Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted a gifted Boeing 747 aircraft from Qatar for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The Defense Department will “work to ensure proper security measures” on the aircraft to make it safe for use by the president, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said. He added that the plane was accepted “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations.” Trump has defended the gift, which came up during his recent Middle East trip, as a way to save tax dollars. “Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE,” Trump posted on his social media site during the trip.

Donald Trump Jr. is no longer ruling out a run for the White House. At a panel discussion during Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum on Wednesday, the eldest son of President Donald Trump offered his most suggestive comments yet about a possible presidential bid. When asked whether he could see himself running to succeed his father, Trump Jr., 47, smiled and paused before responding: “You never know.” “It’s an honor to be asked and an honor to see that some people are OK with it,” he said to scattered applause from the audience. “I don’t know, maybe one day, you know, that calling is there.” The comments marked a subtle but significant shift for the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who has long been one of his father’s most vocal and aggressive political surrogates.

A powerful twister that swept through the region this past week has left the St. Louis kehilla without a functioning eruv. The 14-mile perimeter eruv sustained extensive damage as utility poles and wire — essential components of the eruv — were toppled or torn from the ground and scattered across major roads. The sudden loss has effectively left residents “locked in” for Shabbos, unable to carry strollers, tallis bags, or other items outside their homes. In response, emergency efforts are already underway. Rabbi Paretzky of Skokie, a renowned eruv expert with decades of experience across North America, was brought in to lead the urgent repairs and planning.

Israel’s Supreme Court of Justice ruled in a verdict published on Wednesday evening that the government’s decision to terminate the tenure of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was made in an “improper and unlawful” process. In addition, the decision stated that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had a conflict of interest given the investigations into his aides as part of the Qatargate affair, and that the dismissal decision was made without a factual basis and without a proper hearing. The decision was reached despite the fact that the distrust between Bar and Netanyahu since the October 7 massacre was public knowledge, well before the launch of the Qatargate investigation. The decision has no practical bearing since Bar already announced his intention to end his term on June 15.

IDF forces in the Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday fired warning shots in the air during a tour of a delegation of foreign diplomats in the city, causing them to flee the area. According to Palestinian reports, the delegation included 25 representatives from European and Arab countries. Yisrael Hayom reported that the delegation was provided with an approved route as the area is considered an active combat zone. Nevertheless, the delegation deviated from the route and approached an area banned to civilians, causing the IDF soldiers to suspect the delegation members were terror suspects. The commander of the Yehudah and Shomron Division immediately investigated the incident and ordered IDF representatives to hold diplomatic contacts with international diplomats to explain the incident.

U.S. Rep. Gerald “Gerry” Connolly, an outspoken Democrat who sought key reforms in the federal government while bringing transformational development to his populous Virginia district, died Wednesday. He was 75. Connolly, who most recently held a prominent position as the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, served in Congress for more than 16 years. He died at home in the company of family members, his family said in a statement. Connolly announced in 2024 that he had esophageal cancer and said a few months later that he planned to retire from Congress. A fixture of Virginia politics for three decades, Connolly was first elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1995.

A former presidential physician is raising alarms about President Joe Biden’s health following the revelation of his prostate cancer diagnosis. The disclosure, made by Biden’s personal office on Sunday, shocked the nation. What had previously been described as a “small nodule” was revealed to be Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer that has spread to the bones. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who served as White House physician under both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, told the Washington Free Beacon that Biden’s prognosis could be dire—potentially fatal within a year. Jackson, while acknowledging that oncology is not his specialty, said he consulted with several urologists who agreed that the situation appears advanced. “It could be 12 to 18 months,” Jackson said.

The IDF on Wednesday confirmed the elimination of Mohamed Sinwar, commander of the military wing of the Hamas terror organization and brother of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The commander of the Rafah Brigade, Muhammad Shabana, a battalion commander, and 10 other terrorists, including Hamas company commanders, were eliminated along with Sinwar in a tunnel under the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Last week, IAF fighter jets dropped at least nine heavy MK-84 bombs, weighing one ton each, on the tunnel entrances of the underground complex while Sinwar was holding a top-level meeting. Kan News reported earlier on Wednesday that the IDF carried out additional airstrikes today at the site of Sinwar’s elimination.

Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb, a senior official in the IDF’s Personnel Directorate, presented data on measures against army deserters and draft dodgers at a meeting of the Knesset’s IDF Manpower Committee on Wednesday. “In the first nine months of the war,, we did not carry out enforcement operations against deserters,” he said, adding that the 340 deserters arrested at Ben Gurion Airport were from all sectors, not just the Chareidi sector. Committee chairman Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid) asked: “What tools do you need to obtain thousands of new recruits? There are arrests and travel bans and driver’s license bans—the tools you aren’t using.” Tayeb replied: “These tools and the sanctions you mentioned are not enforceable.

Activists from the Tzav 9 and The Reservists movements held a protest at the Kerem Shalom crossing on Wednesday morning, blocking access to humanitarian aid trucks on their way to Gaza. The protest took place a day after 93 trucks of aid entered the Strip on Tuesday, following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s decision earlier this week to resume aid to the Strip. Reut Ben Chaim, the chairwoman of Tzav 9, said: “The passage of aid trucks to Hamas is an indescribable injustice, and we cannot stand idly by while this harm to our hostages continues.