Israel halts humanitarian aid to Gaza

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/404721

Israel's political echelon decided this morning (Sunday) to halt the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip after the first phase of the ceasefire concluded overnight.

The decision to halt the transfer of humanitarian aid comes in the wake of the Prime Minister's Office's announcement last night that Israel is prepared to extend the ceasefire in accordance with the outline proposed by US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff.

"With the conclusion of the first stage of the hostages deal and in light of Hamas's refusal to accept the Witkoff framework for the continuation of the talks, to which Israel has agreed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, the entry of all goods and supplies to the Gaza Strip will be halted," the Prime Minister's Office stated,

"Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas persists in its refusal, there will be additional consequences."

Why Europe Can't Defend Itself Without Donald Trump

 https://www.newsweek.com/europe-defense-spending-military-nato-donald-trump-2037104

There were no U.S. forces taking part in NATO's biggest exercises this year. This may have always been the plan, but European nations going it alone on Ukraine's doorstep took on a fresh significance as U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration rewrote Washington's relationship with the continent.

Decades of sidelining defense spending after the end of the Cold War has allowed European countries to maintain prized social welfare systems, but has also left them with yawning capability gaps on defense and a deep reliance on the U.S. that has become increasingly unpalatable to the White House. There is no shying away from this from European officials, nor a desire to—there is a universal acceptance, privately and publicly, that the continent has been lamentably lax.

Despite alarm bells ringing for years, and even more loudly since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the continent's leaders have still struggled to summon the political clout to significantly boost military spending. For most Western European members, the threat is geographically too far away—it is hard to make a convincing case to budget more for militaries when that could mean cuts to sectors such as health care, or further tax increases in what are already some of the world's most heavily taxed countries.

Trump humiliated again on the world stage by British PM Starmer after France's Macron

Trump’s style of petty domination was in full display with Zelenskyy

 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/01/trumps-style-of-petty-domination-was-in-full-display-with-zelenskyy

The last time Donald Trump did this, it was in secret, and he got impeached over it. In 2019, Donald Trump, on a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, demanded that the Ukrainian president produce – or fabricate – evidence of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden, the son of Trump’s eventual opponent in the 2020 election, in exchange for continued US military aide.

His name was in a child abuse diary - now his family listen to 'vile' testimony

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce34v17dw53o

But most difficult for Mauricette and Roland was the much-awaited testimony of Marie-France L., Le Scouarnec's ex-wife.

It has been alleged that she was at the centre of the omerta that reigned in the Le Scouarnec family, as she was repeatedly made aware of her husband's obsession with children but did nothing to stop it.

Many lawyers and plaintiffs now believe she could have spared hundreds of children from being abused. Le Scouarnec's brother - who was also heard this week - openly wondered whether she had been too enamoured by the lifestyle provided by her husband's salary to speak out.

Snatching minerals from other countries is not a smart strategy

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/03/01/trump-minerals-ukraine/ 

It was in the 19th century that the United States started grabbing territory to exploit natural resources. The Guano Islands Act of 1856 enabled the seizure of unclaimed islands rich in the sought-after fertilizer. Ultimately, the United States annexed nearly 100 of these islands in the Pacific and the Caribbean, according to historian Daniel Immerwahr (and some of them were reconfigured to host airfields and military bases in the post-guano years).

President Donald Trump apparently likes the strategy. His gambit to take control of Ukraine’s deposits of lithium, graphite, cobalt, rare metals and so forth — after calling for buying Greenland and taking over Canada, in part to nab their vast troves of critical minerals — suggests that he is fashioning a 19th-century strategy to work in the 21st.

Trump, Vance attack on Zelenskyy angers many. But Russians and (some) Republicans love it.

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/28/trump-vance-zelenskyy-reactions-00206834

At the State Department, which is already reeling from the specter of Trump administration plans to shrink the U.S. diplomatic footprint, staff expressed shock that Trump would treat another country’s leader so dismissively.

“This guy isn’t just trying to save his country — he’s the finger in the dike for the rest of Europe,” one State Department official said of Zelenskyy. “First, we extort him, then we intentionally try to embarrass him.”

The fracas appeared to delight Moscow.

Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who often acts as a Kremlin attack dog, wrote on social media of Zelenskyy: “The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office.” Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said on a live streamed broadcast: “Zelenskyy is biting the hand that fed him.”

Murkowski slams Trump administration over Russia-Ukraine war stance: ‘Sick to my stomach’

 https://thehill.com/policy/international/5171214-murkowski-slams-trump-administration-over-russia-ukraine-war-stance-sick-to-my-stomach/

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) condemned the Trump administration over the recent fallout with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky during Friday’s Oval Office meeting broadcasted by the American press. 

Her stance, notable from a Republican, echoes that of many foreign leaders who labeled the meeting a stark sever in American values, including the country’s tradition of fighting for democracy across the globe. 

Oct. 7 Adds to Long History of Spies Missing the Big Picture

 https://www.wsj.com/world/oct-7-adds-to-long-history-of-spies-missing-the-big-picture-48e5e621?mod=hp_lead_pos4

Well before Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, Israel’s military had plenty of evidence that something was brewing.  

Israel had been in possession of a secret Hamas plan for a mass invasion for more than a year. Soldiers on the border of Gaza had observed Hamas practicing raids on Israeli military bases and civilian communities for weeks. And the country’s security chiefs had been warning that months of contentious internal debate and protests over political issues had left Israel vulnerable.

Putin Wins the Trump-Zelensky Oval Office Spectacle

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/putin-wins-the-trump-zelensky-oval-office-spectacle-e23e9b21?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

Toward the end of his on-camera, Oval Office brawl with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, President Trump quipped that it was “great television.” He’s right about that. But the point of the meeting was supposed to be progress toward an honorable peace for Ukraine, and in the event the winner was Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

But then the meeting, in front of the world, descended into recriminations. The nose dive began with an odd interjection from Vice President JD Vance, who appeared to be defending Mr. Trump’s diplomacy, which Mr. Zelensky hadn’t challenged. Mr. Zelensky rehearsed the many peace agreements Mr. Putin has shredded and essentially asked Mr. Vance what would be different this time.

Western allies rally around Zelensky after Trump spat deepens rift with Europe

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/28/europe/western-allies-zelensky-trump-hnk-intl/index.html

A notable exception to the wave of European solidarity was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a far-right populist and Trump ally, who took to X to stand with the US president.

“Strong men make peace, weak men make war,” Orban wrote. “Today President (Trump) stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr. President!”

The tense exchange with Trump boosted Zelensky’s backing among many at home, with Ukraine’s lawmakers rallying behind Kyiv’s leader.

Republicans Upset!?

Putin will keep his word to me"

Questions I - what? vs why? vs silence?

I would like to start a discussion of the nature and validity of questions in the Orthodox world. This is a spin-off of the discussion regarding R' Tropper and R' Slifkin in the comments section. I think it deserves a separate post. Let me start by stating that forty years when I first met Rav Shlomo Freifeld. I asked him some fundamental questions. His response was, "These are good questions, it is important to ask questions. But you should know that probably all of the questions you will ask have already been asked by our sages and discussed. But you need to be patient. We will eventually get to your questions." It is one of the ironies of life that Reb Shlomo never did answer these questions - though we talked for many hours and I spent much time with him. One of the reasons for my sefer Daas Torah has been my own efforts to answer these questions. Reb Shlomo himself had many questions. He would raise questions in discussion or at the Shabbos table - but often there was no answer. He had an extensive library of English books which included philosophy and novels. He even had me take out various philosophy books from the Brooklyn College library for him to read. However he never articulated answers to fundamental questions. He served primarily to validate the enterprise of searching and questioning. Once he approached me for a favor. "I just got a donation of a set of Encyclopedia Judaic on the condition that it be used by the yeshiva. It is full of kefira so I can't let it be used freely. Would you please use it so that I can fulfill the conditions?" He often talked about the freshness of a child's curiosity and the unfortunate stagnation that happens when a person grows up and "knows" the answers A year after his petira, I called up his son-in-law - the present rosh hayeshiva - to ask what Reb Shlomo held regarding asking questions or discussing topics that might cause religious doubt. He responded, "I never discussed these type of hashkofa questions with him. The only one who mights have discussed these type of issues with him was my wife." As far as I know there was no yerusha concerning Reb Shlomo's comfortable open mindedness. There is a very profound statement by one of the most famous heretics - Spinoza. He asked, "What is an answer?" As any parent knows there is a certain age that child ask "why?" to anything and everything. What is an answer? Spinoza said that an answer is simply that which takes away the urge to ask another question! It was not just Rabbi Freifeld and Rav Hutner who had an insatiable curiosity about everything. Soon after the petira of the Lubavitcher Rebbe I was talking with Rav Yaakov Goldberg - the head of the Lubavitch baal teshuva yeshiva Hadar HaTorah - concerning some of these things. He said, "You are too late! All these fundamental questions were of great interest to the Lubavicher Rebbe. There is no one today." Finally let me mention my experience with writing and publishing my sefer Daas Torah. When I first started working on it I consulted a famous rabbi connected with Artscroll. He told me point blank - "you are a danger to klall Yisroel. You are going to cause confusion and doubt by telling people that there are multiple ways of understanding fundamental hashkofa issues." I consulted with Rav Bulman. His response was, "You will never get away with presenting multiple views. The yeshiva world holds that there is one right answer. You are following in the approach of Rav Tzadok and Rav Kook. But I want to buy the first copy. You hear I don't want a present I want to buy the first copy." I talked to Rav Yaakov Weinberg - rosh hayeshiva of Ner Israel in Baltimore. We talked for an hour and he repeatedly said. "We encourage questions from our talmidim in the yeshiva. There is nothing that you can't ask. However regarding writing - you can write about anything except the dispute between the chassidim and the Gra." He was also astonished when I mentioned Rav Dessler's view of eilu v'eilu - that it is simply a manifestation of different perspectives but all competing view of our sages are fundamentally in agreement. "You can't tell me that an intelligent person can think this way! If so words have no meaning." I then went to Rav Eliashiv - he told me simply that there is no problem of raising issues and presenting multiple alternatives - as long as the source material was from mainstream accepted views. He did not see a problem "as long as I did not present sources from the Cairo Geniza." In regards to the issue of confusion - he said simply "let them ask their rebbes and rosh yeshiva." You don't avoid teaching Torah because it raises questions." Rav Solveitchik on the other hand was not an intellectual i.e., he was not an open ended thinker - he was a Brisker. One of his students told me that one winter they were involved in a complex sugya when someone raised a question which was not discussed in any of the commentaries. It greatly upset Rav Solveitchik because "there is no valid question which is not discussed in the meforshim." The students were in the middle of their summer break when they received a call that Rav Soloveitchik wanted them to come to a special shiur. At the shiur he announced that he had found the solution to why no one talked about the question. The question was based on a mistaken girsa. He repeated again, "If it is a valid question you will find it discussed in the meforshim. If it isn't discussed that indicates it is not a valid question." In the next post I will cite some of the fundamental texts dealing with the validity of questions - in particular those that don't have clear definitive answers. One final caution - the issue of asking questions and being open-minded exists in equal measure in the non-Orthodox world - both secular and religious. It would be helpful if you read the classic work "Teaching as a subversive activity." It contrasts the view of secular education as process of socialization versus learning how to think clearly.