Israel prides itself on never leaving a soldier behind

Is the USA About to Defund the UN?

A coalition of 20 Republican senators, led by Senator Jim Risch of Idaho — ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — has introduced the Stand with Israel Act, a bill that seeks to cut off American funding to any United Nations agency that suspends, expels, downgrades, or otherwise curtails Israel’s participation.

This is not a symbolic move. The United States currently bankrolls between 22 percent and 25 percent of the UN’s annual operating budget — roughly $13 billion in the most recent fiscal year. Of that, more than $400 million goes to UNRWA, an organization long accused by critics of supporting terrorism under the guise of humanitarian work.

The Republican push comes at a time when the Trump administration appears to be recalibrating its approach to the Middle East. There’s increasing friction between Washington and Jerusalem, despite the usual rhetoric of friendship. Among the flashpoints: a nuclear deal with Iran that’s back on the table, a regional tour by Trump that conspicuously skipped Jerusalem, and a ceasefire in Yemen with the Iran-backed Houthis — leaving Israel to contend with that front alone.

Mishpacha spoke with Senator Risch regarding the proposed legislation and asked about broader US-Israel relations.

The plan’s objective  “Israel is one of America’s greatest allies,” Risch said, “and we cannot tolerate or fund any anti-Israel bias or favoritism for the Palestinian Liberation Organization at the UN. I’ve pushed for years to reform UNRWA, to no avail. I support efforts to defund and abolish it.”

On the UN  “There is a deep anti-Israel bias within the UN that has only grown stronger since Hamas’s October 7 attack,” said Risch. “That bias was amplified by UNRWA, which had multiple employees actively participate in the massacre and has allowed Hamas to operate freely within its schools and facilities. The UN today is less a bastion of diplomacy than a platform for anti-Semitism. It’s in desperate need of reform.”

On the war in Gaza  “Hamas carried out a savage terrorist attack, killing more than 1,200 people and taking over 240 Israeli and a dozen American hostages,” Risch noted. “Israel had every right — not just morally but as a matter of sovereignty — to respond with force and to continue dismantling Hamas’s infrastructure, especially as hostages remain in captivity.”

On Iran’s nuclear ambitions   “President Trump is adamant: Iran must never be permitted to become a nuclear power,” Risch declared. “His administration has launched a maximum pressure campaign that’s left Iran in its weakest position in decades. America will always stand with Israel.”

Is Israel losing its bipartisan support?  In recent years, support for Israel — once an unshakeable consensus across party lines — has begun to show fissures. Risch acknowledges the change, but downplays its scope. “Yes, there are a few radical Democrats in our government who appear more sympathetic to terrorists than to the people of Israel,” he said. “But that is not the majority view. Support for Israel remains strong and bipartisan. Recent votes in the Senate speak for themselves.”

Zvi Is Home

For more than four decades, he was a name without a body. Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman vanished in 1982, swallowed by the chaos of the First Lebanon War’s Battle of Sultan Yacoub. Israel mourned him alongside two others — Yehuda Katz and Zachary Baumel. While Baumel’s remains were recovered in 2019, Feldman stayed lost — until now.

In an operation equal parts espionage and excavation, Mossad agents embedded in Syria for years under deep cover seized an opportunity after the collapse of the Assad regime and brought Feldman’s remains home. Israeli officials say the mission was the result of “decades” of effort, though the breakthrough came in the last five months.

The symbolism, naturally, is heavy. Israel prides itself on never leaving a soldier behind. With Feldman repatriated, the search for Katz continues, now with one less ghost haunting military briefings and political promises.

Reprieve for NY Yeshivos

AAll $254 billion of the 2026 New York state budget finally limped across the finish line late Friday afternoon, 38 days after deadline. Assemblymen Simcha Eichenstein, Aaron Wieder, Kalman Yeger, and Sam Berger were successful in inserting some language into the budget that will protect the autonomy of yeshivos from the State Education Department (NYSED).

The bill enshrines into law the “safe harbors” that nonpublic schools may avail themselves of to demonstrate “substantial equivalency” to public schools, thereby limiting the Board of Regents’ ability to unilaterally alter regulations affecting yeshivos. (The Board of Regents, an unelected and independent agency operating within NYSED, has long been pursuing an agenda that threatens the autonomy of private schools.)

The new bill also allows schools to stay in compliance by obtaining provisional accreditation. Schools in the process of getting full accreditation can continue operating and receiving funding while meeting clear, time-bound benchmarks for full approval.

A third addition gives new schools more time to fully meet the requirements by letting them gradually phase in compliance over several years, with a final deadline set for the 2032–33 academic year. Thus, new schools won’t have to meet every standard immediately, but can instead demonstrate steady progress by transitioning in programs.

Finally — and perhaps most importantly — the bill grants protection to yeshivos deemed compliant from having that status challenged. Until now, even yeshivos that were presumed to be substantially equivalent were vulnerable to constantly shifting interpretations and sudden reviews. There was always the looming threat that a school deemed compliant today could be challenged tomorrow by a disgruntled ex-student or an overzealous LEA official. This bill eliminates that instability and sets a simple policy: A school deemed compliant is compliant.

“This bill was a contentious, multiyear, uphill battle,” said Avrohom Weinstock, chief of staff of Agudath Israel. “This achievement will move the needle.”

14.8%

That’s how much Chinese car sales surged in April, the third straight month of gains, propelled not by market optimism but by a government desperate to outmaneuver US tariffs. Trade-ins are now the stuff of strategy; consumers receive heftier subsidies for switching to electric vehicles than for sticking with gas. The result? EVs and hybrids now account for over half of all sales.

Total passenger car sales hit 1.78 million units last month, with 6.97 million sold so far this year — a tidy 8.2 percent jump from 2024.

More telling than the numbers is the timing. As Washington and Beijing spar over trade, intellectual property, and semiconductors, China’s electric vehicle sector is quietly declaring independence. State-backed consumer confidence, after all, is harder to tariff.