Trump Pope Leo: US President Donald Trump has sharply criticized Pope Leo XIV. The Pope had spoken out against US actions in Iran. Trump responded via social media, questioning the Pope's stance. Following this, Trump shared an AI-generated image depicting himself in a divine role. The Pope had previously called for an end to conflict and warned against aggressive rhetoric.
Sforno (Vayikra 13:47) Most Jews except for a few exalted people are without a doubt are ruled by Nature and are influenced by the heavenly bodies like other animals who do not receive personal Divine intervention but only as a species. They receive attention only as being part of the Jewish people.
All three major Hebrew TV networks reported that the IDF is gearing up for renewed conflict with Iran as the ceasefire talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic collapsed, in what appeared to be a coordinated leak by defense officials on Sunday.
The reported preparations come less than a week after a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan went into effect, and less than a day after negotiations in Islamabad between the US and Iran failed to produce a deal to permanently end the war in the Middle East.
In a clear sign that diplomatic efforts were at a dead end, the American military said on Sunday it will begin to enforce a naval blockade on Iran starting on Monday, following orders by US President Donald Trump.
Shir HaShirim Rabbah (07:08) Just as the farmer pays no attention to the baskets of dung or of straw or of stubble or of chaff,because they are not worth anything, so \G-d pays no attention to the other nations,because they are not worth anything, as it says, All the nations are as nothing before Him. To whom,then, does He pay attention? To Israel, as it says, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, etc., and again, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel.
https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-trump-buy-ed-mcmahon-home-foreclosure-11816985
President Donald Trump has shared a viral social media post claiming that he purchased Ed McMahon’s home in 2008, saving the television personality and comedian from losing it to foreclosure, and allowing him to live their rent-free for the remainder of his life.
The story shared by Trump is untrue, with no evidence that Trump bought McMahon’s property or leased it back to him free of charge. Contemporaneous reporting, as well as statements from McMahon’s representatives and family, contradict the claim.
Trump did publicly express an intention to help Ed McMahon during his foreclosure issues, but didn't buy the home or provide free lifetime housing as claimed in the post shared on Sunday. Additionally, the assertion that the media ignored Trump’s efforts is untrue, as his publicized offers were widely reported on at the time by outlets including CNBC and Reuters.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/04/12/hungary-election-viktor-orban-trump/
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban conceded defeat Sunday in a major election loss that will reverberate in Washington and Moscow and bring an end to the 16-year rule of a self-proclaimed champion of illiberal Christian democracy who is a darling of MAGA-aligned American conservatives, an ally of the Kremlin and a proud antagonist of European Union leaders in Brussels.
Orban, 62, who has governed Hungary with increasing authoritarianism since 2010, and his Fidesz party were ousted by Peter Magyar, 45, a center-right, socially conservative member of the European Parliament, and his Tisza Party — in what was arguably the country’s most consequential vote since the end of the communist era. Vice President JD Vance visited Hungary last week to campaign for Orban.
The U.S. has destroyed most of Iran’s navy. But not the one Tehran uses to control the Strait of Hormuz.
The regular navy operated Iran’s big battleships largely for prestige and occasional long-range deployments. The paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on the other hand, has its own extensive fleet of more nimble boats designed to control the crucial waterway with missiles, mines and harassment of commercial ships—and they are much harder to reach.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-april-12-2026/
More than 60% of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval fleet tasked with patrolling the Strait of Hormuz is still intact after six weeks of war with the US and Israel, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The report comes as US President Donald Trump has declared that the US Navy will impose a blockade on the strait following failed ceasefire talks in Pakistan yesterday.
But the largely intact fleet of small boats and attack craft should allow the IRGC to continue to control the Strait of Hormuz with ease, including by laying mines down throughout the narrow waterway, the Journal says, with the heavy damage inflicted to Iran’s traditional navy making “relatively little difference” in this area.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/12/world/live-news/iran-us-war-talks-trump
The US president predicted Iran will return to negotiations and renewed his threats against the country after peace talks ended in a stalemate.
• Blockade in the strait: President Donald Trump said the US Navy will start blocking passage through the Strait of Hormuz, risking an even greater spike to oil and gas prices as he seeks to maximize leverage over Iran. The US and other countries will sweep for mines in the vital waterway during the blockade, Trump said.
There is a blatant contradiction between US President Donald Trump’s repeated insistence, on the one hand, that the war against Iran has achieved “regime change” and he is now negotiating with new, “much more reasonable leaders,” and his simultaneous acknowledgement, on the other, that any Iranian who dares to take to the streets faces an immediate death sentence.
The same goes for his simultaneous contention, also expounded at Monday’s press conference, that the purportedly new regime is “not as radicalized” as its predecessor, but that, nonetheless, “Israel will be gone, the Middle East will be gone,” if Iran gets the bomb.
“We won, okay,” the US president claimed on Monday night. But for all his contradictions, as Trump knows full well, the Iranian regime against which he went to war remains in power, and its nuclear ambitions are anything but dimmed.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/12/world/live-news/iran-us-war-talks-trump
• No agreement: US Vice President JD Vance says no agreement was reached with Iran after marathon talks in Pakistan. Iran would not commit to forgoing a nuclear weapon, Vance said, adding that US negotiators gave their “final and best offer,” but Tehran refused to accept the US’ terms for a deal.
• No plans for further talks: Tehran currently has no plans for another round of negotiations, state media reported. In Iran, the failure of the talks is being blamed on “excessive” demands of the United States.
• Questions remain: The failure to yield a deal throws the ceasefire into doubt, and without Iran’s commitment to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, global energy supplies will continue to be throttled. Before the ceasefire, President Donald Trump had promised Iran’s “whole civilization will die.” Then, he said it “makes no difference to me” whether both sides make a deal.
Iran has emerged from five weeks of punishing U.S. and Israeli bombing with most of the tools it needs to make a nuclear bomb intact, officials and experts say, giving its negotiators another lever for pressing Washington to make concessions.
While Iran has gained a powerful new point of economic leverage through its control of the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. and Israel have long been focused on preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Sunday in Islamabad that talks between the two sides broke down after Iran refused to commit to not seeking nuclear weapons in the future.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-892513
This declaration of war is not over any concrete dispute. Its purpose is to undermine the legitimacy of a parallel state judicial institution – to challenge its composition, authority, and decisions. Imagine the storm that would be unleashed if Chief Justice Amit had determined that Israel’s chief rabbi was impudent, lawless, and an enemy of the State of Israel.
The chief rabbis’ outburst has deep roots. Their father, the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, along with many other rabbis, held that Israel’s courts are “gentile tribunals.” Decoded, this phrase implies that Jews may not turn to them. It echoes Maimonides and the Shulhan Aruch, “whoever comes before them for judgment is wicked.” This is, to put it mildly, a deeply problematic halachic-cultural position. The ban on litigating before gentile courts was, of course, formulated in exile.
US officials assess that Iran retains thousands of missiles it can fire by recovering launchers buried underground, and they are concerned Iran will work to rebuild its ballistic capabilities during the break in the fighting with the US and Israel, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
An Israeli official cited by the Kan public broadcaster also said Iran was deploying bulldozers to repair entrances to underground missile storage facilities that had been struck by the Israel Defense Forces.
The damage that the US and Israel have inflicted on Iran “is not irreparable, and in the absence of a significant agreement, the IDF will have to go back to [fight] Iran,” the unnamed Israeli official was quoted as saying.
You remember the Epstein files, right? They were the subject of all the “notorious child sex trafficking” headlines President Trump tried to bomb out of existence by starting a war with Iran.
If I’m being honest, the war gambit kind of worked. News about the Epstein files and Trump’s connection therein had largely subsided, making way for news about Trump’s incalculably dumb idea to start a war in the Middle East.
The president used the cover of war to toss Pam Bondi into the attorney general waste bin, unhappy with how she failed to contain the Epstein scandal. He replaced her with his former personal attorney, a guy who once said partying with Epstein ‒ a convicted sex offender who died in prison awaiting a sex trafficking trial ‒ was no big deal.
The president reportedly didn’t know his wife was bringing up the Epstein files. And again, nobody was really talking about the files … until she brought them up, for reasons that remain unclear.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/09/melania-trump-epstein-lies
When Donald Trump launched a seemingly random war against Iran, there was a whiff of suspicion of a Wag the Dog ploy to divert attention from how badly the Jeffrey Epstein scandal was going.
So when Trump’s wife Melania made a mysterious appearance at the White House on Thursday to put Epstein front and centre again, was it an elaborate ruse to divert attention from how badly the Iran war is going?
The first lady emerged from the Blue Room and walked to a lectern flanked by US flags in the grand foyer, surrounded by chandeliers, marble pillars and shiny chequered floor.
As cameras clicked away, Melania, full of cold fury, said in her now familiar Slovenian accent: “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today.”
To which America responded: “What lies? Maybe we read something somewhere a few months ago but we have more pressing concerns right now.”
What is Melania’s game? Is she a secret member of the resistance after all, driven to act now by Trump’s threat to wipe out Iranian civilisation and growing fears that he is descending into madness? Is there a smoking gun in the Epstein files that could yet bring him down? It would all make a great Amazon documentary.
US first lady says Congress should hold a public hearing centered on survivors of Epstein’s crimes, claims statements about her are financially and politically motivated
Mishlei (21:1) Like channeled water is the mind of the king in the LORD’s hand;He directs it to whatever He wishes.
Meshech Chochma (Devarim 17:15): … The Ralbag notes that the heart of the king is in G-d’s hand. Thus the king has no free will but what he does is determined by G d. Shmuel was thus afraid of Shaul at this point because Shaul was no longer king and thus had free will to harm him
Malbim (Mishlei 21:01) King’s heart is in God’s hand Even though a normal man has free will to do as he wishes this is not so for a king. That is because the welfare of the nation is dependent on him. If he choses a harmful action it will produce widespread harm to the nation. Therefore since his actions impact many he is constrained by G-d and has restricted free will
Or HaChaim (Bereishis 44:18) king's heart is in G-d's hand." This means that the king is privileged to receive divine assistance before pronouncing judgment.
Rabbeinu Bachya (Devarim 17:15) It would do well for us to study our history and to learn what happened to the Jewish people during the centuries when their political system was headed by a king of flesh and blood. Devarim Rabbah 5,11 sums it up in these words: the Jewish kings caused many of their people to fall in battle because of their faulty policies. Shaul caused many casualties at Gilboah David caused a plague. Achav, King of Israel, became the cause of the three year famine. Tzidkiyah’s policies became the immediate cause for the destruction of the Temple . How was it that the entire people who had experienced a tremendous renaissance under the leadership of the prophet Samuel agreed to ask for a king? The Talmud Sanhedrin 20 dissects the wording in Samuel I 8, pointing out that the elders of the people were motivated by pure considerations asking that the purpose of the king be “to judge us,”. The common people were motivated by the desire for their king to be a general who would lead them in war, and their sin was in saying “like all the nations.” They spelled this out in greater detail in verse 20 of that chapter. The people were agreed that they wanted a king, but they differed regarding the tasks of that king.
Ralbag (Mishlei 21:01) Heart of a king – This means that the deeds and thoughts of a king are limited by G-d. Because if he had total free will it would pose a great danger to the nation he controlled
An important issue is whether Hasghacha Protis means G-d determines what happens to us or is merely aware of our actions and will eventually give reward or punishment
Avos (03:15) Everything is foreseen but the right of choice is granted, and the world is judged with goodness, and everything is in accordance with the preponderance of man's deeds.
Kli Yakar (Bereishis 41:01) And behold after two years Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile. The Philosophers claim that G-d is too elevated and great to pay attention to the lowly world below the sphere of the moon. To nullify this pernicious view the verse says Talk no more so very proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.This means not to say that because G-d is so great that he has no awareness of our actions because He is all knowing and is fact knows all of mans deeds
Koheles Rabbah (10:14) Never does a serpent bite unless it has been incited from Above, nor does a lion rend its prey unless it has been incited from Above, nor does a government interfere with men unless it has been incited from Above.
Shemuel (1 02:03-10) Talk no more so very proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.4. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and those who stumbled are girded with strength.5. Those who were full have hired out themselves for bread; and those who were hungry ceased to hunger; the barren has borne seven; and she who has many children has become wretched.6. The Lord kills, and returns to life; he brings down to Sheol, and brings up.7. The Lord makes poor, and makes rich; he brings low, and he lifts up.8. He raises up the poor from the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he has set the world upon them.9. He will keep the feet of his pious ones, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.10. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; from heaven shall he thunder upon them; the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Meshech Chochma (Shemos 13:9): Providence is manifest for each Jew according to his spiritual level as the Rambam explains in Moreh Nevuchim (3:18): Providence is not equal for everyone but rather is proportional to spiritual level. Consequently, the Providence for the prophets is extremely powerful each according to their level of prophecy. The Providence for the pious and saintly is according to their level of perfection. In contrast, the fools and the rebels lacking spirituality are in essence in the same category as animals… This concept that Providence is proportional to spiritual level is one of foundations of Judaism…
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-892495
A new Walla and Maariv poll found that many Israelis are unconvinced by claims of victory over Iran, with broad dissatisfaction over the war’s outcome and mixed views on political leadership.
The Israeli public is deeply divided over the question of victory in the war with Iran, according to a Walla and Maariv poll published on Thursday.
According to the poll, the public is not buying the “image of victory” when it comes to Iran. Despite the ceasefire, it appears that most Israelis do not feel a sense of victory in the direct campaign against Iran.
Forty-six percent of respondents believe that Israel and the United States did not win the war. Only 22% of the public believes that victory was achieved.
Sixty-three percent of all respondents said they were dissatisfied with the outcome of the war, compared with only 32% who expressed satisfaction.
Chullin (07b) No man bruises his finger here on earth unless it was so decreed against him in heaven, for it is written: It is of the Lord that a man's goings are established. How then can man look to his way?
Kesubos (30a) Everything is ‘by the hand of heaven’ except cold and heat, for it is said: ‘Cold and heat are in the way of the foward; he that keepeth his soul holdeth himself far from them? Further, are lions and thieves ‘by the hand of man? Did not R. Joseph say. and R. Hiyya teach: Since the day of the destruction of the Temple, although the Sanhedrin ceased, the four forms of capital punishment have not ceased? ‘They have not ceased,’ you say? Surely they have ceased! But sayLions and thieves are ‘by the hand of heaven’, and cold and heat are ‘by the hand of man’.
Avoda Zara (54b) Philosophers asked the elders in Rome, If your God has no desire for idolatry, why does He not abolish it? They replied, If it was something of which the world has no need that was worshipped, He would abolish it; but people worship the sun, moon, stars and planets; should He destroy the Universe on account of fools! The world pursues its natural course, and as for the fools who act wrongly, they will have to render an account. Another illustration: Suppose a man stole a measure of wheat and went and sowed it in the ground; it is right that it should not grow, but the world pursues its natural course and as for the fools who act wrongly, they will have to render an account. Another illustration: Suppose a man has intercourse with his neighbour's wife; it is right that she should not conceive, but the world pursues its natural course and as for the fools who act wrongly, they will have to render an account. This is similar to what R. Simeon b. Lakish said: The Holy One, blessed be He, declared, Not enough that the wicked put My coinage to vulgar use, but they trouble Me and compel Me to set My seal thereon!
Avoda Zara (55a) An Israelite named Zunin said to R. Akiba: We both know in our heart that there is no reality in an idol; nevertheless we see men enter the shrine crippled and come out cured. What is the reason?’ He replied, I will give you a parable: To what is the matter like? To a trustworthy man in a city, and all his townsmen used to deposit their money in his charge without witnesses. One man, however, came and deposited his money in his charge with witnesses; but on one occasion he forgot and made his deposit without witnesses. The wife of the trustworthy man said to her husband, "Come, let us deny it." He answered her, "Because this fool acted in an unworthy manner, shall I destroy my reputation for trustworthiness!" It is similar with afflictions. At the time they are sent upon a man the oath is imposed upon them, "You shall not come upon him except on such and such a day, nor depart from him except on such and such a day, and at such an hour, and through the medium of so and so, and through such and such a remedy." When the time arrives for them to depart, the man chanced to go to an idolatrous shrine. The afflictions plead, "It is right that we should not leave him and depart; but because this fool acts in an unworthy way shall we break our oath!" This is similar to what R. Johanan said: What means that which is written, And sore and faithful sicknesses? Sore in their mission and faithful to their oath.
President Trump’s declaration of “total victory” in Iran left some close allies and several senior aides worried Wednesday that he is overstating what is a fragile cease-fire with Tehran, which remains capable of blocking ships in the Strait of Hormuz and attacking U.S. forces in the region.
The president has been advised on the risks that could cause the cease-fire to crater and warned that Iran still retains dangerous military capabilities, according to multiple officials.
The ceasefire left Israel without diplomatic gains and without a response to its main threats. The gap between military success and the actual outcome heightens the risk of further escalation. At the same time, criticism is mounting over the government's conduct and its impact on Israel's standing on the international stage.
Fighting halts with the US president hailing what is only a tactical victory, and impossibly expecting a deal in two weeks to impose terms on the weakened but emboldened Iranian regime
Trump moves toward talks with Tehran that could send billions to regime and fuel its rearmament, as the PM appears unable to land a knockout blow against Israel’s foes in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-892375
From Washington’s perspective, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz constitutes a major strategic achievement. For Iran, the ceasefire offers temporary breathing room.
Many Israelis woke up this morning feeling frustrated. In the hours leading up to the expiration of the American ultimatum to Iran, expectations were high that the night might bring another decisive phase of the campaign – possibly including strikes against Iran’s critical energy infrastructure.
Tehran agreed to the key American demand: reopening the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping. In doing so, it effectively ended, at least for now, the global energy crisis that had begun to loom over international markets.
In return, Iran received a two-week ceasefire. Importantly, this arrangement includes no guarantees that the broader conflict is over. There is no withdrawal of forces, and the agreement does not include a halt to Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hezbollah.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is therefore not merely a tactical development. It represents a test of whether Iran will abandon its use of global energy routes as instruments of coercion or whether the current pause is simply an intermission before the next phase of the conflict.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-iran-cease-fire-strait-of-hormuz-4dd95294?mod=hp_opin_pos_1
Tehran is still a threat to the Strait and may retain enriched uranium.
Did the war with Iran that began with a roar end with a whimper? That’s the way it looks in the cold light of Wednesday after President Trump’s announcement late Tuesday of a two-week cease-fire. Mr. Trump achieved some of his war aims, but the Iranian regime remains a threat in the Strait of Hormuz and the job is far from finished, despite what he promised last week.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-892393
Former supreme leader Ali Khamenei is dead. Iran’s ballistic missile infrastructure has been set back to a degree Israeli defense planners would have called fantasy in 2024. But the regime survived.
The instinct right now is to focus on what went wrong. That instinct should be resisted long enough to reckon with what this campaign accomplished – but not so long that we mistake a successful military operation for a resolved strategic problem.
The balance sheet tilts in Israel’s favor. That is true. Iran’s ability to threaten this country has diminished over the years. But Netanyahu’s own words Wednesday night suggest the government understands this is unfinished: “There are more objectives to complete, and we will achieve them, either by agreement or by resuming fighting. Our finger is on the trigger.”
The war gave Israel an opening it has not had in a generation. Whether it amounts to anything lasting depends entirely on what comes next.
No indication Tehran accepted such terms, as US president threatens tariffs, touts progress; Pentagon claims Iranian military decimated, despite ongoing missile, drone attacks
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/syqsawv2be#google_vignette
PM says Israel aligned with US on removing Iran’s remaining enriched uranium, casts temporary ceasefire as only waypoint in war and vows that Hezbollah would remain outside truce as Israel stays ready to resume combat at any moment
CNN’s Kate Bolduan asked Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson about his reaction to Trump’s heightened rhetoric. The president was doubling down on an earlier warning to Iran after giving them until 8 p.m. EDT on Tuesday to agree to a deal.
“Well, we already knew that Donald Trump was a pretty bad president, but now we know that he’s an absolutely terrible commander in chief as well,” he answered. “I mean, he continues to vacillate –– offers contradictory messaging about what’s going on and does he support the Iranian people? Does he not? Does he support regime change? Does he not? Are the allies with us? Does he need them? It goes on and on and on.”
“This guy is just not competent in terms of leading this force,” Anderson continued. “He has not set clear objectives, clear definable objectives, that the military can truly execute.”
Anderson predicted Trump will extend the deadline because Trump cannot do what he said he will do, “which is to bomb every single civilian target in the theater in Iran.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/425199
While President Trump insists Iran will not be allowed to enrich uranium under the negotiated agreement, Iran's version of the plan includes an acknowledgement of its right to enrichment.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/08/israel-netanyahu-iran-ceasefire-00863490
Critics on the left and right say the truce leaves Israel’s core concerns unresolved, even as Trump hails a new opening for the region.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/08/trump-iran-threats-deal/
The president’s ultimatum drew condemnation across the political spectrum and intensified open debate about his credibility, morality and sanity.
“The President’s threat that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said in a statement on Tuesday. “This type of rhetoric is an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold and promote around the world for nearly 250 years. It undermines our long-standing role as a global beacon of freedom and directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home.”
Iran’s government also portrayed the deal as a victory and is demanding a role in supervising passage through the Strait of Hormuz, which it did not have before the war.
“There is no military solution to the conflict right now,” Joe Kent, Trump’s counterterrorism adviser who resigned last month in protest of the war, said in an online video after the president’s announcement Tuesday night. “Every action that we’ve taken militarily has only strengthened the regime, and it’s done a lot to destabilize the entire region.”
Former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) called Trump’s threat “evil and madness.” Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who maintains a large following online, accused Trump of desecrating Sunday’s Easter holiday with a profane social media post and of being willing to commit “a moral crime.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5818411-trump-iran-strikes-war-crimes/
On Sunday, Trump threatened to strike Iranian bridges and power plants if the country does not open the Strait of Hormuz.
International law experts are warning that following through on Trump’s threats of total destruction in Iran could constitute war crimes. On Thursday, more than 100 international law experts in the U.S. signed an open letter warning that U.S. strikes in Iran, including threatened strikes on energy infrastructure, could be deemed war crimes.
The U.S. has already faced backlash for the missile strike on the all-girls Iranian Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school. The strike killed at least 175 people, most of them children. There is an ongoing military investigation that preliminarily determined responsibility was on the U.S.
The U.S. and Iran received a ceasefire proposal from Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey that included a 45-day ceasefire and the Strait of Hormuz opening.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/06/politics/war-crimes-trump-iran
Just five months after President Donald Trump and his allies appeared indignant over a video in which six congressional Democrats warned service members not to obey illegal orders, Trump is showing exactly what they were talking about.
He’s set an 8 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline for Iran to agree to a deal and re-open the Strait of Hormuz. Otherwise, Trump has repeatedly said, he will strike Iranian infrastructure sites including power plants, bridges, oil wells and possibly others like water desalination plants in ways that could well amount to war crimes.
It remains to be seen whether he follows through if there is no deal. He has repeatedly delayed his deadline, which was initially set for two weeks ago, despite little evidence of serious negotiations.
When asked Monday about possibly committing war crimes, Trump said he wasn’t worried about it.
“You know the war crime?” he told reporters at the White House. “The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Ramchal (Derech Hashem (02:06.06) Regarding miracles: But note that He changes the rules of creation according to His will at any time that He wants; and He does miracles and wonders with different things as He desires. He does this as He decrees that it will be proper for the purpose of creation according to the situation or according to the time. So what is this that the Sages said, "G-d made conditions with all of the work of creation."? It is not that G-d would not change anything from now on. For He could certainly make a complete change any time He wants. Rather the matter is that at the time of the creation, He showed and informed all of the roots of the creatures their functions, the truth of their existence, the purpose of their creation, what they would effect in the future with their processes and what would be the end of their functions. And they grasped and knew that all was going to be for the purpose of the true good. And they accepted the thing and rejoiced in it. And this is the meaning of that which the Sages said in a homiletical teaching, "All the works of creation were created with their consent." However when G-d informed them of their true function and laws and the truth of all the processes, He also showed them that those miracles that would be performed upon them for Israel or for the righteous among them at certain times were from among the things that were needed for their perfection. Of course, this thing was [first] stated to the roots of the higher ones and afterwards unfolded down; and [then] the things were established in the physical realm as is fitting for them. And appointees were placed over them that strengthen them in their natural law. However at the time that G-d wants, He decrees over His appointees and they stop their assignment and change their natural process, due to the decree that was upon them. And it is actually possible that the decrees coming to them be in different ways. The explanation of this is that it comes - by way of example - like the command of a king or like the rebuke of a furious governor, as the matter is stated, "And He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried, etc." Likewise that which is similar to this among the ways; everything according to the situation and its time.
Moreh Nevuchim (03:32) Although in every one of the signs related in Scripture the natural property of some individual being is changed, the nature of man is never changed by God by way of miracle. It is in accordance with this important principle that God said, “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me,” etc. It is also for this reason that He distinctly stated the commandments and the prohibitions, the reward and the punishment. This principle as regards miracles has been frequently explained by us in our works: I do not say this because I believe that it is difficult for God to change the nature of every individual person; on the contrary, it is possible, and it is in His power, according to the principles taught in Scripture; but it has never been His will to do it, and it never will be. If it were part of His will to change at His desire the nature of any person, the mission of prophets and the giving of the Law would have been altogether superfluous.
Rabbeinu Bachya (Avos 05:08) What we learn from these medrashim is that everything – the past the present and the future has been decreed from the time of Creation and there is nothing new under the Sun. Thus what seems to be new is merely something built into Nature which is first manifesting itself at the appropriate time> Because if you want to say that G-d did not want something until it is seen and He is making something totally new and thus changing his Mind – Heaven Forfend! In fact there is no change or innovation in Nature after the original Creation and everything that seems to be a change was built into Nature.
Moreh Nevuchim (02:29) God made an agreement with the sea that it should divide before the Israelites: thus it is said, “And the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared”. R. Jeremiah, son of Elazar, said: Not only with the sea, but with all that has been created in the six days of the beginning was the agreement made: this is referred to in the words, “I, even my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded”; i.e., I have commanded the sea to divide, the fire not to hurt Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, the lions not to harm Daniel, and the fish to spit out Jonah. The same is the case with the rest of the miracles.
Avos (05:06) Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight, and these are they: [1] the mouth of the earth, [2] the mouth of the well, [3] the mouth of the donkey, [4] the rainbow, [5] the manna, [6] the staff [of Moses], [7] the shamir, [8] the letters, [9] the writing, [10] and the tablets. And some say: also the demons, the grave of Moses, and the ram of Abraham, our father. And some say: and also tongs, made with tongs.Avos D'Rabbi Nassan (36:5) These seven have no share in the World to Come: the scribe, the schoolteacher, the best doctors, the city judge, the magician, the sexton, and the butcher.
Moreh Nevuchim (02:29) Our Sages, however, said very strange things as regards miracles: they are found in Bereshis Rabba, and in Midrash Koheles, namely, that the miracles are to some extent also natural: for they say, when God created the Universe with its present physical properties, He made it part of these properties, that they should produce certain miracles at certain times, and the sign of a prophet consisted in the fact that God told him to declare when a certain thing will take place, but the thing itself was effected according to the fixed laws of Nature. If this is really the meaning of the passage referred to, it testifies to the greatness of the author, and shows that he held it to be impossible that there should be a change in the laws of Nature, or a change in the will of God as regards the physical properties of things after they have once been established. He therefore assumes, e.g., that God gave the waters the property of joining together, and of flowing in a downward direction, and of separating only at the time when the Egyptians were drowned, and only in a particular place.
Rambam (Shemoneh Perakim 8) The sages said that all miracles which deviate from the natural course of events, whether they have already occured, or, according to promise, are to take place in the future, were fore-ordained by the Divine Will during the six days of creation, nature being then so constituted that those miracles which were to happen really did afterwards take place. Then, when such an occurence happened at its proper time, it may have been regarded as an absolute innovation, whereas in reality it was not. The Rabbis expatiate very much upon this subject in the Midrash Koheleth and in other writings, one of their statements in reference to this matter being, "Everything follows its natural course". In everything that they said, you will always find that the Rabbis avoided referring to the Divine Will as determining a particular event at a particular time. When, therefore, they said that man rises and sits down in accordance with the will of God, their meaning was that, when man was first created, his nature was so determined that rising up and sitting down were to be optional to him; but they as little meant that God wills at any special moment that man should or should not get up, as He determines at any given time that a certain stone should or should not fall to the ground. The sum and substance of the matter is, then, that thou shouldst believe that just as God willed that man should be upright in stature, broad-chested, and have fingers, likewise did He will that man should move or rest of his own accord, and that his actions should be such as his own free will dictates to him, without any outside influence or restraint, which fact God clearly states in the truthful Law, which elucidates this problem, when it says, "Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil". The Targum, in paraphrasing this passage, explains the meaning of the words mimmenu lada'at ṭob wara'. Man has become the only being in the world who possesses a characteristic which no other being has in common with him. What is this characteristic? It is that by and of himself man can distinguish between good and evil, and do that which he pleases, with absolutely no restraint. Since, then, this is so, it would have even been possible for him to have stretched out his hand, and, taking of the tree of life, to have eaten of its fruit, and thus live forever. Since it is an essential characteristic of man's makeup that he should of his own free will act morally or immorally, doing just as he chooses, it becomes necessary to teach him the ways of righteousness, to command and exhort him, to punish and reward him according to his deserts. It behooves man also to accustom himself to the practice of good deeds, until he acquires the virtues corresponding to those good deeds; and, furthermore, to abstain from evil deeds so that he may eradicate the vices that may have taken root in him. Let him not suppose that his characteristics have reached such a state that they are no longer subject to change, for any one of them may be altered from the good to the bad, and vice versa; and, moreover, all in accordance with his own free will. To confirm this theory, we have mentioned all these facts concerning the observances and the transgressions of the Law.
Derashos HaRan (04): For there is no question that those who were drawn after idol worship and who became its devotees, as we learn from Scripture and from the words of our sages— there is no question that they were not fools. Beyond a doubt, experience confirmed them in their expectation of benefit from their idolatrous acts, for if this were not the case, so many sound individuals would not have strayed into idolatry generation after generation. But it is as we have said. In the early times there were many acts which were known to result in great benefit. There was no error on this score but only in the conception of the means by which this benefit was derived. In reality, it derived solely from the nature of the thing acted upon; but the practitioners of these acts attributed the benefit to the will of the acting and protecting agency and compounded their sin by bringing offerings and sacrifices to the heavenly host. It follows from this that anything which is known to derive from the predisposition of the recipient is beneficial in truth and permitted by the Torah, and what is thought to derive from the will of the celestial agent is vain and empty and in the realm of idolatry. Therefore, every act which does not contain the intent of drawing-down the favor of a celestial agent and which is not distinctly idolatrous is not in the forbidden category of "the ways of the Emorites."
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/03/middleeast/trump-claims-iran-regime-change-intl
US President Donald Trump said this week that Iran’s new leadership is “less radical and much more reasonable.” Trump and the Pentagon have repeatedly claimed that regime change has happened.
If anything, the war has given more power to the hardline military factions inside the complex system of Iranian governance, as well as bolstered anti-American sentiments.
“When President Trump says he has changed the regime in Iran, he’s right in one sense – he’s changed it to a much more radicalized regime,” said Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group. “All of these individuals who are now in place – the new national security advisor, the new head of the IRGC, the speaker of the parliament, who himself was a former commander of Revolutionary Guards – they all have been involved in domestic repression extensively in their past lives.”
Rav Menachem Schneerson Igros Kodesh #1:94): I. The view of the Baal Shem Tov: Providence applies to every event that affects man as well as inanimate matter, plants, and animals… As explained by our master, the Baal Shem Tov, not only are all the particular activities of that which has been created determined by providence but this providence is the life-energy of the created being and maintains its existence. Moreover, every particular movement of that which has been created has a connection to the intent of the creation as a whole…. The movement of one blade of grass is part of what G-d’s intent is for the creation as a whole…
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/02/politics/iran-missiles-us-military-strikes-trump
Roughly half of Iran’s missile launchers are still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remain in Iran’s arsenal despite the daily pounding by US and Israeli strikes against military targets over the past five weeks, according to recent US intelligence assessments, three sources familiar with the intel told CNN.
Thousands of Iranian drones still exist — roughly 50% of the country’s drone capabilities — two of the sources said the intelligence indicated. The intelligence, compiled in recent days, also showed a large percentage of Iran’s coastal defense cruise missiles were intact, the sources said, consistent with the US not focusing its air campaign on coastal military assets though they have been hitting ships. Those missiles serve as a key capability allowing Iran to threaten shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tefillah is associated with Korbanot. Tefillat Shacharit is divided into several sections. The first section involves reciting the daily Korbanot as an attempt to reenact what was, and for which we are praying, to be reinstated.[1] The power of this recital is directly related to our understanding.
This section concludes with a chapter of Mishnayot, Eizehu Mekoman. This unique chapter of Mishnayos from Masechet Zevachim presents a summary classification of the Korbanot. This summary is cryptic and confusing for the uninitiated, anyone who hasn't invested in studying Kodshim.
The attached, a carefully planned and organized chart with concise notes was composed to help clarify the differering details in each Mishna, along with various unclear references, such as:
אלו ואלו נשרפין
שיירי הדם
שינה באכילתן
As mentioned in the notes, a chapter of Mishnayot was included so that we approach Tefillah after learning oral Torah. Besides relating to and providing an overview of Korbanot, this is the only chapter in the entire Shas Mishnayot without even one disagreement.
This chart was created by a young avreich, Rav Nosson Neta Weiss Shlita, and repeatedly peer-reviewed until it reached the current state of superb clarity. It serves as an introduction to Korbanot as it renders the chapter readily accessible and meaningful with relatively minimal effort.
It is his sincere desire that these charts be distributed in durable form far and wide לזיכוי הרבים and to dramatically increase the power of כאילו הקריבו recital considered as if these Korbanot were actually brought up.
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May this learning help to focus our yearning for the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash speedily in our days ושם נעבדך ביראה כימי עולם וכשנים קדמוניות
Rav Weiss lives in Bet Shemesh, and may be contacted by phone at 0533101314, email g0534158595@gmail.com. He is fluent in Hebrew and in Yiddish. For English, please contact 0533144111.
Important request:
A donation of 100 NIS covers printing 100 copies, enabling another 100 of our brothers to recite with clear understanding. With sufficient funds, costs drop, enabling greater distribution.
Please donate here to participate in distribution of Eizehu Mekoman Charts.https://nedar.im/dYqr
The donations are eligible for an Israeli charity tax deduction (Chapter 46).
[1] אמר ריש לקיש: מאי דכתיב 'זאת התורה, לעולה, למנחה, ולחטאת, ולאשם'? כל העוסק בתורה - כאילו הקריב עולה, מנחה, חטאת, ואשם.
אמר רבא: האי 'לעולה, למנחה', "עולה ומנחה" מיבעי ליהW אלא אמר רבא: כל העוסק בתורה - אינו צריך לא עולה, (ולא חטאת) ולא מנחה, ולא אשם.
אמר רבי יצחק: מאי דכתיב 'זאת תורת החטאת', ו'זאת תורת האשם'? כל העוסק בתורת חטאת - כאילו הקריב חטאת. וכל העוסק בתורת אשם - כאילו הקריב אשם." (מנחות ק"י ע"א).
The US, for its part, seems uninterested in bringing the Islamic Republic down. Worryingly for Israel, Trump argues — in an entirely novel definition of the term — that regime change has already been secured since Iran’s senior leadership has been wiped out.
Israel’s goal of removing Iran’s ability to pose a threat likely cannot be achieved without regime change, Israel’s ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter said on the What the Hell is Going on? podcast Monday.
The purpose of the campaign, he said, “is to make sure that we don’t have a power, an entity in Tehran, which is developing nuclear weapons, is developing weapons of mass destruction in terms of these ballistic missiles, and is supporting proxies around the region. That’s what we’re focused on.”
“Now, if that can be done without regime change, okay. Probably can’t, though,” he added.
Israel, it seems, is making plans for the distinct possibility that Trump moves on from the war and the Iranian regime survives. It will then be facing a much-weakened Islamic Republic, but one that still commands massive resources to pour into rebuilding and still has armed proxies ready to do its bidding.
The military campaign, in that case, may then be over, but the war will be far from its end.
https://www.torahweb.org/torah/2007/moadim/rwil_pesach.html
Pesach, from its very inception, represented the antithesis of idolatry: "Draw your hands away from idols and take for yourselves a sheep of mitzvah" (Rashi, Shemos 12:6). "And the people believed" (4:31); belief in Hashem and His messengers, Moshe and Aharon, began the redemption process.
"This is the law of the Korban Pesach: any stranger may not eat from it" (Shemos 12:43). "Any stranger" includes one who knowingly rejects all, or even part, of the Torah (Rashi, Gur Aryeh). The opening law stated regarding the Korban Pesach emphasizes the indispensability of faith in Hashem and His Torah on Pesach. The wicked son is excluded from the Korban Pesach, even though he too left Egypt, because his lack of faith disqualifies him from the final geula.
The Beis Halevi (parshas Bo) comments that Pesach is linked to the ultimate redemption. Since denial of the validity of the Oral Torah led to the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash, acceptance of this belief is a prerequisite for its rebuilding.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/01/iran-war-polls-ground-troops/
As the Iran war rolls into its second month and President Donald Trump weighs launching ground operations, polls show that Americans’ opposition to the conflict has hardened and few support sending U.S. ground troops into action beyond very limited circumstances.
The opposition cuts across partisan lines, as more Republicans oppose than support sending ground troops, by 37 to 30 percent in the YouGov survey. Support is even tepid within Trump’s base, with 41 percent of self-identified MAGA supporters favoring a ground operation and 27 percent opposing it. Sixty percent of non-MAGA Republicans oppose using ground troops.
That dynamic could pose a significant political problem for the president, as gas prices hit $4 a gallon and American allies show little interest in helping with the U.S. operation. Republicans face growing headwinds in the November midterms, whose outcome could be driven by each side’s enthusiasm and whose results may help determine the course of Trump’s final two years in office.
High-dose vitamin B3 (niacin) may enhance immune activity and improve short-term disease control in glioblastoma when added to standard therapy, according to early preclinical studies.
Six months after receiving niacin in addition to standard treatments (surgery, radiation and chemotherapy), 82% of the patients showed no disease progression, compared to the typical 54%, according to the study's press release.
The study’s small sample size, short follow-up and lack of a randomized control group also posed limitations, the researchers acknowledged.
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/trump-iran-war-strait-of-hormuz-ee950ad4
President Trump told aides he’s willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, administration officials said, likely extending Tehran’s firm grip on the waterway and leaving a complex operation to reopen it for a later date.
In recent days, Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks. He decided that the U.S. should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran’s navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade. If that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait, the officials said.
https://www.jpost.com/science/article-891810
A new comprehensive scientific review concludes that vaping, including nicotine-containing products, is likely to cause oral and lung cancers. The authors identified early warning signs strongly linked to cancer risk, such as DNA damage, inflammation, and epigenetic changes associated with later lung cancer. They warned that delaying recognition of vaping’s dangers could have dire consequences, given cancer latency periods of 20 to 40 years and the roughly 15-year window of widespread e-cigarette availability.
Large-scale human data on vapers who develop cancer will take decades to accumulate. “The evidence was remarkably consistent across fields. It dictated an unequivocal finding now, though human studies that estimate the risk will take decades to accumulate,” Associate Professor of Epidemiology Freddy Sitas said. He noted it took 100 years for authorities to recognize smoking as a cause of lung cancer and urging regulators not to let vaping follow the same path, according to Bloomberg.
According to the review vaping may cause cancer independently, even in people who have never smoked conventional cigarettes. It cites case reports, including a 19-year-old with aggressive oral cancer, and dentists’ observations of mouth cancers in non-smoking patients attributed to vaping.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/424910
US President Donald Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Tuesday that the US would leave Iran “very soon", estimating it could happen “within two or three weeks".
“I would say that within two weeks, maybe three. We're hitting them very hard. Last night, we knocked out tremendous amounts of missile-making facilities," he said.
“We're negotiating with them right now. We have had regime change," Trump stated, adding that “regime change was not one of the things I had as a goal. I had one goal. They will have no nuclear weapon. And that goal has been attained. They will not have nuclear weapons. But we're finishing the job. And I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer to do the job."
When asked about the Strait of Hormuz, Trump stated that he expects the shipping lane "automatically reopen" with the end of the war and that "the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/03/31/hegseth-kid-rock-flyby/
“No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, Patriots,” the Pentagon chief wrote on social media hours after military officials announced they had grounded the pilots involved.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday nullified an Army investigation into the unauthorized helicopter flybys of musician Kid Rock’s estate and anti-Trump protests in Tennessee over the weekend, announcing the move just hours after military officials opened their disciplinary review of the soldiers involved.
Kid Rock, whose legal name is Robert Ritchie, is an enthusiastic, longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, and he is widely admired among the president’s political base. Hegseth’s swift intervention in the case raised immediate questions about whether the military can hold its own accountable for actions that Hegseth may deem politically favorable.
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5809190-ingraham-questions-trump-iran/?tbref=hp
Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Monday called into question whether President Trump understands the “complexity” of the U.S. military operation in Iran.
The host used her opening monologue on “The Ingraham Angle” to talk about how, despite the April 16 deadline set by the president, Trump faces complications to his calls for negotiations with the Iranians amid his threats of further escalating the conflict.
“Now, knowing what little time we have and how quickly this can spiral out of control, we still have a lot of questions,” she said. “For instance, was the president fully briefed about the risks of all of this from the beginning? And was he then able to take it all in and understand the complexity of this? How complex it could actually get, and further possibilities of casualties or other damage –– the difficulty of dealing with these people? Or was he told this would be relatively quick, in and out?”
Democrats want voters to believe that the Supreme Court is pushing a right-wing cultural agenda, but that narrative keeps being refuted by liberal Justices. On Tuesday the Court ruled 8-1 that Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” has an obvious First Amendment problem. Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor joined the majority.
Kaley Chiles is a licensed counselor who offers only talk therapy. She told the Justices she is also a Christian who “believes clients can accept the bodies that God has given them and find peace.” Colorado’s law prohibits counselors from trying to change the sexual “behaviors or gender expressions” of a client who is a minor. The state law explicitly permits, however, providing “assistance to a person undergoing gender transition.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/31/supreme-court-conversion-therapy-colorado-ban/
The Supreme Court on Tuesday found that a Colorado law banning “conversion therapy” for gay and transgender minors probably violates free speech rights, the latest in a string of decisions by the high court rolling back protections for LGBTQ+ people and expanding the rights of the religious.
In an 8-1 ruling, an ideologically diverse majority ruled for an evangelical therapist who argued the state prohibition infringed on her First Amendment rights. Kaley Chiles said she wanted to counsel religious teens dealing with sexual orientation issues and gender dysphoria in ways consistent with biblical teachings.
The decision casts doubt on similar statutes in nearly 30 states that prohibit attempts to change the expressed sexual orientation or gender identity of youths. Many states passed the laws over the last decade as evidence grew that the treatment was harmful. Colorado argued it was not regulating free speech but outlawing substandard medical care — something courts have long allowed.
Parents today try to raise their children for good grades, perfect behavior and high achievement. We want them to do well and be able to handle challenges in life. But research shows that confidence and resilience stem from a child’s ability to feel safe being fully themselves.
In my work of studying over 200 kids, and as a mother, I’ve found that beneath the defiance and behavior problems, there is almost always a child who doesn’t feel comfortable expressing what they feel and need.
In other words, how safe your child feels with you today shapes who they become as adults. Here are six ways to shape that safety early on.
https://quillette.com/2025/10/28/a-perfect-storm-israel-gaza-palestine/
But it is not only the Quran with its tales of the 7th century that is responsible for modern Muslim antisemitism. The 19th century saw a resurgence of antisemitism as an offshoot of the traditional Christian Jew-hatred in various parts of Europe, alongside the flowering of nationalist movements that generally castigated “the Other.” And there was no more prominent “Other” than the Jew. European nationalist and antisemitic tropes gradually penetrated the Ottoman-ruled Middle East, generating Arab nationalism while adding a new European layer to the existing base of Muslim detestation of and contempt for the Jews. The 1840 Damascus Affair, in which Jews were falsely blamed—and tortured and a number of them were killed—for murdering two Christians to obtain blood for ritual purposes, exemplifies this importation of European antisemitic tropes to the Muslim Arab world.
Generally, as long as Islam’s Jews were submissive and obedient nothing much happened. The rise of Zionism and the movement’s gradual empowerment in Palestine changed all that. The Jews living in the Arab lands increasingly came to be seen by their Muslim neighbours and rulers as actual or potential allies of Zionism; in June 1941, Muslim mobs rampaged through Baghdad, killing and raping hundreds, and six to seven years later similar mobs converged on Jews in Morocco, Aleppo, Aden, and other sites around the Arab world.
But somehow the demonstrators don’t see Hamas for what it is. One major agent in the whitewashing efforts has been the Gulf emirate of Qatar, with its jihad-supporting broadcasting network, Al Jazeera. Qatar has poured many billions of dollars into the West and especially into its university campuses to market a rosy-spectacled version of Islamism and has even channelled millions to Netanyahu’s inner circle of aides. (In Israel, it is rumoured that Netanyahu himself has long enjoyed largesse from Doha). Over the years, Netanyahu has directly, personally facilitated Qatar’s subsidies of Hamas, which bankrolled the tunnels, rockets, and Kalashnikovs used on 7 October and since, as well as the mosques and schools that dispensed the organisation’s ideology
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/muslim-antisemitism-dangerous-but-modern/
Yet even while recognizing the severity of this phenomenon, several clarifications must be made. First, not all Arabs and Muslims, whether in Israel, the Middle East, or Europe, hate Jews. It is no coincidence that Israel has already signed peace treaties with six Arab and Muslim countries, and there is active discussion of additional agreements. Second, not all hostility toward Israel, especially among Palestinians, stems from antisemitism. Sometimes it does, as we saw clearly and horrifically with Hamas, but often it arises from the political, historical, or national conflict itself. This is still a dangerous phenomenon, which Israel has every right to resist, but it is not necessarily antisemitic, and recognizing that distinction is crucial.
And there is another important point: Contrary to common perception, antisemitism in the Arab and Muslim world is neither inherent nor ancient, but rather a relatively modern phenomenon. Extensive research by leading scholars of Islam and the Middle East, among them the late Bernard Lewis, Emmanuel Sivan, and Esther Webman, shows clearly that this phenomenon took shape only in the late 19th century. It did not originate with Muhammad or with the Quran.
So when and why did the relative tolerance of Muslims toward Jews come to an end? And when and under what circumstances did antisemitism in the Arab and Muslim world begin to rise? The answer lies in the late 19th century, when several processes occurred at once.
In sum, antisemitism in the Arab and Muslim world is a dangerous but modern phenomenon. It is not eternal, not ancient, and not an inevitable fate. Precisely for that reason, it can and must be confronted, accurately and responsibly. Countries with which Israel has made peace have not only ceased to threaten it but have also opened their doors to Israeli visitors. Such a distinction is not only a matter of fairness toward a vast, complex, and diverse Muslim world, but also a way to avoid falling into the trap of despair – the feeling that “the whole world is against us” –and, just as importantly, to preserve a measure of hope.
