Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has taken the lead over former President Donald Trump in both major polling averages from RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight. According to FiveThirtyEight, Harris’s lead, which initially narrowed to 0.2 percent, has widened to 1.8 percent, placing her at 45.2% compared to Trump’s 43.4%. Meanwhile, in the RCP average, Trump started with nearly a two-point lead, but Harris now holds a half-point advantage, with 47.4% to Trump’s 46.9%. It’s important to note the differences in how these averages are calculated. The RCP average looks back at the previous two weeks of qualifying polls and produces an unweighted average.

Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, who is a member of Israel’s Security Cabinet, said on Wednesday morning that the political echelon was exposed during the war to a detailed strategic plan by Iran for the destruction of Israel. Speaking at a conference in Sderot, he said: “Without elaborating, we were exposed to this plan during the war – Iran is striving to achieve a nuclear defense umbrella that will provide it immunity to carry out a conventional destruction plan of the state of Israel – a combination of massive fire with a physical ground occupation.” In other words, Iran wants to achieve nuclear power to ensure its survival before carrying out a conventional war against Israel without the risk of being attacked in kind.

Former President Donald Trump has attributed Monday’s sharp decline in the stock market to Vice President Kamala Harris, labeling it “the Kamala Crash.” Trump’s comments came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 1,000 points in morning trading on Monday, following a significant drop of more than 600 points on Friday. “Of course there is a massive market downturn. Kamala is even worse than Crooked Joe,” Trump wrote on social media Monday. He linked the market turmoil to Harris’s rise as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, adding, “Markets will NEVER accept the Radical Left Lunatic that DESTROYED San Francisco and California, as a whole. Next move, THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF 2024! You can’t play games with MARKETS.

In preparation for potential retaliation following the assassinations of top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Israeli government ministers have been issued satellite phones, Ynet reports. The move comes amid concerns that a retaliatory attack by Iran or Hezbollah could damage or destroy telephone lines and disrupt cell service. As a precautionary measure, some ministries have also provided staff with satellite phones. However, officials stress that there is no reason to panic, and the step was taken out of an abundance of caution rather than in response to specific intelligence indicating an imminent threat to telephone infrastructure. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Yisrael Katz, has summoned the Turkish ambassador for a reprimand after the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv flew its flag at half-mast in mourning for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Katz said, “Israel will not accept expressions of participation in mourning for a murderer like Ismail Haniyeh…who committed the acts of rape and murder on October 7.” He added, “If the representatives of the embassy want to mourn, let them go to Turkey and mourn together with their master Erdogan, who embraces the terrorist organization Hamas and supports its acts of murder and atrocities.” The move comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a national day of mourning for Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran earlier this week.

In a landmark meeting held last week in the Catskills, the eight Rebbes of the Viznitz dynasty reached a significant and historic agreement, Monsey Scoop is reporting. The Viznitzer Rebbe of Monsey announced that, moving forward, Viznitzer Chassidim will be permitted to transfer brisim from one city to another. This new policy allows Chassidim to honor their chosen Rebbe by having him serve as the Sandek. Additionally, the agreement includes the establishment of new shtiblech independently by each community in cities where any of the brothers reside. This agreement comes after six years during which the Viznitzer Brothers refrained from accepting Sandekois from Chassidim living in cities where another brother served as Rebbe.

Donald Trump attended a fundraiser hosted by the Chera family in Deal, New Jersey, on Sunday evening, attracting many deep-pocketed supporters from the local Syrian Jewish community and Lakewood, bringing in more than $4 million in donations to his presidential campaign. Tickets to the event ranged from $3,000 to $500,000 per person. The fundraiser is organized by prominent Republican officials and donors, including New York developer and music executive Joe Cayre, casino mogul Steve Wynn — a longtime associate of Trump from his Atlantic City casino days — and the Chera family. The late real estate magnate Stanley Chera, a close friend and colleague of Trump, had strong ties to the former president, and his family maintains a home in Long Branch.

Former President Donald Trump announced via his Truth Social network that he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. While Trump did not specify the exact time of the meeting, it is expected to occur after Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Washington time (9 p.m. Israel time). Trump highlighted his previous term’s achievements, stating, “During my first term, we had Peace and Stability in the Region, even signing the Abraham Accords – And we will have it again.” He also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, saying, “millions are dying, and Kamala Harris is in no way capable of stopping it.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

BIKE4KEF, an iconic event in North West London’s calendar which took place this past Sunday, remains fresh in the community’s mind. This year’s slogan, “TIME4KEF,” highlighted the multifaceted nature of KEF, providing families of children with disabilities with essential TIME for respite. Our incredible army of volunteers generously give of their TIME, providing the children with TIME for fun, friendship and support. BIKE4KEF is the annual TIME for members of the community to come together to ride, fundraise and support KEF. Over 260 cyclists dedicated their TIME and effort to participate in this year’s ride, choosing from three routes—50km, 100km, and 100 miles. Together, they covered more than 21,000km, each pedal stroke supporting KEF.

Following the report on Tuesday that the IDF is sending orders to thousands of Chareidim on Sunday, the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas issued instructions to Sephardi bochurim not to respond to draft orders at all. In recent days, the members of the Moetzet held a number of meetings about the issue. According to a Kikar H’Shabbat report, the Sephardi Rabbanim fear that the IDF will avoid starting up with Chassidish bochurim and send most of the draft notices to Sephardi bochurim who “are easier to draft.” On Wednesday, the Moetzet issued instructions that as long as no Chareidi draft law regulates the status of bnei yeshivos, bochurim should not respond at all to recruitment orders, not even to the first summons, and shouldn’t report to induction centers.