New York
Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed two City Hall executive orders ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, then asked NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to pass the ceremonial pen to Chief Counsel Ramzi Kassem. One order establishes Sept. 11 as an annual citywide Day of Remembrance and Service; the other updates emergency continuity and preparedness. The mayor’s office said Kassem and his team drafted both documents. Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, who pleaded guilty to war-crime charges tied to an al-Qaida plot that included the 2002 bombing of the French tanker MV Limburg. Al-Darbi’s sister was married to Khalid al-Mihdhar, a hijacker on American Airlines Flight 77, which struck the Pentagon. Council Member Joann Ariola called the gesture “breathtakingly tone-deaf and disrespectful.” Tisch left the Blue Room immediately after handing over the pen.
Hirsch Meir Traube, owner of 1800 Eichler’s on 13th Avenue in Boro Park, said in a video that his Judaica store did not invite Mayor Zohran Mamdani and that staff did not organize the gifts seen during the pre-Rosh HaShanah stop. He also said, “We weren’t involved in kicking anyone out of the store,” and added, “We do support Israel. Am Yisroel Chai.” Video of the visit drew boycott calls after protester Stephanie Benshimol confronted the mayor over antisemitism and was escorted out. City Hall spokesman Sam Raskin said Mamdani received a “warm welcome” and wished shoppers a shanah tovah. Council Member Inna Vernikov called the appearance an “embarrassment.” Traube’s shop is separately owned from Eichler’s of Flatbush.
Delta Air Lines restored daily nonstop service between New York’s JFK and Tel Aviv after more than six months, landing flight DL234 at Ben Gurion Airport. The first return, DL235, was scheduled later the same day. The carrier had suspended the route after the U.S.-Israel war with Iran began in late February. It is initially flying one daily JFK-Tel Aviv round trip. Atlanta-Tel Aviv remains paused through Dec. 18, and a planned Boston launch is delayed indefinitely. United Airlines was set to resume Newark-Tel Aviv service two days later. American Airlines has kept its JFK-Tel Aviv flights suspended through March 27, 2027.
Former New York Gov. George Pataki said he was diagnosed within the past five years with restrictive airway disease that he attributes to toxic dust at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks. The Republican, who served from 1995 to 2006 and was a frequent presence at the World Trade Center site, spoke to the New York Post ahead of the 25th anniversary. He said he has not been diagnosed with cancer and pointed to first responders who worked the pile for months. “Many of them have serious illnesses, far more serious than anything I might be experiencing,” he said. The Post reported that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has the same condition. An FDNY report last week said more than 600 members have died of 9/11-related illnesses.
Monticello police charged a woman with two counts of third-degree burglary after break-ins at two shuls in Sullivan County. Officers responded to Pine Knoll Bungalow Colony after a resident saw two people on surveillance entering the shul. Police found the building had been burglarized and ordered the pair to stop; both fled on foot. The woman was arrested after officers found her hiding under part of a building. The second suspect escaped a search that included State Police, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, and a K-9 unit. Investigators later said video also linked her to a burglary at another shul. She was arraigned in Monticello Justice Court and released on her own recognizance.
NYPD Emergency Service Unit officers fatally shot a knife-wielding man who claimed to have a bomb on the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge after a roughly hour-long standoff that began with a 3:28 a.m. 911 call reporting someone walking on the beams. After ignoring commands to drop the knife, the Bronx man moved within about three feet of an officer and extended the blade. An officer on the roadbed fired once. Police recovered a knife and a flashlight; they said they were investigating the bomb claim. Eastbound lanes were closed for hours.
About 150 Jewish military veterans gathered in Colonie, Albany County, for the 131st National Convention of the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A., the group’s first national meeting in the Capital Region. Held at the Marriott, the convention featured a daily morning minyan of about 20 veterans, many wrapping tefillin for the first time in decades, Chabad.org reported. Rabbi Mordechai Rubin of the Colonie Chabad Chai Jewish Center organized the services, which included prayer, tefillin, shofar, and a Torah thought. Fred Altman, commander of Albany Post 105 and a 21-year Army and National Guard veteran, helped arrange the minyan. “Many people thought Jews were disloyal,” Altman said. “Let this convention show there is no shortage of loyalty.” Rubin said, “When you have a room full of Jewish warriors, you blow the shofar.” The gathering ran alongside the 98th JWV Auxiliary convention.
U.S.
About 50 members of the Joint Staff, including officers and civilian employees, were given polygraph tests in August as investigators hunted leaks of classified Pentagon information. Questioning focused on whether staff disclosed classified material to journalists, including reports that the war with Iran had depleted stocks of long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors. The Joint Staff numbers about 1,500 to 2,000 people.
A Plymouth Superior Court judge declared a mistrial in Lindsay Clancy’s murder case after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether she was criminally responsible for the 2023 deaths of her three children in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Clancy remains charged in the killings of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months. The jury deliberated for about seven days and roughly 40 hours, reporting a deadlock three times. One note said, “It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision.” Defense attorney Kevin Reddington said a single holdout blocked an acquittal and sought an emergency stay from the Supreme Judicial Court, which was denied. Judge William Sullivan then declared the mistrial. District Attorney Timothy Cruz said no retrial decision would be made immediately.
The House passed the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act, H.R. 4795, by a 237-169 vote, sending the measure to the Senate. Sponsored by Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), the bill would make colleges that engage in a “nonexpressive commercial boycott” of Israel ineligible for certain federal student aid and require Title VI recipients to keep academic exchanges open. Thirty-three Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in support; Reps. Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson were the only Republicans to vote no. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he opposes BDS but called the legislation “a poorly written Republican bill.” Schools would have to certify annually that they are not conducting such boycotts.
Singer Ed Sheeran faced backlash after opening act Macklemore used MetLife Stadium dates on his Loop Tour to lead “Free Palestine” chants and perform the 2024 protest song “Hind’s Hall” while Gaza footage and demonstration images played on the screens. Wearing a keffiyeh, Macklemore told the crowd a reason he joined the tour was “so I can stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine.” The Israeli-American Council launched a petition asking Sheeran, his management, and Live Nation to drop Macklemore from remaining U.S. dates, calling the set “a one-sided political agenda” at “an Ed Sheeran concert, not a political rally.”
Five people were killed and five injured after a Boeing 767-300 cargo jet operating for Amazon overran a runway at Miami International Airport and struck vehicles beyond the pavement. The flight hit a van carrying seven airport cleaning workers and an SUV on a nearby road. All five people killed were in those vehicles; three of the injured were listed in critical condition. More than 200 firefighters responded after the jet caught fire.
President Donald Trump hosted leading Chasidic rebbes and rabbis at the White House in a gathering his office called the first of its kind since 1979. Arranged by Jewish liaison Martin Marks, the closed meeting included the Satmar Rebbes of Kiryas Joel and Williamsburg, the Bobover Rebbe, representatives of Vizhnitz and Skver, and Lakewood rosh yeshivah Rabbi Malkiel Kotler. Vice President JD Vance, Jared Kushner, and Rep. Mike Lawler also attended. Journalist Moshe Weisberg reported that the long-estranged Satmar brothers, Rabbis Aaron and Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, spoke and shook hands, with Aaron congratulating Zalman on his grandson’s engagement. Trump asked if they were twins; they answered together, “No, we’re brothers.” Officials discussed housing, prison conditions, and family tax policy.
A white winter vest worn in the 1960s by the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, sold for $130,000 at an Atikim auction, six and a half times its $20,000 opening bid. The garment was made for the Rebbe and used for several winters in the sefarim room of his home at 500 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, where he kept kvitlach in the pockets. He stopped wearing it after falling ill in 1968 and later gave it to someone close to the household. Atikim, which specializes in historic Jewish and Hasidic artifacts, authenticated the vest. The buyer asked to remain anonymous.
Israel
The IDF said it killed two Gaza operatives who had recently advanced attacks on Israeli troops and civilians “in systematic violation of the ceasefire.” A strike in Gaza City killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member the military who took part in planting explosives against IDF forces. A separate strike last week killed a Hamas Nukhba fighter who also planted devices and operated against Israeli troops. The army said the strikes were meant to remove an immediate threat and that it used precise munitions and aerial surveillance to limit civilian harm. Southern Command forces remain deployed in Gaza under the ceasefire and will act against any further threat, the statement said. The military added that at least 14 terror operatives were killed in the Strip over the past week, including Nukhba company and platoon commanders.
The IDF said Hezbollah launched two explosive drones overnight at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon’s security zone, causing no injuries. The military called it the third such attack in a week and responded with strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure, including a weapons storage site, and on operatives it said were moving weapons near Kfar Reman. After an earlier drone launch, the IDF said it also killed several Hezbollah terrorists in the Nabatieh area.
The IDF said troops guided by the Israel Security Agency finished a 48-hour brigade-level operation in Nablus and nearby villages, dismantling more than 30 machines used to manufacture weapons. Soldiers also seized hidden firearms, handguns, and ammunition, searched hundreds of sites, questioned dozens of suspects, and arrested more than 10 wanted individuals.
Tel Aviv University researchers, working with JaxBio Technologies and doctors at Bnai Zion and Sheba medical centers, developed a $60 blood test that may help detect lung cancer. In a study of 103 people, the test detected 93.1% of stage 2-4 lung cancers and correctly identified 90.3% of healthy people. Results take two to three days, and the test can also help distinguish between two common types of lung cancer. Researchers say it is designed to be used alongside CT scans, not replace them. It has not yet been proven effective for stage 1 cancer or routine screening, and a larger trial is now underway in Israel and Europe.
Nauru inaugurated its first embassy in Israel at a Jerusalem ceremony attended by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Nauru Vice President and Foreign Minister Lionel Aingimea. The Pacific island, which recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2019, agreed to open the mission during talks in Fiji in 2025. “Nauru is one of Israel’s most loyal and steadfast friends in the international community,” Sa’ar said, citing its UN voting record and a written statement backing Israel at the International Court of Justice. Aingimea noted that Nauru votes with Israel about 71% of the time at the UN and said that share “will rise very soon.”
For the first time, a Charedi party running in an Israeli national election has placed a woman on its candidate list. Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, a Charedi political psychologist, has joined HaTzibur HaCharedi and will run second on the party’s slate for the 26th Knesset. Yaffe, 50, is a Jerusalem mother of three who grew up in the Slonim Chasidish community. She teaches at Tel Aviv University and has also worked on Harvard research about the Charedi community. She previously advised Israel’s National Security Council on Charedi issues and poverty, and after October 7 helped organize aid for families from communities near Gaza.
PayPal is cutting more than 70 of its roughly 300 Israel employees, mainly at the Tel Aviv development center, or nearly a quarter of the local staff. The dismissals are part of a multiyear global restructuring. The company has said it plans to reduce its worldwide workforce by about 20% over two to three years, or roughly 4,760 jobs based on 23,800 employees at the end of 2025, aiming for at least $1.5 billion in annual savings. Similar cuts have been reported in the United States, Ireland, and India.
World
Britain announced a ban on goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and said it would sanction companies and individuals involved in settlement construction, infrastructure, finance, and real estate. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the House of Commons the occupation is unlawful, and accused extremist settlers of “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in parts of the West Bank and said London must “act,” on settlement expansion. France and Canada will impose similar import bans; a 12-nation statement backed trade restrictions. Miliband said Britain will keep trading with Israel inside the Green Line and opposes the BDS movement. The broader sanctions regime is expected within six to nine months, with religious exemptions. Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment.
The Financial Times reported that U.S. Navy SEALs led a four-month covert mission to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said it had mined international and Omani waters following February’s U.S.-Israeli strikes. Divers worked mostly at night with unmanned vessels and specialized underwater systems to locate and neutralize explosives that had kept commercial ships away from a passage that once carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas. President Donald Trump later said mines in the strait’s international waters had been removed or destroyed.
French counterterrorism investigators arrested three men, ages 18 to 26, and later charged them with terrorist conspiracy. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office opened the case July 3 after the DGSI examined jihadist activity in a WhatsApp group called “Soldiers of Allah.” Prosecutors say the suspects discussed traveling to Africa to join ISIS. They were formally charged and placed in pretrial detention. One suspect, a 20-year-old, had been in contact with Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany, New York, arrested by the FBI on Aug. 19. U.S. authorities allege Bowie planned an ISIS-inspired attack on the New York State Capitol and then to flee to Syria.
