President-elect Donald Trump moved to build out his national security team Tuesday, announcing he is nominating Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. In a flurry of announcements, Trump said he had chosen former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and his longtime friend Steven Witkoff to be a special envoy to the Middle East. Trump also said he would nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to run the Department of Homeland Security and named Bill McGinley, his Cabinet secretary in his first administration, as his White House counsel.

Marn’i Washington, a former FEMA supervisor recently dismissed over allegations she directed workers to skip hurricane-damaged homes displaying Trump campaign signs, claims her directive was in line with a broader FEMA policy of avoiding “politically hostile” residences. Washington argues that the practice isn’t isolated to her team, calling it a “colossal event of avoidance” and saying it has been applied in other regions, including the Carolinas. In a revealing interview with podcaster Roland Martin, Washington, who was terminated last week, insisted she was following a widespread approach that prioritizes worker safety. “FEMA preaches avoidance first, and then de-escalation. This is not isolated,” she said.

Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog met with outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House today, where the two leaders discussed pressing issues related to the ongoing regional conflict and security concerns. During the meeting, held in the Oval Office, Herzog stressed Israel’s top priority, saying, “The most important thing now is to return the kidnapped people.” Biden affirmed his support, replying, “I agree.” In a symbolic gesture, President Herzog presented Biden with a special gift: a Jerusalem stone found at the foot of the Har Habayis, bearing Biden’s name in Hebrew – “Yosef.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Sarah Yasour, the head teacher at the kindergarten that was hit by an attack drone in the northern city of Nesher on Tuesday morning, was praised as a heroine for saving the lives of 20 children and the staff. The neis was especially potent since for unknown reasons, no sirens sounded in the city and she brought the children into the shelter only as a precaution, saving their lives. “We truly experienced a neis shel ha’nissim,” she said, thanking Hashem for the Hashgacha. She also thanked her staff, saying: “It wasn’t only me, it was all the staff.

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, one of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants, met President-elect Trump in Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, two Israeli officials and two U.S. officials told Axios. According to the report, the meeting focused on briefing Trump on Israel’s plan regarding Gaza, Lebanon and Iran in the next two months. “One of the things the Israelis wanted to sort out with Trump is what are the issues he prefers to see solved before January 20 and what are the issues he prefers the Israelis to wait for him,” a U.S. official said. The US officials mentioned several issues that Israel wanted Trump’s take on: efforts toward a possible Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, a post-war Gaza plan, and an Israeli-Saudi normalization deal.

In the wake of the Biden administration’s threats to tighten its arms embargo on Israel if it doesn’t increase the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, Israeli’s security cabinet approved a series of steps to facilitate the transfer of aid to those oh-so-innocent civilians in Gaza. The move follows the latest threat made by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday in his first phone call with newly appointed Defense Minister Yisrael Katz. The Biden administration has continually and aggressively strong-armed Israel into increasing aid to Gaza despite being well aware that Hamas steals most of the aid and convoys are often used to slip weapons, ammunition, and money into the Strip for terror purposes.

Dozens of people armed with sticks and firecrackers set a tram on fire in Amsterdam on Monday, police said, while the city is facing tensions following violence last week targeting fans of an Israeli soccer club. Police said the fire was quickly extinguished and riot officers cleared the square. Images online showed people damaging property and setting firecrackers. Police said it was not clear who started the unrest and whether it was related to what happened last week. But they noted the tense atmosphere since five people were treated in the hospital and dozens detained Thursday following a Maccabi Tel Aviv-Ajax match. Youths on scooters and on foot went in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them and then fleeing to evade police, according to Amsterdam’s mayor.

Following the violent pogrom in Amsterdam in which a mob attacked Israelis, pro-Palestinian activists in Antwerp have shared videos on social media showing attacks on Orthodox Jews. Although the attacks occurred two weeks ago, the videos were only released on Monday as a show of solidarity with the attackers in Amsterdam, sparking renewed concerns about safety for the Jewish community in Belgium. One of the videos shows a 14-year-old Orthodox Jewish boy being assaulted by Muslim assailants in an Orthodox neighborhood in Antwerp. The boy’s family had initially refrained from filing a police report, citing the frequency of such incidents. However, seeing the attackers boldly sharing the footage online, the family has now decided to report the assault.

In a scathing analysis, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria offered a harsh critique of the Democratic Party just days after former President Donald Trump decisively secured a second term, sweeping critical battleground states and winning the popular vote. On his program GPS, Zakaria argued that Democrats’ electoral woes were a result of missteps, tone-deaf policies, and a fundamental misreading of American public sentiment. Zakaria, who has often leaned toward nuanced perspectives, held nothing back in pinpointing where the Democrats went wrong, particularly Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign and the broader party strategy.

The IDF is reportedly close to concluding a successful ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, achieving major strategic gains with limited international media coverage. Conducted over the past six weeks, the IDF’s campaign has involved thousands of troops from four divisions, marking a substantial military effort without reaching the scale of a full invasion. The operation has led to the destruction of approximately 30 Hezbollah-controlled villages along the Israel-Lebanon border. These locations had been transformed into heavily fortified terror bases, designed as launching points for a potential Hezbollah invasion into Israel.