White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said the White House’s assessment, in coordination with the FBI and state and local officials, is that the mysterious drones flying over the country are in fact “legal” and “lawful.” Kirby told Fox News anchor Bret Baier Monday on “Special Report” they’ve examined roughly 5,000 sightings and to date, their analysis is “lawful, legal, commercial hobbyist and even law enforcement aircraft activity,” is responsible for the sightings. “Some of it’s manned, some of it’s unmanned. We absolutely acknowledge that a lot of these are probably drones, but they’re flying legally.

The Knesset approved the first readings of the 2025 budget late Monday night amidst political turmoil, following the Otzma Yehudit party’s decision to vote against the coalition’s budget proposals. Otzma Yehudit is led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The 2025 budget, composed of multiple bills, faced separate votes. The first bill, setting the deficit ceiling at 4.3%, passed narrowly with 58-53 votes. The second bill, detailing the full 2025 budget, was approved 59-57. Voting on additional bills containing legislative amendments for the budget took place after press deadlines.

In his first news conference since winning the presidency, President-elect Donald Trump addressed pressing global issues on Monday, signaling his administration’s tough stance on international crises while offering glimpses of his foreign policy priorities. Trump fielded questions from reporters on topics ranging from ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages in Gaza to the potential for preemptive military action against Iran. Regarding his recent discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Trump stressed his commitment to resolving the hostage crisis. “I’ll be very available on January 20,” he said, referring to the day he will assume the presidency.

The leader of the Bnei Torah movement (Peleg Yerushalmi), Hagaon HaRav Asher Deutsch, z’tl, who also served as the Rosh Yeshivah of Ponevezh, was niftar on Monday morning at the age of 79. HaRav Deutsch was suffering in recent months from a serious illness and was hospitalized a number of times. On Friday,  his condition became critical and his family and talmidim were called to part from him. But then his condition unexpectedly improved but worsened again on Monday morning. The Rav was born in Bnei Brak. As a bochur, he learned in Yeshivas Ponevezh, where he became close to Hagaon HaRav Elazar Man Shach, z’tl, and HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Rozovosky, ztl. After he married, he was appointed by HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kahaneman, the Nasi of Ponevezh, to seve as the Rosh Mesivta of the yeshivah.

Iraqi sources told the UK-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet over the weekend that Iranian Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani received a cold shoulder from Iraqi militias on his visit to Baghdad last week to discuss the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. “Qaani met with several leaders of armed groups to discuss developments regarding the new situation in Syria and the determination of the Israeli entity to attack sites and occupy parts of Syria,” the source said. “Some of the faction leaders informed Qaani of their commitment to Iraq’s neutral position in the current crisis, saying that don’t want to become involved in opening new fronts and are waiting to see how things will unfold.” This development is a significant setback for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Syrian media reported early Monday morning on an unusually intense Israeli attack late Sunday night near the coastal city of Tartus in northwestern Syria, targeting arms depots. The strike caused the warehouses to go up in flames, and the explosion, described as the strongest in more than a decade, also led to an earthquake, some reports said. The Geographic Survey of Israel’s seismology department reported a 3.1-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale at 11:49 p.m. but there is no proof that the quake was caused by the strikes. The IDF also carried out airstrikes in Aleppo and Hamas overnight, targeting air defense systems and surface-to-surface missiles. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu revealed on Sunday that he held an extensive conversation with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump regarding efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The discussion comes as Israeli officials signal that a potential ceasefire-hostage agreement could be finalized by Chanukah, though key issues remain unresolved. Netanyahu, speaking in a video message, described the conversation with Trump as “very friendly, very warm, and very important.” While refraining from sharing specifics, the prime minister reiterated Israel’s commitment to bringing the hostages home. “We are working tirelessly, without rest, to bring our hostages home, the living and the fallen together,” Netanyahu said.

Former Chief Rabbi of Israel and member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah, HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef, spoke out again on Sunday against Chareidim serving in the IDF. During a sichah to yeshivah bochurim, HaRav Yosef said: “Even a batlan (someone who wastes time) is forbidden to serve in the army. Do you hear me? Absorb this message. My uncles, the brothers of Maran [HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef, z’tl] learned in Yeshivat Porat Yosef and were talmidei yeshivos. They went to the army and were corrupted, they all became secular. Later, they did teshuvah.” HaRav Yosef’s words caused an immediate media storm in Israel.

The Gerrer Rosh Yeshivah, HaGaon HaRav Shaul Alter, has received a personal invitation from President-elect Donald Trump to visit the White House. The visit is scheduled for after the inauguration. About a week ago, HaRav Altar received the invitation personally from the president’s envoy, Rabbi Yehuda Kaplan, a Chabad businessman residing in Miami, who is part of Trump’s close circle of advisors. The connection between HaRav Altar and Trump began when the Rosh Yeshivah was sitting shiva for his mother, during which Trump sent him a letter of condolence through Kaplan. The Satmar Rebbe also received an invitation to visit Trump at the White House from Kaplan.

In the first comments from a Jewish resident of Syria since the fall of the Assad regime, one of the three or four Jews living in Damascus spoke to Kan News on Sunday morning, M. said that despite the initial anarchy when the rebels first took over, including home break-ins and car thefts, Jews were not targeted. “I am here in Damascus, and no one has entered Jewish shuls or properties,” he said. He noted that the Jews are not afraid of the rebels despite the Islamic ideology of the rebels. “Recently I walked down the street, and one of the rebels said hello to me. Everything is normal. It might be better than it was.” However, he didn’t have any particular complaints about the Assad regime either.  “I was satisfied during Assad’s time,” he said.