In advance of this year’s hilula of the Tanna Rav Shimon bar Yochai, several leading gedolei Yisroel from the Sephardic community have issued a powerful letter urging the public to avoid traveling to Meron close to Shabbos.
The letter, signed by Rav Yitzchak Yosef, Rav Moshe Tzadka, Chacham Nissim Ben Shimon, and Rav Shlomo Machpoud, declares that visiting Meron in the days surrounding Lag Ba’omer—either before or after—is to be treated as equivalent to visiting on the actual day of the hilula.

Thousands of people attended the two-day People’s Peace Summit on Thursday and Friday, taking part in an extensive schedule of events centered on culture, dialogue, and coexistence.
The gathering was spearheaded by It’s Time, an alliance made up of over 60 Jewish and Arab organizations focused on building peace and shared society. With partial backing from the New Israel Fund, the summit marked the largest civilian demonstration promoting peace since the events of October 7.
“Here in Yerushalayim, we stand united — Jews and Arabs, across generations and communities — to envision a new reality,” said the summit’s organizers. “We hold firmly to the belief that peace is achievable, and the moment to strive for it is now.”

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has reportedly blocked any open discussion on a controversial bill that would implement the death penalty for Nukhba terrorists involved in the October 7 atrocities, citing concerns that it could put the remaining Israeli hostages in Hamas custody at greater risk, according to a report by Maariv.
The bill—known as the “Genocide Prevention Law”—was put forth by Knesset members Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionist Party and Yulia Malinovsky of Yisrael Beytenu. It seeks to apply capital punishment to individuals convicted of aiding or promoting genocidal acts. As it stands, captured Nukhba operatives are being charged under conventional criminal law statutes.

[COMMUNICATED]
A Peaceful Home authored forty years ago by the Ponevez Yeshiva Masgiach Rabbi Chayim Friedlander ZT”L as a guide primarily for young men approaching marriage, coaching them in their new responsibilities and obligations to their wives enabling them to build their home in the way of Torah.  The essay educates the new husband in what his role is, his obligations to his wife, understanding her nature and her aspirations and supporting her materially and emotionally. It is crafted in five chapters of concise lessons each dealing with a different aspect of married life.    

A top-ranking Hamas representative told Al Jazeera that the group is deeply engaged in high-level direct discussions with U.S. officials aimed at achieving a ceasefire and allowing consistent humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza.
Reuters released a similar report, noting that negotiations between the United States and the terrorist group are underway. According to that account, the dialogue has centered on two critical objectives: securing a truce and establishing a reliable mechanism to deliver substantial humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled on Sunday that a baby girl born following an IVF mix-up at Assuta Medical Center in Rishon Letzion will remain with the non-biological couple who raised her, rather than being transferred to her genetic parents.
The case stems from a devastating mistake during the IVF process, where embryos were accidentally switched, resulting in the birth of a child to a couple unrelated to her biologically.
The decision was delivered by a panel of five justices: Yael Willner, Daphne Barak-Erez, Ofer Grosskopf, Alex Stein, and Yechiel Meir Kasher.

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff recently expressed sharp disagreement with Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza during a meeting with the families of hostages, according to a Channel 12 report. Witkoff reportedly stated that in his view, brokering a new ceasefire deal that includes the release of hostages is the most viable next step.
Per the report, Witkoff told the hostage families that the American objective is clear: “We want to return the hostages, but Israel is not ready to end the war.”
Sources who were present at the meeting quoted Witkoff as saying, “Israel is prolonging the war, even though we do not see where further progress can be made.”

President Donald Trump has hinted at a significant upcoming announcement, coinciding with progress in U.S.–China trade negotiations that could reshape the economic relationship between the two nations.
“My next TRUTH will be one of the most important and impactful I have ever issued. ENJOY!” Trump wrote in a post, building anticipation for what may be a major political or economic reveal.

Filming has begun for the fifth season of the hit Israeli series Fauda, and the production has sparked backlash after revealing that upcoming episodes will include scenes inspired by the brutal October 7 Hamas assault near the Gaza border.
According to reports, some of the new season’s scenes will be shot in the very communities that were attacked during the massacre, which left approximately 1,200 people dead and around 250 taken hostage by Hamas terrorists.

Muhammad al-Hindi, who serves as the deputy chief of the Islamic Jihad terror group, declared that the Hamas-led factions will not hand over Israeli hostages while military operations by Israel are ongoing. He referred to these actions as “aggression.”
Al-Hindi stated that Hamas ideally seeks a broad and all-encompassing agreement that would involve a full prisoner-for-hostage exchange, though he indicated they may also consider a phased solution if necessary.
He rejected outright the Israeli demand for disarmament of the terror groups, asserting that such a move would be equivalent to beginning the forced removal of Palestinians. “This will not happen,” he said emphatically.