Thursday 4 Cheshvan – Harav Bergman: Without Bnei Yeshivah, We Have Nothing – Burnham Rejects Green Partnership – Worker Dies After Intel Explosion & more…

Harav Meir Tzvi Bergman stressed the central importance of protecting bnei yeshivah when United Torah Judaism representatives visited his home on Wednesday morning to discuss the forthcoming election.

According to a party account published by JDN, the representatives sought his guidance on the issues facing the Chareidi public and his berachah for success in the campaign. Harav Bergman told them that the position of bnei yeshivah must remain their overriding concern.

MK Yaakov Asher said the struggle over bachurim dominated this election more than any previous campaign. He reiterated that UTJ had publicly committed itself to joining no government without an agreed arrangement safeguarding their position.

Asher said that undertaking would apply whether the right or the left won the election. The party would not enter a coalition that failed to settle and guarantee the issue, he told Harav Bergman.

Harav Bergman responded: “Without bnei yeshivah, we have nothing.” MK Yitzchak Pindrus said the representatives acted as the Rosh Yeshivah’s emissaries. At the end of the meeting, they received Harav Bergman’s berachah for success in the election.

Tosh chassidim around the world have been asked to increase their tefillos for the Rebbe, who was scheduled to undergo a planned eye procedure in Florida on Wednesday.

B’Chadrei Chareidim reported that the treatment, intended to improve his vision, would take place at a specialist eye clinic near Fort Lauderdale. It is the first of two procedures recommended by his doctors following examinations.

The Rebbe has been staying in Florida for rest in recent weeks. According to the report, he attended hospital on Tuesday for tests ahead of the treatment, after experiencing weakness and discomfort in his eyes.

Following the first procedure, the Rebbe was expected to rest at his residence in Fort Lauderdale until the second treatment was completed. He would then return to Kiryas Tosh in Canada.

The call for tefillah was directed particularly to pupils of the Chassidus’s mosdos, as well as followers in its other centres. Wednesday’s report described the planned treatment; a confirmed account of its outcome was not available when this edition was prepared.

Shlomo Farnbach, the 11-year-old boy from Arad who went missing in Ashdod on Tuesday evening, has been found safe after an extensive search, Kore reported on Wednesday.

The child had left the hostel where he was staying at approximately 6.20pm on Tuesday, after which contact with him was lost. Police issued a public appeal on Wednesday morning, saying he had last been seen in Ashdod on 13 October.

ZAKA volunteers from the Lachish district joined the search, alongside the district’s missing-persons unit and mounted volunteers. Teams carried out searches on the ground as concern grew for the boy’s safety.

Harav Avraham Deri, commander of ZAKA’s Lachish district, said volunteers had been working with reinforced teams since the report of his disappearance. ZAKA said Shlomo is autistic, adding to the urgency and sensitivity of the search.

Kore subsequently reported that he had been located unharmed. The update brings the search appeal to an end; the earlier request for information about his whereabouts is no longer current.

A Dublin hotel cancelled a booking for 70 delegates attending an international conference against antisemitism, according to a JNS report published on Wednesday. The cancellation took place in May and was publicly disclosed this week.

Former Irish justice minister Alan Shatter said Herbert Park Hotel had confirmed accommodation in April. Organisers met its management on 7 May to discuss facilities for the Special Envoys and Coordinators Combating Antisemitism conference.

Maurice Cohen, chairman of Ireland’s Jewish Representative Council, said management asked whether the IDF would be involved. He said organisers explained that the gathering was a civilian diplomatic event, with no military connection.

JNS reviewed an 8 May email declining to host the conference without giving a reason. Shatter said the hotel subsequently released the rooms, citing missing credit-card details, an issue he said had not previously been raised.

Organisers secured an alternative venue. Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder condemned the account, while Shatter described it as an example of escalating antisemitism. The hotel had not responded to JNS’s request for comment at publication.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has ruled out a Labour partnership with the Green Party while it retains its policy describing Zionism as racism.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Burnham condemned the policy as antisemitic and said Labour could not support a partnership with a party holding that position. His comments followed pressure to rule out an agreement in a future hung Parliament.

The Greens adopted the policy at their conference earlier this month. Burnham had previously urged the party’s leadership to reverse it, but had stopped short of excluding a coalition agreement.

During a visit to Berlin on 8 October, he declined to speculate about future political arrangements. Wednesday’s Commons statement therefore set out a firmer position on the possibility of Labour working with the Greens.

“It is wrong, it is antisemitic,” Burnham told MPs. He said Labour would have no association with the policy and would take that position into account when considering partnerships with other parties. ITV reported his statement following the Commons exchange.

Britain will accelerate air-defence missile deliveries to Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited London on Wednesday amid continuing Russian attacks on his country’s energy infrastructure.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s office said deliveries of British lightweight multirole missiles would be brought forward. The weapons have proved effective against Russian jet-powered drones. Further military and financial support plans are being prepared for the coming weeks.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Burnham reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to Ukraine and said he wanted to restore American support. His remarks followed President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.

Zelenskyy said Russia had continued striking energy facilities despite Trump’s announcement of an energy ceasefire. Britain has pledged to maintain pressure on Moscow and is preparing further sanctions.

During his visit, Zelenskyy met King Charles at Buckingham Palace and thanked him for his support. ITV reported that their discussions lasted approximately 25 minutes. The Ukrainian president was also visiting Britain for talks with Burnham, who said the UK would go further and faster in its assistance.

One of the workers injured in Wednesday’s explosion at Intel’s Kiryat Gat plant has died, N12 reported in an evening update. Three workers had suffered severe burns in the blast.

Magen David Adom initially reported that two of the casualties were unconscious and had no pulse. Medics resuscitated both at the scene before taking the injured workers to Soroka Medical Centre in Be’er Sheva.

Earlier reports described two workers as being in serious, unstable condition and the third as seriously injured but stable. The subsequent fatality report concerned the worker whose condition had been described as critical.

Police said a gas cylinder appeared to have caused the explosion. Fire and Rescue Service teams trained to handle hazardous materials were deployed, with the service identifying nitrogen trifluoride, a gas used in semiconductor manufacturing, as involved in the incident.

The fire service and Kiryat Gat municipality urged the public to keep away from the area. Authorities investigated the cause and possible hazardous-material exposure. No suspicion of a terrorist attack was reported.