were killed while escaping. Others remain barricaded inside as IDF units move slowly and carefully to locate them and clear the town of Hezbollah presence. 

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Sunday morning that Israeli troops “are still trying to infiltrate and take control of the remaining neighborhoods” in Bint Jbeil, and that the IDF was shelling the outskirts of the town with artillery. 

One of the most significant developments in the battle was a raid on a local hospital. The IDF said it identified Hezbollah infrastructure inside a government hospital in Bint Jbeil. Several Hezbollah fighters were spotted observing troops from a hospital window and opening fire. The IDF said forces eliminated the terrorists quickly, and later killed about 20 Hezbollah fighters in targeted strikes in the hospital area. Troops raided the hospital compound and discovered a cache of weapons on site. The IDF said Hezbollah had been using the hospital “systematically and continuously” for military purposes, including storing and transferring weapons and using the facility for observation, concealment, and shelter. 

Why Bint Jbeil Matters So Much
The operation carries major symbolic value, as Bint Jbeil is the largest Lebanese Shiite town near the Israeli border, located about 2.5 miles away. During the 2006 Lebanon War, Israeli forces failed to take control of the city despite intense fighting. That 34-day conflict ended under UN Resolution 1701, which called for the disarmament of southern Lebanon. 
The city’s most famous moment came in May 2000. After the IDF withdrew from southern Lebanon following an 18-year occupation, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah delivered a victory speech in Bint Jbeil, where he infamously compared Israeli society to a “spider’s web” — meaning it looks strong but breaks easily.