Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu selected former naval chief Vice-Admiral (res.) Eli Sharvit as the next Shin Bet chief, the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Monday. Sharvit’s selection was unexpected and considered a surprising choice for several reasons: he was not one of the leading candidates for the position; he is an outsider to the Shin Bet, never having served in its ranks and has no intelligence background; and before October 7, he participated in the protests in Tel Aviv against the government’s judicial rform plan. “After extensively interviewing seven qualified candidates, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided to appoint former naval chief Vice-Admiral (res.) Eli Sharvit as the next head of the Shin Bet,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

In a searing, gut-wrenching interview aired Sunday night on CBS’ 60 Minutes, former Hamas hostage Yarden Bibas relived the unthinkable horror of losing his wife Shiri and their two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were murdered in cold blood while in captivity after being kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. The raw emotion in Bibas’ voice was only matched by the chilling cruelty of his captors, who he says taunted him with merciless words as he endured the nightmare of captivity. “[Shiri and the kids] were murdered in cold blood, bare hands,” Bibas said to journalist Lesley Stahl. “They used to tell me—‘Oh, doesn’t matter. You’ll get a new wife. Get new kids. Better wife. Better kids.’” Stahl, visibly shaken, struggled to comprehend the cruelty.

In a stark admission of his party’s struggles, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) warned Sunday that the Democratic brand is “problematic,” arguing that the party has become synonymous with elite coastal interests rather than the working-class Americans it once championed. Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, Bennet did not hold back in his critique, acknowledging that Democrats have failed to connect with everyday voters—especially as former President Donald Trump has twice managed to seize the White House. “We should have never lost to Donald Trump once, much less twice,” Bennet said bluntly.

A somber and heart-wrenching levaya took place on Sunday afternoon for Natasha (Sara) Saada A”H and her two young daughters, Diana (7) A”H and Debra (5) A”H, who were tragically killed in a devastating car accident on Shabbos afternoon near Ocean Parkway and Quentin Road. Hundreds of mourners gathered at Shomrei Hadas Chapels in Boro Park to give kavod acharon to the victims, whose lives were cut short in a senseless tragedy that has shaken the Flatbush Sephardic community and beyond. Rabbi Hillel Haber, Rabbi Yosef Ozeri, and Rabbi Shlomo Diamond delivered heartbreaking hespedim, offering words of chizuk and mourning the immeasurable loss. Leading Sephardic Rabbonim from across the community were in attendance, standing in solidarity with the grieving family.

Newly exposed documents show that Israel’s Defense Ministry, through the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), drafted and circulated a plan effectively legitimizing Hamas’s rule over Gaza—a mere four months before the terror group unleashed the horrific October 7 massacre. Dubbed the “Hudna Plan”, the document was disseminated on June 11, 2023, by COGAT’s head, Maj.-Gen. Ghassan Alian, and outlined a strategic framework that granted Hamas de facto sovereignty over the Gaza Strip. The roots of this fateful plan trace back to a May 2023 high-level meeting in Cairo, attended by representatives from the Shin Bet, IDF, and COGAT, where Egyptian officials proposed a long-term hudna (ceasefire) with Hamas.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends in early 2029. “There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News. He also said “it is far too early to think about it.” The 22nd Amendment, which was added to the Constitution in 1951 after President Franklin D.

Never-before-seen footage of Maran HaGaon Rav Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman zt”l has been released, capturing the Rosh Yeshiva’s deep mesiras nefesh for the mosdos haTorah he established. The footage, released to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Orchos Torah, showcases Rav Shteinman’s personal visit to the yeshivos, Kollelim, and facilities under the esteemed network he built l’hagdil Torah u’leha’adirah. In the extraordinary video, the Rosh Yeshiva zt”l can be seen making his way through the batei medrash, taking in the kol Torah of the yungeleit and bochurim. He is seen meticulously inspecting the kitchen, dining room, and dormitories, ensuring that the talmidim have the proper environment to shtieg.

In the wake of the devastating car crash that claimed the lives of two young girls and a mother in Flatbush over Shabbat, Chai Lifeline’s Sephardic Division has been on the ground providing immediate crisis and trauma support to a shocked and grieving community. Chai Lifeline’s Crisis Services team mobilized to offer guidance, emotional support, and professional mental health interventions. On Motzei Shabbat, more than 250 parents from the children’s school gathered for an intervention session led by Chai Lifeline professionals to better understand how to support their children and navigate their own grief. By Sunday morning, the response continued with specialized support sessions for the children’s teachers and faculty members.

In a move that could signal a shift in Republican tax policy, the Trump administration is weighing an increase in the top income tax rate for the wealthiest Americans as a means to fund tax cuts on tipped income. A senior White House official confirmed the discussions to Axios, noting that the plan remains in its early stages. The proposal, if implemented, would mark a departure from traditional GOP economic strategy, which has long prioritized across-the-board tax cuts. White House officials argue that raising the top income tax rate could provide the necessary revenue to eliminate taxes on tips, a move aimed at benefiting millions of service industry workers.

A groundbreaking report released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) this week has uncovered significant antisemitic and anti-Israel biases embedded within some of the world’s most widely used artificial intelligence (AI) language models. Titled Generating Hate: Anti-Jewish and Anti-Israel Bias in Leading Large Language Models, the study marks the ADL’s most comprehensive evaluation to date of how AI systems handle topics related to Jewish people, Israel, and antisemitic tropes. The ADL’s Center for Technology and Society, in collaboration with its Ratings and Assessments Institute, analyzed four prominent AI models: OpenAI’s GPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and Meta’s Llama.