Kaid Farhan Al-Qadi, 52, the first Israeli hostage to be rescued alive from a tunnel, looked gaunt after being released from 326 days in captivity on Tuesday. He was rescued from a tunnel in southern Gaza, where he was held alone. However, doctors at Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva say that although he lost a lot of weight, he is in good condition. Al-Qadi, who has two wives and 11 children, held emotional reunions with his family members, including his one-year-old son, who was an infant when he was abducted. Qadi’s relatives, who didn’t even know until today if he was still alive, said that he “ate mainly bread in captivity and not every day. But he is on his feet and he’s coherent. He was constantly thinking about the family and never stopped believing that he would get out of there.

The same Iranian hacking group believed to have targeted both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns tried to go after the WhatsApp accounts of staffers in the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Meta Platforms said Friday. Meta said it discovered the network of hackers, who posed as tech support agents for companies including AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google, after individuals who received the suspicious WhatsApp messages reported them. Meta’s investigators linked the activity to the same network blamed for the hacking incident reported by Trump’s campaign. The FBI this week said a hack by Iran of the Trump campaign and an attempted breach of the Biden-Harris campaign was part of a broader Iranian effort to interfere with the U.S.

Agudath Israel hosted an event on the sidelines of the DNC in Chicago bringing together elected officials and stakeholders from federal, state, and local government including, Senator Debby Stabenow (D- Michigan), NJ Governor Phil Murphy, NJ Congressman Josh Gottheimer, NY Congressman Pat Ryan, Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiss, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, and numerous state and local officials from across the country to highlight the alarming rise of antisemitism and the growing electoral strength of Orthodox Jewish community. Agudah Chairman Shloime Werdiger opened the jammed packed event with a straightforward explanation: “The Jewish people are living though very trying times.

As the 2024 presidential race heats up, some of the far-right’s most prominent voices are beginning to turn against former president Donald Trump’s campaign, signaling a potential fracturing of his base. Key influencers, once staunch supporters, are now threatening a digital “war” against Trump’s aides, warning that his campaign is veering too far from the hard-right positions that galvanized their support. Nick Fuentes, a neo-Nazi white supremacist and podcaster, has been one of the most vocal critics. Fuentes, who dined with Trump in 2022 at Mar-a-Lago, blasted the campaign on X, claiming that Trump’s strategy was “blowing it” by not embracing more extreme views on race and immigration. His post criticizing the campaign has been viewed 2.6 million times.

Eden Dabas, 30, a resident of Ramat Gan, was formally indicted Monday on charges of allegedly collaborating with an Iranian foreign agent. According to the prosecution, Dabas had been in contact with the foreign agent for the past four months, using the encrypted messaging app Telegram to communicate. In exchange for completing a series of tasks, Dabas reportedly received $12,000 in cryptocurrency payments. Among the tasks he allegedly carried out were printing and hanging posters advocating for a military coup in Israel and promoting a Telegram group called “The People’s Army,” which seeks to recruit more Israeli citizens for similar efforts. Prosecutors further revealed that Dabas documented his activities by sending video proof to the foreign agent to secure payment.

A District of Columbia councilmember known for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories accepted over $150,000 in bribes in exchange for pressuring D.C. employees to extend city contracts for violence intervention services, authorities alleged in court records unsealed Monday. Trayon White Sr., a Democrat who ran an unsuccessful mayoral campaign in 2022, was arrested Sunday on a federal bribery charge and ordered released from custody after a brief court appearance Monday. His attorney declined to comment on the allegations against him. White agreed in June to accept roughly $156,000 in kickbacks and cash payments in exchange for pressuring government agency employees to extend two companies’ contracts worth over $5 million, authorities alleged in an FBI affidavit.

Chicago is set to witness a series of large protests as the Democratic National Convention (DNC) takes place at the McCormick Place Convention Center. Organizers anticipate that nearly 100,000 demonstrators will participate in at least seven planned rallies and marches across the city. The demonstrations are expected to be a mix of causes from across the political spectrum, including groups advocating for the end of U.S. aid to Israel and backing pro-Palestinian causes, some of which have drawn criticism for their affiliations with Hamas. Some rallies, including a major march toward Grant Park organized by far-left group Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws, are scheduled to kick off Sunday ahead of the DNC’s official start on Monday.

Surrounded by family, friends, and a massive cake, Holocaust survivor R’ Berysz Aurbach celebrated his 104th birthday in Caulfield, Australia on Sunday. With the words “Happy 104th Birthday” inscribed in Hebrew on the cake, the celebration marked a milestone in the life of a man who survived the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II and who is world-famous for annually davening for the amud on the yahrtzeit of his mother, who was niftar more than 100 years ago. Guests gathered at R’ Berysz’s home on Sunday to make a l’chaim while sipping whisky and enjoying a spread of sponge cakes, biscuits, and pastries. R’ Berysz, who officially turned 104 on Shabbos, has much to be thankful for, including his three children, four grandchildren, and the loving family surrounding him.

Jewish leaders from across religious denominations came together at an exclusive event hosted by businessman Yehuda Kaploun and his partner Edward Russo at Donald Trump’s National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, featuring Trump as the keynote speaker, along with philanthropist Miriam Adelson. The event drew Jewish leaders from across the spectrum, including figures from the Chasidic, Litvish, Conservative, and Reform communities, as well as organizations like Young Israel, the OU, and Agudah. The event, which was not a campaign function but rather an invitation-only gathering, included representatives from various segments of the Jewish community—Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform.

In a remarkable instance of chessed, approximately 30 Chaveirim volunteers from across Boro Park, Queens, Flatbush, Williamsburg, and the Catskills united to help a woman who lost her rings at Hunters Point South Park in Long Island City, Queens. The woman had removed her rings and placed them on her skirt while she and her husband washed their hands. When she stood up, the rings fell to the ground and were lost. Responding to the call for help, Chaveirim members arrived with lighting equipment and metal detectors provided by Rockland Chaveirim. After an extensive five-hour search, conducted late into the night, the volunteers successfully located both rings, much to the relief of the couple. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)