The Republic of Paraguay restored its embassy in Jerusalem on Thursday, resetting bilateral ties in high gear in a sign of support for Israel in Latin America.
The embassy move, which had been planned before the start of the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is a diplomatic boon for Israel at a time when it has faced consistent international opprobrium during the 14-month-old war triggered by the Hamas-led massacre of 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is meeting with Donald Trump next week, the president-elect said Thursday, highlighting his contacts with tech titans, including those with extensive contracts with the US government, in the run-up to his return to the White House.
“Bezos is coming up next week,” Trump said in an interview with CNBC after he rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Trump said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had met with him as well and noted his extensive contact with Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
“I want to get ideas from them,” he said of business leaders. “Look, we want them to do well.”

The Orthodox Union recently released “The Challenges of Singlehood among American Orthodox Jews Part II,” which focuses on the specific challenges that single Orthodox community members face in their search for a spouse.
Between Feb. 5, 2020, and March 6, 2020, the organization surveyed more than 2,300 single Jews across the Orthodox spectrum who were users of eight Jewish dating applications or singles’ groups.

Dear Matzav Inbox,
I was recently in shul and witnessed a scene that brought back painful memories for me. A father smacked the back of his child’s head because the child was looking outside his Siddur. I can’t describe how much this bothered me, as it immediately brought back flashbacks from my own childhood.
Growing up, my father was very harsh. Instead of teaching me to appreciate davening, he would give me an angry stare if I even whispered to a friend during Leining or Chazoras Hashatz. If I ever davened for the Amud, it was never right—too fast, too slow, too loud, too soft—nothing was ever good enough. He was a perfectionist who saw only black and white, and I grew up in fear of him, never knowing what it felt like to be loved.

According to a recent CNN poll, Americans overwhelmingly support President-elect Donald Trump’s transition efforts as he prepares to enter the Oval Office for another term.
From CNN:

Most Americans expect President-elect Donald Trump to do a good job upon his return to the White House next month (54%) and a majority approves of how he’s handling the presidential transition so far (55%), according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.

The Biden administration has raised the possibility that there may be no drones over New Jersey at all, as it aims to address mounting frustration over the lack of clarity regarding sightings.
“We have not been able to, and neither have state and local law enforcement authorities, been able to corroborate any of the reported visual sightings,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters during a briefing Thursday.
“Upon review of available imagery, it appears many of the reports of sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully,” he added.
This statement from Kirby comes despite multiple reports from the US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, which has documented 11 possible drone sightings.

New Jersey Representative Jeff Van Drew has reiterated his assertion that the mysterious drones seen in the state are originating from a mothership off the East Coast, criticizing Pentagon officials for misleading the public and withholding crucial details about the drones’ origins.
On Thursday, Van Drew (R-NJ) remained firm in his stance, even after a Pentagon spokesperson refuted his claims the day before, stating that the unidentified flying objects were not linked to Iran.
“These drones very well could be launched from a ship. It could be hundreds of miles out at sea. These types of drones go much greater distances … Could it be China? Absolutely. Could it be somebody else? It sure could,” Van Drew remarked during a Fox News interview on Thursday.

Israeli troops positioned inside the buffer zone along the Syrian border are there as a temporary measure to prevent terrorists from committing an Oct. 7-style attack, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said on Thursday.
“The collapse of the Syrian regime created a vacuum on Israel’s border and in the buffer zone established by the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement,” his office stated.
“Israel will not permit jihadi groups to fill that vacuum and threaten Israeli communities on the Golan Heights with October 7-style attacks. That is why Israeli forces entered the buffer zone and took control of strategic sites near Israel’s border,” the statement continued.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to use military force to send migrants back to their home countries and stated that the U.S. will sever ties with any nations that refuse to take them back. In an extensive interview with Time magazine, published Thursday after he was named its 2024 “Person of the Year,” Trump, 78, emphasized his firm stance on migration.
“I’ll get them into every country, or we won’t do business with those countries,” Trump said in the interview.
He elaborated, saying, “I want them out, and the countries have got to take them back, and if they don’t take them back, we won’t do business with those countries, and we will tariff those countries very substantially.”

The New York Police Department is currently looking into the appearance of “wanted” posters across Manhattan, which feature the names and pictures of prominent corporate leaders. These posters come after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown last week. Thompson’s likeness, marked with a red X, has been seen on these posters, alongside the names and images of various other executives in the insurance and financial sectors, as reported by Bloomberg. Social media videos have shown these posters appearing in lower Manhattan, according to the New York Post.