Cliff May, the President and founder of the Foundation of Defense of Democracies discusses the situation in the Middle East today.
WATCH:

On Friday afternoons during the brief winter days, the gates leading into Beitar Illit will be closed to cars 20 minutes prior to shkiah. This measure is being implemented to avoid any desecration of Shabbos.
The decision followed a dedicated conference held in the city, where the local rabbonim gathered to discuss the issue.
To support the effort, volunteers will set up roadblocks on the main streets of the city.
The rabbonim emphasized that this decision is meant to prevent situations where residents might be stuck outside the city on Shabbos, particularly with the early sunsets during the winter months.
{Matzav.com Israel}

Jerusalem is constantly monitoring the situation in Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, after Sunni jihadist rebels over the weekend took control of Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city.
“We are determined to both protect the vital interests of the State of Israel and preserve the achievements of the war,” Netanyahu told Israel Defense Forces recruits at the Tel Hashomer induction center in Ramat Gan.
The premier scheduled a special discussion regarding the developments in Syria, set to take place on Sunday night. The meeting was to also focus on the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas took office on Sunday as the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, replacing Spain’s Josep Borrell.
The appointment of Kallas as Brussels’ top diplomat was formalized on Thursday following a vote in the European Parliament the previous day.
Borrell’s five-year tenure in the post was marked by incessant criticism of Israel and a lack of action against Iranian-backed terrorism.

Lawyers representing Hunter Biden, who has been embroiled in scandal, recently issued a fresh public complaint, claiming he is the target of politically motivated prosecutions. This move seems to be a final attempt to sway his father, President Joe Biden, into granting him a pardon, the NY Post reports.
Abbe Lowell, one of Hunter’s chief legal advocates, revived his long-standing accusations that the two criminal cases facing the 54-year-old Hunter have been driven by external political forces aiming to damage the President. According to Lowell, Republicans have sought to exploit Hunter’s situation to politically undermine his father.

Syrian rebel forces, led by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), caught both the Assad regime and outside observers off guard with an offensive that swiftly overtook Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city after Damascus, within just 72 hours. This came after years of military stagnation in the region.
However, the surprise might not have been warranted.
In recent months, there has been a noticeable increase in clashes between Syrian forces and opposition factions in the northwest of Syria. These skirmishes, which resulted in civilian casualties, were perceived by rebels as violations of the 2019 ceasefire agreement. That deal was brokered by Russia, which supports Assad, and Turkey, which backs some of the rebel factions in the north.

In his appeal to religious voters, President-elect Donald Trump promised a spiritual revival in America, and there is now a measurable way to track that promise: Bible sales are soaring.
Although overall sales of printed books have remained relatively flat over the past year (increasing by less than 1%), Bible sales have risen by 22% through October, according to Circana BookScan, The Wall Street Journal reports today.
Even though 28% of adults in the U.S. now identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to Pew Research Center, Bible sales have grown significantly, reaching 14.2 million copies in 2023, up from 9.7 million in 2019. By October of this year, sales had already hit 13.7 million, as the Journal reported.

President-elect Donald Trump revealed on Sunday that he will appoint Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of his daughter Tiffany, to the position of Senior Advisor to the President, focusing on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.
“Massad is an accomplished lawyer and a highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the International scene,” Trump, 78, shared via Truth Social.
“He has been a longtime proponent of Republican and Conservative values, an asset to my Campaign, and was instrumental in building tremendous new coalitions with the Arab American Community,” he continued.

The terrorist enterprise responsible for the murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan in Dubai is planning fresh attacks in southeast Asia and especially Thailand, Israeli authorities warn.
“Intelligence suggests that the terrorist infrastructure that perpetrated the murder of Rabbi Tvzi Kogan in Dubai is planning additional terrorist activities,” according to a statement by Israel’s National Security Council. “Relevant security forces estimate this will happen in southeast Asia and especially Thailand,” the statement read.
Kogan’s body was found on Nov. 24. Local authorities arrested three men, all of them Uzbek nationals. Israeli authorities believe the murder may be linked to Iran, which has denied any involvement.

Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer told President-elect Donald Trump that 60 of the 101 hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip are believed to be alive, Yisroel Hayom reports.
The revised estimate is higher than the 51 Israeli intelligence suggested were alive in early November. Officially, 76 out of the 101 are classified as alive. Ninety-seven of the captives were kidnapped from southern Israel during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Dermer reportedly conveyed messages to Trump from Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu during their Nov. 10 meeting at his Mar-a-Lago estate, and also discussed Israel’s plans in Lebanon and Gaza, Iran and Israeli-Saudi normalization.