Rav Tzvi Kogan, a Chabad shaliach in the Emirati city of Abu Dhabi, has been missing for several days and Israeli security officials fear he was abducted or murdered, chalilah. Kogan, who serves as an assistant to the Chief Rabbi of the UAE, Rav Levi Duchman, has not been in touch with his wife since Wednesday. The Mossad is involved in the case and they believe that Rav Kogan may have been under surveillance by hostile terrorist elements on behalf of Iran. It appears the murderers may have escaped to Turkey, but it is unclear where his body was transferred. Israeli intelligence officials have traveled to the Emirates to investigate the case together with Emirati authorities, who are leading the investigation.

The Israeli mission to the United Nations told JNS that it is looking into the timing of its $17.6 million payment of its U.N. dues for the year on Thursday—the same day that the International Criminal Court announced arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
In so doing, Israel became the 147th of 193 U.N. member states to pay its 2024 dues.
JNS asked Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, at the global body’s press briefing on Thursday if the Jewish state’s dues payment came via automatic deposit.

Watch Palestinian school children explain what they are taught at UNRWA schools.

Embattled former congressman Matt Gaetz, who withdrew his bid to be President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general, said in an interview Friday that he doesn’t intend to return to his House seat in the next congressional term.
“I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch,” Gaetz said in an interview published Friday with Charlie Kirk, a staunch supporter of President-elect Donald Trump and prominent podcast host. “I do not intend to join the 119th Congress.”
Hours after Gaetz ended his bid on Thursday, Trump announced longtime loyalist and former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi as his new pick to head the Justice Department.
(c) Washington Post

BERLIN (AP) — Former German Chancellor Angela Merke

Whoopi Goldberg claimed on Thursday’s episode of ABC’s The View that businessman Elon Musk is effectively acting as “the actual vice president.”

The Clarkstown Police Department is investigating a deeply troubling act of vandalism that occurred at a shul on Tor Terrace early Thursday morning. Mispalllim arrived to find siddurim and chumashim discarded in a garbage can, three bookshelves destroyed, and seforim scattered across the floor, Monsey Scoop reported. This shocking act was promptly reported to the Clarkstown Police Department, and a police report has been filed. Additionally, Chaverim of Rockland has been enlisted to assist in the investigation. The shul, which currently operates out of a backyard tent, is in the process of obtaining the necessary permits from the Town of Clarkstown.

HONG KONG (AP) — Higher tariffs on Chinese exports will back