The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah met last Thursday to discuss the issue of voting in the ongoing World Zionist Organization elections. On Tuesday, they issued the following Kol Korei: The Zionist Movement was founded 125 years ago with the purpose of uprooting the foundations of Judaism and redefining the Jewish people from “a kingdom of servants of Hashem and a holy people” into a nation like all nations who are defined by a common language, culture and land. Since, in the words of Rav Saadiah Gaon, “our nation is a nation by virtue of its Torah,” the gedolim of that time did battle with this movement and ruled that anyone who considers himself a Jew may not support it in any manner whatsoever.

In an inspiring act of honesty and integrity, a yeshiva bochur from Boro Park, returning home from Eretz Yisroel for Pesach Bein Hazmanim, made a remarkable Kiddush Hashem when he returned a bag filled with over $100,000 in valuables that had been mistakenly left in the Uber he took home from the airport. The bochur, who had just landed at Newark Airport after an overseas flight, was handed a backpack by the Uber driver while unloading his own luggage. In the fog of travel, he assumed it belonged to one of his fellow travelers. However, after realizing that none of them could claim the bag, he opened it to investigate.

Supreme Court Justice Gila Canfy-Steinitz ruled on Tuesday that she does not accept Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s position to temporarily ban Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from interviewing candidates to replace Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. “I did not see fit to expand the scope of the order,” she wrote in her decision. However, she left the order to freeze the dismissal process in place. The hearing on the various petitions against the dismissal is expected to take place in about two weeks, even before the date set for Bar’s dismissal. The meaning of the decision is that Bar’s dismissal process will continue for the time being, and Netanyahu will be able to interview candidates for the position.

The 2025 state budget has officially passed its third and final reading, securing the votes necessary to become law. After an intense session in the Knesset plenum, lawmakers voted 66-52 in favor of the NIS 755 billion ($205 billion) budget, avoiding a potential government collapse ahead of the March 31 deadline. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed the budget as a crucial step in securing both the military front and the home front, emphasizing that economic stability is key to national strength. “The budget has everything we need to win, both on the battlefield and at home,” Smotrich declared. “We approached this budget with a great sense of achrayus, knowing that it is our responsibility to ensure Klal Yisrael remains strong.

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz may be on the verge of losing his position after reportedly adding a journalist to a top-secret group chat discussing U.S. military strikes on the Houthis, Politico reports. According to White House officials, President Donald Trump is expected to make a decision on Waltz’s fate within the next day or two. “Half of them are saying he’s never going to survive or shouldn’t survive,” a senior administration official told Politico, referring to multiple staff discussions on Waltz’s standing. Two senior aides have suggested that Waltz step down to avoid putting Trump in a “bad position.” “Everyone in the White House can agree on one thing: Mike Waltz is a [expletive removed] idiot,” a person close to the administration stated.

The IDF and Shin Bet on Monday eliminated Hossam Basel Abdul Karim Shabat, a terrorist from Hamas’s Beit Hanoun battalion who also worked as a journalist for the Al Jazeera media network. In October 2024, the IDF and Shin Bet revealed the terrorist’s direct affiliation with the military wing of the Hamas terror organization, including by exposing internal Hamas documents proving that he participated in military training in Hamas’s Beit Hanoun battalion in 2019. During the war, Hussam carried out terror attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians. “This is further proof of Al Jazeera’s employment of Hamas terrorists,” the IDF spokesperson said. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

IDF and Yamam forces carried out an operation overnight Monday in Qalqilya to stop a terrorist who was planning on committing an imminent terror attack in Israel. During the operation, the terrorist opened fire on the Yamam forces, who returned fire and also fired an explosive drone and shoulder-launched missiles. The suspect was eliminated and two other terrorists were neutralized. B’Chasdei Hashem, there were no injuries to Israeli security forces. During a search of the building, the forces found a ‘Carlo’ type weapon next to the terrorist. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

An alleged abduction attempt targeting an 8-year-old Jewish girl in her own front yard unfolded on Sunday night, but thanks to swift police action and the tireless efforts of local askanim, authorities arrested 37-year-old Christopher Rosa overnight. According to police, officers responded to Columbia Boulevard in Waterbury, Connecticut, around 7:45 p.m. after receiving a report of a suspicious vehicle. Surveillance footage captured a black 2019 Honda Pilot creeping down the street, braking intermittently. Moments later, a young girl in a reddish jacket was seen walking nearby. Authorities say Rosa pulled over in front of the home, got out of his vehicle, and opened his trunk in an apparent attempt to lure the child inside.

The UTJ party convened on Monday for a meeting ahead of the upcoming votes on the state budget and the recruitment law and made a decision that if no significant progress is made in advancing the recruitment law during the Knesset’s upcoming summer session, the party will stop automatically voting with the coalition. MK Moshe Gafni, chairman of the Finance Committee, did not physically attend the meeting but participated via Zoom and clarified his position: “If we do not see significant progress – we will stop voting automatically with the coalition,” he said. MK Yitzchak Pindrus concluded the discussion on a positive note: “Yesterday we saw the gathering of the Gedolei Yisrael.

Hamas has released a propaganda video featuring Israeli hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana, both abducted from the Nova festival on October 7th and still captive in Gaza. The video shows signs of life from the two young men. Israel has condemned Hamas’ tactic of releasing such hostage videos as a cruel form of psychological warfare, a practice the group has employed before with other captives. The Hostage Families Forum has requested that media refrain from airing the video or sharing still images from it until the families of Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana grant their approval. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)