Israel’s governing coalition is exploring the possibility of bringing Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party into the government if far-right factions abandon ship over a deal to end the Gaza war, Army Radio reported Sunday. The potential pivot comes as Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir and Religious Zionism chief Betzalel Smotrich rage against a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal that would secure the release of Israeli hostages but effectively end the fighting in Gaza. According to reports, Ben Gvir is actively seeking Smotrich’s cooperation to block the deal, although Smotrich’s office denies agreeing to any such meeting. Fearing a far-right walkout, Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri is reportedly leading quiet contacts with Gantz to shore up coalition stability.

Rev. Al Sharpton is turning up the pressure on Andrew Cuomo, publicly urging the disgraced former governor to abandon his struggling campaign for New York City mayor in the wake of a bruising primary defeat. “I think, in the best interest of the legacy of Andrew Cuomo, that he ought to let them have the one-on-one race,” Sharpton told MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday, calling on Cuomo to step aside and clear the path for a head-to-head fight over the city’s future. “He can endorse one or the other, and let them have a battle over what is best for New York.” Sharpton, a longtime power broker in Democratic politics, revealed he had already reached out to Cuomo’s inner circle, trying to convince him to bow out.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is planning to urge President Donald Trump, during his upcoming trip to Washington, to take a tougher stance on Qatar by pressuring its leadership—potentially even by threatening to expel top Hamas officials—if progress on a hostage deal continues to stall, according to a report by Channel 12 News on Wednesday.
The planned request comes in the wake of multiple high-level meetings within Israel’s security and political circles, where renewed frustration was voiced over Hamas’s overseas leadership. These operatives are believed to benefit from favorable conditions and hold significant sway over the negotiation process.

The leader of an MS-13 clique in New York City’s suburbs was sentenced Wednesday to 68 years in prison in a federal racketeering case involving eight Long Island murders, including the 2016 killings of two high school girls that focused the nation’s attention on the violent Central American street gang. Alexi Saenz pleaded guilty last year for his role in ordering and approving the killings as well as other crimes during a rash of bloody violence that prompted President Donald Trump to make several visits to Long Island and call for the death penalty for Saenz and other gang members during his first term in the White House.

DENVER (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday ended an order blocking t

A wave of concern has swept across the klal chassidishe yeshiva world following the closure of several yeshivos, leaving hundreds of bochurim without a place to learn. While some mosdos are reopening or merging, the broader landscape is facing unprecedented instability.
Among the causes cited for the closures are deepening financial struggles, exacerbated by the ongoing draft crisis in Israel, as well as a growing number of older bochurim who are resistant to traditional yeshiva structure and authority.

Ancient DNA has revealed a genetic link between the cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Researchers sequenced whole genomes from the teeth of a remarkably well-preserved skeleton found in a sealed funeral pot in an Egyptian tomb site dating to between 4,495 and 4,880 years ago. Four-fifths of the genome showed links to North Africa and the region around Egypt. But a fifth of the genome showed links to the area in the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, known as the Fertile Crescent, where Mesopotamian civilization flourished.

In a significant development, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yoel “Yuli” Edelstein is set to submit the finalized draft of the proposed military conscription law on Thursday. The legislation has been coordinated and agreed upon with the leaders of the chareidi factions and is expected to be passed within the next few weeks.
Matzav.com has learned that Edelstein has already informed senior members of the chareidi parties of his intention to present them with the draft version tomorrow. The draft is based on the principles agreed upon roughly three weeks ago during a series of high-stakes negotiations that preceded the preliminary vote on dissolving the Knesset.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has decided to appoint MK Yisrael Eichler of United Torah Judaism as Minister of Housing and Construction, replacing MK Yitzchok Goldknopf, who resigned from the post several weeks ago.
Goldknopf stepped down amid frustration over the stalled progress on the proposed draft law—a key issue that has caused ongoing tensions between the chareidi parties and Likud.
According to the coalition agreements, the appointment is temporary: should Goldknopf choose to return to the cabinet, the Housing Ministry portfolio will revert to him.