Former President Donald Trump slammed Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents, calling him a “terrorist” and insisting for the umpteenth time that he had done “nothing wrong.” Speaking to conservative commentator Mark Levin, Trump reacted to news that President Joe Biden was found to have kept classified information with him after he left the vice presidency in 2017, with classified documents found in three locations so far. “Biden took them and as vice president, he doesn’t have the rights to do this,” said Trump. “It’s a very serious problem, but it’s not a problem for me. I’m allowed to do that.” “But this prosecutor should resign,” Trump said of the special counsel investigating him. “He’s a terrorist. He is a Trump-hater.

For the first time since he entered his position, Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich attended a meeting of the Knesset’s Finance Committee on Tuesday morning. Finance Committee chairman Moshe Gafni thanked Smotrich for revoking the tax on disposable tableware imposed by former minister Avigdor Lieberman: “I congratulate you on your election to the position of finance minister, one of the most important positions in the State of Israel and the government. I congratulate you and wish you the best of luck as your success is the success of all of us.

A Jewish man was rammed and injured by a vehicle in Crown Heights on Friday evening in an incident that the NYPD is now investigating as a bias attack. The disturbing incident unfolded at around 6 pm at the intersection of Albany Ave. and Union Street in Crown Heights, when the driver of a white sedan stopped at a red light appeared to notice a visibly Jewish man crossing the street. Surveillance video shows the driver appear to intentionally turn and ram his vehicle into the Jewish man before accelerating and fleeing the scene. The man, a Lubavitch adherent in his 50s, was treated by Hatzolah and transported to the hospital for further treatment. YWN is posting disturbing surveillance footage of the attack below in the hopes that it could expedite the apprehension of the suspect.

Within three years and at the young age of 25, Rav Uri Yitzchak Shachor of Yeshivat Sderot successfully passed seven exams and qualified for Israel’s Rabbanut. This would be an impressive feat for any young man but the feat is even more incredible as Rav Uri suffers from cerebal palsy, is confined to a wheelchair and requires around-the-clock assistance just to perform daily tasks. In an interview with Kol B’Ramah, Rav Uri thanked his parents, whom he said spared no efforts to help him learn Torah. An article on the Hebrew-language Chabad.org website three years ago provided some interesting details about Rav Uri. In the past, when Rav Uri was in the Nachlat Yosef yeshivah in Shavei Chevron, he completed the Shas every eight months – at one point finishing Shas 12 times in five years!

President Joe Biden made a dramatic comparison on Thursday, equating the plight of migrants attempting to illegally enter the United States with Jewish refugees who were fleeing the Nazis’ persecution of them. A reporter asked Biden whether he views migration as a human right, to which the president replied, “Well I think it is a human right if your family is being persecuted. I thought it was a human right for, you know, Jews in Germany to be able to go… escape and get help where they could.” Standing beside Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris nodded in enthusiastic approval.   The comparison earned Biden some withering criticism on social media.

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz cast his vote for former president Donald Trump in the seventh attempt for the House of Representatives to nominate a speaker, an effort to thwart Kevin McCarthy. This is a break from the faction of 20 House Republicans who’d been voting for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) and blocking GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy from winning the speakership. The Constitution does not specify that the speaker must actually be a member of the House and the Congressional Research Service emphasized that point in a 2021 report about elections for the speaker. “Although the Constitution does not so require, the Speaker has always been a Member of the House,” the report said, and outlined recent instances where non-members received votes.

Fox News host Sean Hannity had Rep. Lauren Boebert on his show Wednesday night in a contentious interview in which they battled over the latter’s refusal to support Kevin McCarthy for House Speaker. Boebert earlier Wednesday urged former President Trump to tell McCarthy to drop out because, with 20 Republicans consistently voting against him, he should get out of the way. “Let me turn the tables, congresswoman,” Hannity said. “Kevin McCarthy has 202–3 votes. Your side has 20.

A clearly fed-up New York City Mayor Eric Adams went on a blistering rant against Bill de Blasio and members of his administration over their constant criticism of his performance as mayor, saying that he was left by de Blasio with a city “in total disarray.” “They had eight years to do their job. Eight years to fix Rikers. Eight years to deal with crime. Eight years to deal with education. Eight years to do early childhood education for children with disabilities. Eight years to fix NYCHA,” Adams said. “They had all the time to do their job. No! No! But they are now — once they’re gone — they’re experts on everything.

Jordanian MP Yanel Frikhat threatened Israel following the visit of Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to Har BaBayis on Tuesday, Kan News reported. “The Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line and all the Jordanians are prepared to give up their lives for Palestine,” he said.

Franklin Avenue in Williamsburg was the scene of heavy police activity on Wednesday night, after an armed robbery with a vehicle pursuit ended with a car crash and the suspects bailing on foot. It unfolded at around 5:00PM, when the five suspects armed with a gun robbed a cellphone store on the East Side of Manhattan. The NYPD was pinging the getaway car, and chased them into Williamsburg, where they eventually crashed at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Park Avenue. All occupants bailed from the vehicle, and a foot pursuit and a perp search was underway. Two suspects were taken into custody a few minutes later, while two (possibly three) others managed to get away. A short while later another two suspects were taken into custody.