Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Sunday, 3 December 2023), at the IDF induction center at Tel Hashomer, met with IDF recruits slated for combat positions in the Armored Corps and the Givati Brigade, and with recruits from the ultra-orthodox sector.
At the start of his visit, the Prime Minister met with the recruits as they received their gear just before they put on their uniforms.
Afterwards, Prime Minister Netanyahu was briefed by the Head of IDF Personnel, Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asur, Planning and Personnel Administration Brigade Commander Brig.-Gen. Shai Taib, Chief Armored Officer Brig.-Gen. Hisham Ibrahim and Meitav Unit Commander Col. Alon Matzliach on the impressive wartime enlistment data, including extensive reporting for reserve duty, the largest since the Yom Kippur War, an...
The Pentagon said Sunday a U.S. warship and multiple commercial vessels are under attack in the Red Sea.
The development signifies a serious escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Middle East linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
"We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available, later," Pentagon spokesman told Fox News, confirming reports of an attack on a U.S. warship in the Red Sea.
The Pentagon initially told the Associated Press, "We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available."
USS Carney is a Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile ...
135 haredim arrived at the draft office in Tel Hashomer this morning to enlist in the IDF and begin their training in Haifa in the program for older draftees.
The draftees are 26 or above, who will undergo two weeks of basic training and then join the IDF as reservists.
Since the beginning of the war, 449 haredim have enlisted through this program.
The haredi draftees will join the reserve forces, and take, among other roles, positions at the Shura Base where bodies from the October 7th massacre are still being identified. They will also serve as social workers, psychological health counselors, in Home Front Command roles, and in the technology and logistics department.
The IDF has published statistics on draftees in November and december. 60% of the draftees are men, and 40% are women...
Since the beginning of ground operations in the Gaza Strip, IDF soldiers have located over 800 shafts to Hamas’ underground tunnels, the IDF Spokesperson announced this afternoon (Sunday).
"About 500 of the tunnel shafts have been destroyed using a variety of operational methods, including with explosives and blocks. Some of the tunnel shafts connected Hamas' strategic assets via the underground tunnel network. In addition, many miles of the tunnel routes have been destroyed," the IDF stated.
"The tunnel shafts were located in civilian areas, many of which were near or inside civilian buildings and structures, such as schools, kindergartens, mosques and playgrounds. IDF soldiers located large quantities of weapons inside some of the shafts. These findings are further proof of ...
The IDF announced on Sunday that since the beginning of the war against Hamas, approximately 10,000 airstrikes were carried out under the guidance of IDF soldiers on the ground in short time frames. The soldiers quickly completed missions and thwarted terrorist cells, terrorist infrastructure, command centers, tunnel shafts, weapons depots, and more.
Following Hamas’ violation of the operational pause agreement, the fighting in the Gaza Strip has resumed, and the IDF soldiers are continuing the ground operation in full cooperation with aircraft of the IAF. According to the IDF, the cooperation between the ground forces and the IAF is one of the most prominent elements in the IDF’s ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halev...
A senior White House official says he believes Israel is “making an effort” to minimize civilian deaths in Gaza.
Speaking on the US Sunday talk shows, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also insists that US intelligence was unaware of any secret, advanced Hamas blueprint for its brutal October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the conflict.
“We believe they have been receptive to our messages here of trying to minimalize civilian casualties,” Kirby says, including by publishing online a map of places where Gazans could go to find safety. “There’s not a whole lot of modern militaries that would do that… to telegraph their punches in that way. So they are making an effort.”
Jewish history isn't random. Selected to represent Hashem and inspire moral and religious spirit, our battles aren’t local and aren’t purely geopolitical. We stand against toxic cultures which threaten both moral spirit and religious consciousness. In defeating the dangerous ideas posed by these wicked cultures, we protect the world from its own darkness. So it was, and so it always will be.
Obviously, our current war with Hamas isn’t purely military and isn’t merely a local skirmish. We face sub-human barbarians who committed horrific atrocities in the name of God. Our eventual defeat of their culture of death, rape, and torture will protect this world from moral and intellectual collapse. The ferocious international opposition which our just war has ar...
As we approach the festival of Chanuka and amid the "Iron Swords" war, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation is organizing the official Chanukah candle-lighting events that will take place this year in the Western Wall Plaza.
During Chanukah, starting Thursday, the 24th of Kislev 07/12/23, until Thursday, the 2nd of Tevet 14/12/23, a central candle lighting ceremony will be held every evening in the Western Wall Plaza under the theme "The Western Wall - the Light in All Our Hearts," featuring rabbis, public figures, families, and volunteers.
Schedule of the Chanuka candle lighting events:
First candle, Thursday, 24th Kislev, 07/12, 16:30
Second candle, Friday, 25th Kislev, 08/12, 15:30
Third candle, Saturday evening, 26th Kislev, 09/12, 19:30
Fourth candle, Sunday, 27th Kislev, 10/12,...
It feeds into everything that’s been reported about Israel’s Arab neighbors and why they don’t want Palestinian refugees roaming wild in their country: they bring trouble. The late King Hussein had to declare war on them and successfully drove them out. The problem is the Palestinian Liberation Organization set up shop in Lebanon, where they caused problems for the government while also attacking Israel from the southern part of the country. Israel had to invade in 1982 and remained in Southern Lebanon until 2000. Egypt has closed its border with the Gaza Strip in Rafah due to terrorism concerns.
In the days after the brutal October 7 attacks executed by Hamas, Egypt knew what was going to happen. They deployed tanks to the border while their prime minister vowed that ...
This week’s parshah describes Yaakov arriving at Shechem “shaleim — whole.”[1]
Rav YY Jacobson asks:[2]
“What a gift it is — to be whole, complete. To be wholesome, unified, integrated, holistic. How many of us can claim to be whole?
In fact, nowhere does the Bible describe a human being in such a way — that he or she was "shalem," whole. It is an extraordinary description for a human being, who from the genesis of time, is characterized by duality, fragmentation, and conflict.
Apparently, something extraordinary occurred in the life of Jacob, which made him whole, precisely at this juncture of his life. What was the secret behind Jacob's "wholeness" at this moment? He had been married for years, had many children, and ...
On Friday night, students from the Nehora Yeshiva in Mevo Horon joined many other places in the world in adding an empty table to their dining hall, to raise awareness for the hostages and hope for their return.
Next to the table, which included a place for each hostage, the students held a prayer for the return of the hostages and the safety of IDF soldiers, and read chapters from Psalms.
Following similar displays in the Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Times Square in New York, and in Copenhagen, Milano, and Rome, this is the first time that such a display has been created in a haredi yeshiva.
Each chair had the name of a hostage on it. The prayers were ended with the song, "Acheinu Kol Beit Yisrael," which states, "Our brothers from the whole house of Israel, who are in trouble or capti...
The IDF on Sunday morning cleared for publication the names of two soldiers who were killed in battle in Gaza and whose families have been notified:
Staff Sergeant Aschalwu Sama, 20, from Petah Tikva, an infantry soldier in the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, died in the hospital of wounds sustained in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on November 14.
Sergeant first class (res.) Or Brandes, 25, from Shoham, a soldier in the 7th Armored Brigade’s 82nd Battalion, was killed on Saturday night in a battle in the central Gaza Strip.
The Shehab news agency, which is affiliated with Hamas, reported that the IDF conducted extensive strikes in northern Gaza overnight Saturday, from the air and with artillery from the ground.
The report also said the IDF attacked in Khan Y...
The UK will conduct surveillance flights over the Eastern Mediterranean, including over Israel and the Gaza Strip in order to aid efforts to rescue hostages held by Hamas, the British Defense Ministry announced on Saturday.
"Since the terrorist attacks against Israel of 7 October 2023, the UK government has been working with partners across the region to secure the release of hostages, including British nationals, who have been kidnapped. The safety of British nationals is our utmost priority," said the UK Defense Ministry.
"Surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages. Only information relating to hostage rescue will be passed to the relevant authorities responsible for hostage rescue," added the minis...
Deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri clarified in an interview with Al-Jazeera that the murderous terrorist organization will not release hostages as long as the IDF conducts fighting in the Gaza Strip.
"There will be no exchange of prisoners until the end of the war and the cessation of the fire," he stated.
Al-Arouri noted that Hamas is not opposed to exchanging bodies of terrorists for bodies of Israelis held in the Gaza Strip.
"We are able to exchange bodies, but we need time to retrieve bodies of Israelis," he claimed.
Israel announced on Friday morning the renewal of fighting in Gaza, after the Hamas terror organization violated the terms of the operational pause.
The announcement came after the original ceasefire ended at 7:00 a.m. and after Hamas failed to p...
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 2, 2023 - A 31-year-old man is in critical condition after being shot multiple times while sitting in a vehicle in Northwest Baltimore, according to WJZ. The incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. in the 3400 block of Parkington Avenue. The victim was transported to a local hospital and is in critical but stable condition. Police urge anyone with information to contact Northwest District detectives at 410-396-2466.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday that the US would “remain Israel’s closest friend in the world”.
Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Austin said that six days after the Hamas attack on October 7, “I flew to Israel to underscore our solidarity and our resolve—and to make it crystal-clear that America’s commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad.”
“And so we have rushed US security assistance to Israel to help it defend its people and its territory—and to help ensure that Hamas can never again commit the atrocities that we saw on October 7th,” he added.
“US leadership has helped in the release of dozens of hostages. And we will continue to do everything that we can to help ...
Baltimore, MD – Nov. 30, 2023 - It is with regret that Baltimore Jewish Life (BJL) informs the community of the petira of Tamar (Weinberg) Brick, a’h, sister of Mrs. Shifra Shteierman.Shiva is being observed at 1139 East 14th Street, Brooklyn NY through Thursday morning, Dec. 7.
Mrs. Shifra Shteierman can be reached at 347-452-9394.Bila Hamaves LaNetzach...
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 2, 2023 -This past Tuesday night, a special session took place at Shearith Israel where Middle School boys had the zechus of enjoying pizza together with HaRav Yaakov Hopfer fostering a greater sense of connection with the Rav.
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 2, 2023 - 8:44PM - Just a few minutes ago, gunshots were reported in the vicinity of 6100 Park Heights. Multiple calls have been made to 911 and Shomrim has also been notified.
