A group of Chareidi investors, together with Jewish-American businessman *Steve Witkoff*, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, purchased large sections of land from the Beit Jamal Monastery in Beit Shemesh in a record-breaking deal worth around 900 million shekels. The sale, approved by the Vatican, marks a historic shift in the region.
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.
Ilhan Omar's brother/husband received $18 million in government grants between 2021 and 2024.
— Barron🇺🇸 (@_NewsBarron) May 10, 2025
According to FOIA, Yosef Barron Omar received the grants without applying for them, and with no expectation that he'd use the money for any specific thing.
In other words, he was… pic.twitter.com/EY1V44u4AP
Crazy Eddie, aka Sam Antar owned several appliance stores in the New York Metropolitan area, and his ads were very effective, claiming that his stores were going out of business! It didn't take too long for him to be charged and convicted for fraud!
He did Teshuva and went on speaking tours to Shuls and Yeshivos, urging everyone to stay clean, stating that "Crime doesn't pay" ! He has now gone on a crusade targeting politicians who are fraudsters.
AG Letitia James is his latest target and he is the one who found out that James is a crook and that everything she charged Trump with, she committed herself!
“If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts”
— Sam E. Antar (@SamAntar) May 10, 2025
— Abbe Lowell, lawyer for Letitia James
Fantastic, Abbe. Let’s meet your client’s lies with her own signatures:
► On August 17, 2023, she declared under penalty of perjury… pic.twitter.com/K0L22kbyHQ
Sgt. Urbach, 20, was killed during an IDF operation in central Gaza. A proud resident of Israel and a deeply committed soldier, Urbach was remembered by his wife as a man of conviction, strength, and purpose.
In an emotional interview with Channel 13, Yuval recounted that Yishai’s final words were full of determination and clarity of mission. “Tomorrow, we’re finally going to bomb [it],” he told her. “This mission has been delayed for two days. We’re finally going to do it.”
“I was filled with emotion that morning,” Yuval said. “We are a people of strength, of power, and of goodness — and yet our enemies come to destroy us. Yishai understood the depth of what he was doing. He knew he was fighting a righteous battle against those who rise against Am Yisrael.”
Yuval, who spoke with composure and heartfelt pride, emphasized the sanctity and courage with which her husband served. “I am proud of him,” she said. “He represented us — Am Yisrael — with honor. He was proud to wear the uniform and to defend our people.”
Sgt. Urbach was laid to rest in his hometown, surrounded by family, fellow soldiers, and mourners from across the country who came to pay their respects. His passing has resonated deeply, particularly within the Orthodox community, where his commitment to Torah, his people, and the Land of Israel were widely known and admired.
As Israel continues to face ongoing threats, stories like that of Yishai Urbach, z”l, serve as painful yet powerful reminders of the bravery and sacrifice borne by young men and women defending the Jewish homeland.
BREAKING NEWS!!
— Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) May 9, 2025
Just spoke to @GovMikeHuckabee about all these scary rumors.
I asked him, and I quote, “Hi, These rumors about Trump “breaking up” with Israel are terrifying. Any truth?”
His response:
“Absolutely not! That is a media lie. Bibi has spent more time with… pic.twitter.com/vlOPDq9XwL
Hmm. @Jerusalem_Post needs better sources than this unidentified “source.” My 4 yr old grandson Teddy is more reliable. And take it from Teddy. This report is nonsense. @Israel doesn’t have a better friend than @POTUS ! https://t.co/N3YYgdXYCW
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) May 10, 2025
Because I follow @HilzFuld I will jump in ease some minds.
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) May 10, 2025
All the nonsense about @POTUS & @IsraeliPM is from “sources” who don’t put their name on it. I will put mine. The partnership is STRONG. What’s broken is credibility of fake news. https://t.co/1A9rmdVv5a
White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt: President Trump's relationship with Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu is very strong, contrary to the lies being spread - there will be no recognition of a Palestinian state at all
— Cheryl E 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🎗️ (@CherylWroteIt) May 10, 2025
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I'll start with Yom HaShoah!
Jews around the world celebrate Purim with Megillah readings, masquerading, and eating a Seuda! Some even celebrate 3 days, like we had this year!
Let me ask a stupid question!
How many Jews did Haman kill??
The answer is, of course, ZERO! Haman didn't kill one single Jew, yet we make sure to remember every year that he tried!
Hitler ym"s murdered 6 million Jews and changed the lives of millions that survived, forever, and yet there isn't a single day set aside to commemorate the single worst calamity to have befallen the Jewish people in its entire history!
In just about 10 years, there won't be a single survivor to tell the story!
Finally, Zionists set one special day for all of us to remember that awful period! One part of the ceremony that they perform that day is that they blow the Siren for two minutes to give pause and remember the innocent men, women, and children who were so brutally murdered!
You would think that Frum Jews in Israel would honor those two minutes and stand with millions of their own brothers and sisters to be part, albeit for just two minutes, to be one unit!
Think again!! They have all kinds of excuses!!
"Zionists!" "The Rabbis say it is bittul Torah!" "It's in Chodesh Nissan" "The Rabbis set aside Tisha Be'ov"
Bla Bla Bla Bla!!
Let's move on to Yom Ha'zikoron!
With Yom Ha'Zikoron there is no excuse that it is in Chodesh Nissan! Because Yom Ha'Zikoron is in Iyar!
Yom Ha'Zikoron commemorates all Jews who have fallen, including those civilians murdered by terrorists! There isn't a Jew living in Israel that you bump into who doesn't have a relative who fell or got injured in the wars!
I had the occasion to visit Har Herzl and noticed an entire area dedicated to very young people who died fighting so that Jews from the entire world could live in the country! The dead had all been in concentration camps, and when liberated, arrived in 1946, 1947, and took arms to make sure we have a country that would admit ALL Jews! Some of the dead were teenagers!
I was sitting in Kollel when the Siren blew for two minutes! My Chabura stood up and remained silent for two minutes! The rest of the "yungerleit" continued as if nothing had happened! Mind you, in the shul where the Kollel is housed, there are families that have children who were injured! Across the street from this kollel were three funerals this year, of young men who were murdered in Gaza!
Those learning in the kollel, are young guys who are the friendliest, nicest people that you would ever encounter! What they won't do to help a fellow Jew! Yet here they are, totally ignoring the siren on purpose! Immediately after the siren, some get up to get a coffee or a bite of mezonos and carry on!
I'm thinking, what just happened? Should I say something?
The answer is that they are really good, kind people, but are totally disconnected and oblivious to what is happening around them! They do follow the news because I hear their conversations, and they do run out of Kollel like poisoned rats during a missile siren, but feel that all this has nothing to do with them!
I'm not even going to talk about Yom Ha'atzmot, but many did run out early to make the traditional "al ha'eish" a bar-b-q with their young families!
But my question is this:
I waited a full a full week to see if the frum Anglo Jewish Media would even give these days an "Honorable Mention"? ZERO!!!!! Nada !
Millions of Jews commemorate these days, like it or not, and not one word!
Let me share with you a sampling of what the Flatbush Jewish Journal's "Centerfold" displayed!
A series of photos of the Children of the Yeshivah Torah Temima visiting Dr. Norowitz's office, Photos of pre-school children of Yeshiva Torah Vodass enjoying the outdoors!
All this while millions of Jews were running to shelters, dodging Houthi ballistic Rockets!
I am not even asking that they write something nice, is it too much to ask that they write a 12-sentence article about an event that is commemorated by Millions of Jews??
The gemarrah in Taanis discusses minor tragic events that happened to Jewish people, but we are frummer than the gemmarrah!
מי כעמך ישראל
Understanding Donald Trump is a hazardous sort of punditry as he is mercurial, a man of contradictions, not entirely coherent in his policy pronouncements, and given to abrupt changes without explanation.
That he is now reportedly “frustrated” with Prime Minister Netanyahu is not entirely surprising (join the club). The report may be untrue – the media “reports” some rumor or scandal almost daily; most are usually forgotten the next day when what was reported does not materialize – and almost always are promoted by someone with an agenda. Stuff is made up all the time and quickly forgotten after the initial shock and outrage dissipate.
Nonetheless, if Trump’s frustration with Netanyahu is real, why would that be? And should it be a cause for concern? First, a word about Trump.
An online war of words between different factions of the MAGA movement broke out after Fox News’ Mark Levin essentially branded Trump Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff a traitor in a Friday social media post.
Reacting to a clip of Witkoff arguing that “The neocon element believes that war is the only way to solve things” shared by the White House’s official rapid response account, Levin wrote:
lol. The envoy talks like the fifth column isolationists. Nobody believes war is the only way. We wait with great interest to see the deal you’re negotiating with the warmonger Iranian terrorist regime. In the meantime, rather than sloganeering against patriotic Americans who love our country, use your name-calling for the terrorist regime that has murdered Americans, tried to assassinate our president, chants death to America, and has lied its way toward a nuclear bomb.
Levin’s commentary inspired a number of Trump-aligned voices to weigh in on the debate over what Trump’s foreign policy ought to look like.
