German leaders intensified their public criticism of Israel on Tuesday, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz sharply questioning the rationale behind the IDF’s continued bombardment of Gaza. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul signaled that Germany is preparing to evaluate its options in response to what he described as an intolerable situation.
“The massive military strikes by the Israelis in the Gaza Strip no longer reveal any logic to me. How they serve the goal of confronting terror… In this respect, I view this very, very critically,” Merz stated during a leadership conference in Turku, Finland.

The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said. A U.S. official said Tuesday the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who already had scheduled their visa interviews. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration document. A cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press says the State Department plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting.

A district court judge recently announced his retirement from the judicial system after expressing harsh criticism regarding the conduct of the President of the Supreme Court, Yitzchak Amit, Arutz Sheva reported on Wednesday. According to the report, the judge sent his resignation notice to Amit and Justice Minister Yariv Levin. The report quotes sources familiar with the matter who said that the judge chose to resign as a sign of protest against the conduct of the judicial system in the recent period. “Following the conduct of President Amit, who forcibly seized the presidential seat and the conduct of the judicial system in general, the judge announced his retirement,” they said.

In a first for Israel, a decision was made on Wednesday morning to implement a law against Israeli terrorists who receive compensation for their terror acts from the Palestinian Authority, stripping them of their citizenship and deporting them from the country. The decision, which was made in a closed-door meeting at the Knesset with the participation of Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, comes after a delay of two years since the law was advanced by coalition whip Ofir Katz. Katz instructed the relevant bodies in the security establishment to transfer the necessary information to the  Interior Minister for the immediate implementation of the law.

by Rabbi Yair Hoffman There is a very significant part of Yi

WATCH:

IDF fighter jets attacked the Houthi-controlled Sanaa International Airport in Yemen on Wednesday morning. The attack comes after the Houthis launched numerous missiles at Israel over the past week, which were all intercepted by missile defense systems, b’chasdei Hashem. Minutes after reports of the attack were published, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz confirmed that Israel carried out the strikes and revealed the name of the operation. “Air Force planes attacked Houthi terror targets at the Sanaa airport and destroyed the Houthis’ last remaining plane as part of Operation Golden Jewel,” he said.

After back-to-back explosions, SpaceX launched its mega rocket Starship again on Tuesday evening, but fell short of the main objectives when the spacecraft tumbled out of control and broke apart. The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off on its ninth demo from Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas. Residents voted this month to organize as an official city. CEO Elon Musk ‘s SpaceX hoped to release a series of mock satellites following liftoff, but that got nixed because the door failed to open all the way. Then the spacecraft began spinning as it skimmed space toward an uncontrolled landing in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” or burst apart.

The Trump administration accused North Carolina’s election board on Tuesday of violating federal law by failing to ensure voter registration records of some applicants contained identifying numbers. The Justice Department sued in federal court also asking a judge to force board officials to create a prompt method to obtain such numbers. The department alleges that the state and the board aren’t complying with the 2002 Help America Vote Act after board officials provided a statewide voter registration form that didn’t make clear an applicant must provide either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. If an applicant lacks neither, the state must assign the person another unique number.