Matt Gaetz withdrew Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following continued scrutiny over a federal trafficking investigation that cast doubt on the former congressman’s ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. The Florida Republican’s announcement came one day after meeting with senators in an effort to win their support for his confirmation to lead the Justice Department. “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz said in a statement announcing his decision.

Dearborn, Michigan Mayor Abdullah Hammoud announced on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant would face arrest if they enter Dearborn, drawing sharp criticism and accusations of grandstanding. In a social media post, Hammoud declared his city’s intent to enforce the controversial arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last week. The ICC accused Netanyahu and Gallant of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity,” charges Israel has dismissed as “antisemitic” and “absurd.” Netanyahu’s office blasted the warrants as politically motivated and baseless. Hammoud’s statement goes far beyond the jurisdiction of a local mayor and is an explicit boast to break American law.

On the same day that the ICC carried out a travesty of justice by issuing arrest warrants to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for committing “war crimes,” the leftist judicial system in Israel carried out a travesty of justice by indicting Eli Feldstein and a second suspect, a Chareidi noncommissioned IDF officer, with extremely serious charges that can carry a punishment of up to life in prison. The final decision was made by Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, who decided to indict Feldstein for transferring classified information with intent to harm state security and obstruct judicial proceedings. A second suspect who hasn’t been named was also charged with serious offenses related to state security.

A Florida man was arrested Wednesday and charged with a plot to “reboot” the U.S. government by planting a bomb at the New York Stock Exchange this week and detonating it with a remote-controlled device, according to the FBI. Harun Abdul-Malik Yener, 30, of Coral Springs, Florida, was charged with attempt to use an explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce. The FBI began investigating Yener in February based on a tip that he was storing “bombmaking schematics” in a storage unit. They found bomb-making sketches, many watches with timers, electronic circuit boards and other electronics that could be used for building explosive devices, according to the FBI. He had also searched online for things related to bomb-making since 2017, according to the FBI.

Gary Worthy, a career criminal with a history of violent offenses, was shot and killed in a confrontation with police Tuesday night in Queens, just months after a judge released him without bail despite multiple requests to detain him from prosecutors and his parole officer. The 57-year-old, who was on lifetime parole, had a criminal record spanning decades and had been arrested multiple times this year alone. On August 27, Queens Criminal Court Judge Edward Daniels ordered Worthy’s release during a hearing on assault and burglary charges, despite prosecutors asking for $120,000 bail and Worthy’s parole officer requesting that he be held without bail.

Senator Rand Paul, a longtime ally of President-elect Donald Trump, voiced strong opposition on Tuesday to Trump’s proposal to use the military for mass deportations. Speaking on Newsmax, Paul criticized the plan as both unnecessary and a dangerous precedent. “I think we should prioritize going after those who have committed crimes,” Paul said, citing statistics about violent offenders among undocumented immigrants. “There are 15,000 people in our country who have committed murder, and about 13,000 who have committed violent… crimes. That’s 28,000 people. Why don’t we start with that?” Paul also rejected the idea of deploying the military for immigration enforcement, calling it a violation of U.S. norms and laws. “I’m not in favor of sending the army into our cities to collect people.

LAST WEEK, police at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland arrested four students on felony vandalism charges in relation to protests supporting the

The International Criminal Court in The Hague on Thursday approved arrest warrants against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on suspicion of war crimes. Similar warrants were also issued against senior Hamas officials. The immediate implication is that Netanyahu and Gallant will not be able to fly to destinations that adhere to the court’s instructions, including most Western countries—except for the United States—or risk being arrested. Since the ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan, who is under investigation himself for morally corrupt behavior, requested arrest warrants against the Israeli officials, Israel has been working diplomatically behind the scenes with the U.S. and other countries to overturn the ruling.

A man in his 30s was murdered by shrapnel from a Hezbollah rocket fired at the northern city of Nahariya on Thursday. Hezbollah fired ten rockets and one hit the park, critically injuring the man. MDA EMT Dor Vaknin, said: “We arrived at an open area near a park and saw a man in his 30s lying unconscious with shrapnel wounds on his body. We performed medical checks but he showed no signs of life and we had to pronounce him dead.” Barak Lavi, a United Hatzalah, volunteer stated: “Bystanders told us he was hit by shrapnel while he was in the public park. Unfortunately, we had no choice but to wait for his death to be pronounced at the scene due to the nature of the serious injuries he sustained.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)