The Amalek Paradox

 https://mishpacha.com/the-amalek-paradox/

We’ve all noticed the Amalek paradox. We’re commanded to obliterate Amalek’s memory from under the heavens — every single year, without forgetting. If the point of parshas Zachor were simply to eliminate Amalek’s memory, we wouldn’t reopen their story every year. Obviously, there must be a deeper purpose to this mitzvah.

The parshah of Amalek isn’t just about our external foe. It’s about a negative force that lives inside us.

With this in mind, we can resolve the Amalek paradox. No matter how much we work on our emunah, no matter the level we reach, Amalek’s impact will resurface. Last year, we may have internalized that Hashem runs our lives with total Hashgacha pratis — but now, we’re struggling to “see” it play out practically in our day-to-day lives.

The Lesson at the End of the Megillah

 https://mishpacha.com/the-lesson-at-the-end-of-the-megillah/

We have an entire Megillah to teach us the value of what it is to be a true tov u’meitiv. Mordechai and Esther taught us well. May we all merit to learn our lesson and follow their example.

Reb Moshe's 40th Yartzeit and the Agunah Problem Rav Shalom C. Spira

 Today, 13 Adar 5786, marks the fortieth yartzeit of R. Moshe Feinstein. The Gemara, Avodah Zarah 5b derives from Deut. 29:3 that a student does not understand his teacher until after forty years. [This prescription is also inherent in Sotah 22b according to the elucidation of Tosafot, ad loc., as well as in Bava Metzi'a 33a according to the elucidation of Rabbeinu Chananel, ad loc.] Hence, the 40^th yartzeit of Rabbi Feinstein represents an opportunity to finally arrive at a true understanding on his legacy regarding the agunah problem.

    In Iggerot Mosheh, Orach Chaim, IV, no. 49, Rabbi Feinstein dismisses those advocates who seek to change the laws of the Torah for the sake of satisfying the feminist ideology. Rabbi Feinstein explains that since the laws of the Torah are from the Holy One, Blessed Be He (as per Rambam's eighth principle of faith) and cannot change (as per Rambam's ninth principle of faith), it is therefore both silly and heretical for any human to advocate for halakhic reform. The responsum was written by Rabbi Feinstein in 5736, precisely one year after his cousin R. Joseph Ber Soloveitchik announced ​the same in his famous "Gerus and Mesorah" lecture. Rabbi Soloveitchik delivered that lecture [available online at YUTorah Online ] in order to repudiate R. Emanuel Rackman's fraudulent proposal to [ostensibly] rescue agunot by allowing them to remarry without a get. 

    True to form, in a responsum composed on 7 Nissan 5730 (Iggerot Mosheh, Even ha-Ezer, III, no. 49), Rabbi Feinstein summons a lady to respect the sanctity of her dysfunctional marriage. In the tragic case that Rabbi Feinstein adjudicated, the husband had been exiled to Siberia, then drafted into WWII, and ultimately declared missing in action by the Soviet government in 5703. Despite it now being 27 years later [and the husband possibly dead], Rabbi Feinstein concludes that the wife cannot remarry but must rather patiently continue to wait for her husband's return, the husband maintaining his chezkat chaim according to Torah law. This responsum clearly rejects the feminist ideology of self-determination by every wife, and instead illuminates the path for we as Orthodox Jews to uphold the Jewish faith, apropos Yehudah ben Teima's prescription (Avot 5:20) to "be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer and heroic as a lion, to champion the Will of your Father in Heaven." 

    It is therefore imperative to correct the agunah errors that have been attributed to Rabbi Feinstein by [a distinguished scholar who shares the same first name] R. Moshe Kurtz (be-mechilat Kevod Torato) in his recent article at Unpacking the Iggerot: Aiding Agunot - Tradition Online, as follows:

1. In paragraph 12, Rabbi Kurtz claims that Rabbi Feinstein "ruled that a man who is incapable of fathering a child possesses a categorical defect vis-à-vis marriage and that the couple’s union could thereby be dissolved retroactively (E.H., vol. 1, #79)."
   WRONG. Reb Moshe׳s responsum in EH 1:79 only nullifies a kiddushin when the bride did not realize that her groom is physically incapable of consummating the marriage even once. Reb Moshe infers this nullification from Bava Kamma 110b which he deciphers to mean that there is mekach ta'ut if the bride did not realize that her groom is afflicted with boils. Reb Moshe argues that a groom who cannot cohabit is the halakhic equivalent of a groom afflicted with boils. But if the groom can consummate the marriage even once, there is no comparison to Bava Kamma 110b, and hence the kiddushin is valid even if no child is ever born.
2. In paragraph 14, Rabbi Kurtz claims: "One of the most iconic instances that he [Rabbi Feinstein] employs kiddushei ta’ut regards a woman who discovers that her husband is attracted to men. Depending whether it is an occasional temptation or his primary preference would be key to determining whether it meets the qualifications for declaring the marriage retroactively void (E.H., vol. 4, #113)."
   WRONG. This responsum (EH 4:113) which is attributed to Reb Moshe [-see further that this attribution is contested-] only nullifies kiddushin if the bride did not realize that her groom actually engages in sodomy, not if the groom was merely attracted to other men. The distinction is essential. As per supra, point 1, Reb Moshe argued (EH 1:79) that where a bride who does not realize that her groom cannot cohabit even once, mekach ta'ut has occurred. Here, in EH 4:113, Reb Moshe is adding the further innovation [what can be termed "chiddush al gabbei chiddush"] that because a Jewish gentleman must commit suicide al Kiddush Ha-Shem rather than actually commit sodomy, a groom who actually engages in sodomy is the halakhic equivalent of a groom who cannot cohabit with his bride even once. [A dead groom cannot cohabit.] However, by contradistinction, the kiddushin of a groom who is unfortunately afflicted with a same-gender attraction, but who has the self-discipline to refuse to act on that attraction [and hence is not obligated, and indeed not allowed, to contemplate suicide], is a perfectly valid kiddushin even according to Reb Moshe's chiddush al gabbei chiddush. While superfluous in making the point, it should also be noted that the provenance of the entire volume in which EH 4:113 appears is contested by Rabbi J. David Bleich, Contemporary Halakhic Problems, VII, p. 150. [I.e., according to Rabbi Bleich, we are not necessarily compelled to even accept that Reb Moshe professed the chiddush al gabbei chiddush.]
3. In paragraph 17 and again in paragraph 19, Rabbi Kurtz cites an oral report claiming that Rabbi Feinstein allowed incarceration as a legitimate way of securing a get from a recalcitrant husband.
   WRONG. Reb Moshe actually acknowledges in EH 3:44 that incarceration of an innocent husband is a form of coercion that will invalidate the resulting get.
4. Also in paragraph 17, Rabbi Kurtz claims that if a penuyah (who is in collusion with an agunah) deceitfully pretends to propose a shiddukh with a recalcitrant husband and the recalcitrant husband therefore writes a get to the agunah (mistakenly thinking he will have a shiddukh with the penuyah), the agunah is thereby rescued.
   WRONG. That would be a get mut'eh and hence worthless as per Yevamot 106a, still leaving the agunah stuck.
5. In paragraph 18, Rabbi Kurtz claims: "In Iggerot Moshe (E.H., vol, 3, #44), he writes that the husband need not give the get out of a sense or moral duty, but even doing so to avoid financial penalties from the court would be sufficient. He elucidates that while a forced divorce is ineffective, in this case, he is seeking to alleviate the monetary pressure and the divorce is just the extrinsic means for achieving it."
   WRONG. Financial coercion invalidates a get coerced from an innocent husband, as per the Gemara, Bava Batra 40b that financial duress deprives the subject of free will. Reb Moshe's responsum in EH 3:44 is only referring to a special case where the husband already announced that he wants to divorce his wife anyway before the coercion was applied to him, and even there Reb Moshe has a safek whether this leniency [which he calls a sevara gedolah] is actually valid, meaning that Reb Moshe refuses to rely on the sevara gedolah alone. See Section K (commencing p. 59) of my essay Prenuptial Agreements | PDF | Halakha | Hebrew Words And Phrases .
6. In paragraph 21, Rabbi Kurtz claims: "Not only would the man be required to provide the aguna with the means she needs to survive but in a short, yet consequential responsum (E.H., vol. 4, #107), he [Rabbi Feinstein] even authorizes an additional stipulation in the tenaim documents that the husband will be penalized if he unilaterally refuses to issue a get."
   WRONG. Reb Moshe never authorized penalizing an innocent husband by way of a prenup. See Section R (commencing on p. 92) of my aforementioned prenup essay which clarifies what Reb Moshe actually intended with his prenup in EH 4:107. Importantly, Reb Moshe's responsum was published in two different versions, and the provenance of the entire volume of Iggerot Mosheh in which that responsum appears has been contested (as per supra, point 2). See also Yechezkel Hirshman's approach to Reb Moshe's prenup at Achas L'Maala V'Sheva L'Matta: Prenups X: More Trei Gadya - A Consumer's Guide to Halachic Prenuptial Agreements , which likewise contradicts Rabbi Kurtz.
7. In paragraphs 22-23, Rabbi Kurtz cites R. Yonah Reiss as ostensibly proving that R. Moshe Feinstein's willingness to apply financial pressure on innocent husbands served as the precursor to the RCA prenup.
   WRONG. Reb Moshe never authorized financial pressure imposed on innocent husbands (as per supra, point 6), and R. Yonah Reiss' academic dishonesty has been exposed by my article last year at Daas Torah - Issues of Jewish Identity:  Shabbat Zakhor and the Agunah Problem by Rav Shalom C. Spira
8. In paragraph 26, Rabbi Kurtz claims: "The veracity of these accounts notwithstanding, an undeniable hallmark of R. Feinstein’s writings is his compassion and resolve to aid all agunot. In Iggerot Moshe (Y.D., vol. 1, #101), he vehemently insists that “it is forbidden for us to be from the ‘humble ones’ and to cause a Jewish woman to remain an aguna or to cause her to turn toward illicit deeds or even to cause the loss of a fellow Jew’s finances.” He proceeds to cite the account of R. Zekharya ben Avkulus, whose exceeding “humility” in halakhic decision making was credited with the ultimate downfall of the Temple (see Gittin 56a)."
   WRONG. Rabbi Kurtz is repeating the discredited canard of R. Michael Broyde and R. Shmuel Kamenetzky. This is because Reb Moshe (YD 1:101) is not talking about an agunah where a wife wants to abandon her husband. Rather, Reb Moshe (YD 1:101) is talking about a wife who actually seeks to live in harmony with her husband, but she can't immerse in a mikveh without a cotton ear plug. See my essay on Response To R. Shmuel Kamenetzky | PDF | Philosophy | History which explains this in detail.

   The Gemara, Yoma 86b, requires us to publicize scam artists in order to prevent a profanation of the Name. Indeed, R. Samson Rephael Hirsch comments (on Genesis 27:1) that this is what ethically empowered Rebecca to expose Esau as a scam artist by having Jacob masquerade as him. Now add to that calculation the fact that Rashi to Genesis 26:34 reports that Esau would steal wives from innocent husbands. Hence, on this 40^th yartzeit of Reb Moshe, we as Orthodox Jews must successfuly grasp what Rabbi Feinstein actually paskened and what he did not pasken regarding the agunah problem, so that we can distinguish true agunah experts from scam artists.

    May the light of Torah, so central to the holiday of Purim (as per Megillah 16b), help the bereaved children of R. Nota Zvi Greenblatt [who all pledged allegiance to Reb Moshe in their eulogies for Reb Nota] finally grasp that Ms. Tamar Epstein is indeed the wife of Reb Aharon Friedman according to the Jewish faith, as I have already established at Daas Torah - Issues of Jewish Identity: Response to the Eulogy for Rabbi Nota Zvi Greenblatt by Rabbi Shalom C. Spira . Just last month, on 19 Shevat 5786, R. Menachem Zechariah Zilber's treatise to the same effect was published at HebrewBooks.org Sefer Detail: מקח טעות בקידושין -- זילבער, מנחם זכריה בן רפאל  .

Rabbi Spira works as Editor of Manuscripts and Grants at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research [a Pavillion of the Jewish General Hospital] in Montreal, Canada.

Ousted by Trump, beauty queen Carrie Prejean Boller takes aim at Israel

 https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/rk9lfmyybe?tbref=hp

After defending figures accused of antisemitism and wearing a Palestinian flag pin at a White House hearing, Carrie Prejean Boller was removed from a religious freedom panel and is set to receive an anti-Zionist award

Instead of pursuing a Miss Universe crown or an Emmy Award, next week she is set to receive the “Catholic Heroine” award from the anti-Zionist group Catholics for Catholics, which urges its followers to boycott Israel and promote American nationalism.

9 killed in missile strike in Beit Shemesh

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/423173

Nine people were killed on Sunday in Beit Shemesh following a direct missile impact.

About 15 people were injured, including a 10-year-old girl, and 9 were killed, in a missile strike in Beit Shemesh that hit the roof of a shelter.

Jews worshipped Idols in Egypt

 I recently had a discussion with a top student in Israel regarding the idol worship of the Jews in Egypt. He had never heard such a thing and would not accept my assertion. Assuming that this is viewed as false by many others I thought it would be helpful to list traditional sources which clearly state it. 

Chazon Ish (Letters I:208) Responded to the assertion that the Jews in Egypt were on the highest level in Torah, Mitzvos, faith and piety. The assertion was based upon the medrashism which said that the righteous women went to the fields and gave birth and left their children and there were many miracles done for them…The deduction being that surely because of these righteous women and these miracles – the entire Jewish people must of have been totally devoted to G-d and his mitvos. A further foundation of this assertion was the medrash which states that the Jews were only enslaved for 86 years and that this is insufficient time to become significantly dissolute and debased. The Chazon Ish said that these deduction have no basis since they are all against what Chazal themselves say on the subject. He concludes that the assertion that it was impossible for the Jews to become ruined since they saw miracles is not valid. In fact the Jews saw miracles when they were redeemed from Egypt and at the Sea, as well as the Maan and at the giving of the Torah – and yet they made the Golden Calf. Furthermore there were 10 miracles at the Beis HaMikdash and many miracles and wonders done by the Prophets – nevertheless this did not prevent them from having free will to serve idols. one should not interpret the early generations in such a way that it is impossible for us to comprehend and learn from them. In fact they had free will and this is main thing in avodas HaShem.

Chazon Ish (Letters I:209)  States a rule that for major widely stated facts one should should not interpret them significantly from the clear simple meaning. Only isolated things can be occasionally explained differently then their simple meaning. In the Torah we see much effort to save the Jews from deserting the entire Torah and running instead after idol worship something which according to our present condition where the Yetzer harah has been killed is totally incomprehensible.The reality of the desire for idol worship is really beyond our comprehension is the same way a blind person can’t comprehend colors

Shemos Rabbah (13:20) ONE MALE OF THE GOATS FOR A SIN-OFFERING. This was in allusion to the Paschal sacrifice which G-d commanded them to offer from the goats as a token of withdrawal from idolatry. For Israel were idol-worshippers in Egypt, and the divine Attribute of Justice would not allow of their being redeemed until they had withdrawn therefrom. On account of the withdrawal from idol-worship which they had effected and for which they had been redeemed--as you read, When I see the blood, l will pass over you --they brought a corresponding sacrifice of a male of the goats as a sin-offering. For a he-goat was offered as a sin-offering on account of the sin of idol-worship.

Rabbeinu Bachya (Vayikra 17:7) so that they will no longer offer their sacrificial offerings to the demons. While the Israelites were exiled in Egypt they were enthusiastic followers of that particular cult in order to gain some advance knowledge of what was in store for them in the future. This particular cult was known by the name gots because the people worshipping it either dressed up as he-goats or because people’s hair would stand on edge from fright when they beheld the worshippers of that cult. Alternatively, these apparitions were known as, demons, because they would dwell in regions which are not inhabited by man such as wildernesses, deserts, regions too cold for humans to be comfortable in. 

Rabbeinu Bachya (Vayikra 17:07) so that they will no longer offer their sacrificial offerings to the demons. While the Israelites were exiled in Egypt they were enthusiastic followers of that particular cult in order to gain some advance knowledge of what was in store for them in the future. This particular cult was known by the name gots because the people worshipping it either dressed up as he-goats or because people’s hair would stand on edge from fright when they beheld the worshippers of that cult. Alternatively, these apparitions were known as, demons, because they would dwell in regions which are not inhabited by man such as wildernesses, deserts, regions too cold for humans to be comfortable in. 

Ramban (Vayikra (17:07) Do not sacrife to demons anymore And the word ‘more’ in the verse before us, and they shall no ‘more’ sacrifice … indicates that the Israelites used to do so in Egypt

Rambam (Idolatry 1:1) When the Jews extended their stay in Egypt, however, they learned from the Egyptians' deeds and began worshiping the stars as they did, with the exception of the tribe of Levi, who clung to the mitzvot of the patriarchs - the tribe of Levi never served false gods. Within a short time, the fundamental principle that Abraham had planted would have been uprooted, and the descendants of Jacob would have returned to the errors of the world and their crookedness. Because of God's love for us, and to uphold the oath He made to Abraham, our patriarch, He brought forth Moses, our teacher, the master of all prophets, and sent him to redeem the Jews. After Moses, our teacher, prophesied, and God chose Israel as His inheritance, He crowned them with mitzvot and informed them of the path to serve Him, teaching them the judgement prescribed for idol worshiper and all those who stray after it.

Ibn Ezra (Shemos 2:23) THAT THE KING OF EGYPT DIED. Moses was now able to return to Egypt. The Israelites repented. Ezekiel notes that the Israelites worshipped the idols of Egypt. It was because of this that the Lord afflicted them. As a punishment for not serving God they served cruel masters. 

Ibn Ezra (Leviticus 17:7) UNTO THE SATYRS. Se’irim are the demons. They are so called because the body of one who sees them “storms.” However, it appears that they are so called because the insane see them in the form of goats. The word “more” teaches that the Israelites did so in Egypt.

Shir HaShirim Rabba (2:03 ) In the time to come the guardian angels of the nations will come to accuse Israel before the Almighty, and they will say: ‘Sovereigrn of the Universe, these worshipped idols and these worshipped idols; these were guilty of immorality and these were guilty of immorality; these shed blood and these shed blood. Why then do these go down to Gehinnom while these do not go down?’ Then God will answer them saying: ' If that is so, let all the peoples go down with their gods to Gehinnom,, and so it is written, For let all the peoples walk each one in the name of its god. Said R. Reuben: Were it not written in the Scripture, it would be impossible to say such a thing: so to speak, For by fire will the Lord be judged  : it does not say judges, but is judged

Shir HaShirim Rabba (4:17) THOU ART ALL FAIR. R. Judah and R. Nehemiah and the Rabbis gave different reasons why the genealogies of the other tribes are not given R. Nehemiah said: It was because all the other tribes worshipped idols in Egypt, but those of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi did not worship idols in Egypt. 

Rabbeinu Bachya (Shemos (06:13) “He commanded them concerning the Children of Israel,” as a warning to tell the Israelites to desist from idolatrous practices. The Midrash bases this interpretation on Genesis 2,16 where the word ויצו is also understood as a warning against idolatrous practices. Ezekiel 20,5-9 also makes clear reference to the Israelites serving idols while they were enslaved in Egypt, and their being warned to desist prior to the redemption. He warns his compatriots not to commit the same errors made by the Israelites then. 

Mechilta DeRabbi Yishmael (Pischa 5:10): It is written "And they would not hearken to Moses as to G–d's delivering them, for shortness of spirit, etc." Now is there anyone who is given glad tidings and does not rejoice? "A son has been born to you — Rejoice him!" His Master is freeing him from bondage and he does not rejoice? What, then, is the intent of "And they would not hearken to Moses, etc."? It was difficult for them to abandon their idolatry "And I said to them in Egypt: Let every man cast away the detestations of his eyes and not defile himself with the idols of Egypt." This is the intent of  "And the L–rd spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and He charged them to the children of Israel. He charged them to abandon idolatry. 

Mechilta DeRabbi Yishmael (Beshalach 7) And the ministering angels were astounded at Israel's survival, saying: "Idolators walking on the dry land in the midst of the sea!"

Sforno (Shemos 01:14) They ruined their own lives not only by improper deeds, but also by succumbing to alien philosophies. This is described in Ezekiel 20,8 “and they rebelled against Me and did not want to listen to Me. No Man!- the idols of their eyes they did not cast out and the idols of Egypt, they did not forsake.” 

Shemos Rabbah (21:07) WHEREFORE CRIEST THOU UNTO ME? It is written, Hast thou prepared thy prayer before thy trouble R. Hama b. Hanina said: When Israel departed from Egypt, the angel Samael arose to accuse them. R. Hama added the following explanation in the name of his father: It can be compared to a shepherd who was leading his sheep across a river when a wolf came to attack the sheep. What did the shepherd, who knew well how to deal with such emergencies, do? He took a large he-goat and threw it to the wolf, saying to himself, Let him struggle with this till we cross the river, and then I will return to bring it back. So, when Israel departed from Egypt, the Angel Samael arose to accuse them, pleading before God: ' Lord of the Universe! Till now they have been worshipping idols, and now Thou dividest the sea for them? ' What did God do? He delivered into his hands Job, one of the counsellors of Pharaoh, of whom it is written, And that man was wholehearted and upright, and said: Behold, he is in thy hands. God reckoned: While he is busily occupied with Job, Israel will go through the sea! Afterwards, I will deliver Job; this is why Job said, I was at ease, and He broke me asunder. ‘I was at ease in the world,’ said Job, but He broke me asunder, He hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces, in order to make me the target for His people, for it says, He hath also set me up for His mark, God delivereth me to the ungodly, He hath delivered me into the hands of Satan; and in order that Israel may not emerge guilty from the trial, He hath delivered me into his hand’; hence, And casteth me into the hands of the wicked. It was then that God said to Moses: Moses, behold I have given Job over to Satan. It is for you to Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.

Yalkut Shimoni (234) And the water was a wall for them. When Samael came down he spoke to G-d and said before him, Lord of the world, didn’t Israel worship idols in Egypt, and yet you do miracles for them. And his voice was heard by the ruler of the sea,who was filled with anger against them and sought to drown them. G-d immediately said to him, "You are a fool. You think they freely worshipped idols? In fact they only did it because of the pressures of slavery and thus they are viewed as sinning accidentally and unintentionally and not deliberately as you have mistakenly decided. When the ruler of the sea heard this the anger he felt to the Jews was redirected to the Egyptians

Yehoshua (24:14) “Now, therefore, revere GOD and render service with undivided loyalty; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve GOD. 

Zohar (2 170b) When the Israelites stood on the shore of the Red Sea and the Holy One was about to divide its waters for them, Rahab, the angel-prince of Egypt, appeared, and demanded justice from the Holy One. He stood before Him and said: Lord of the world, why dost thou desire to punish Egypt and to divide the Red Sea for Israel? Have not all sinned against Thee? Thy ways are according to justice and truth. Those are idolaters and so are these. Those are murderers, so are these. Then was it difficult for Him to waive justice, and had not the Holy One called to mind Abraham's obedience in rising early (Gen. XXII, 3) to sacrifice his only son, they would all have perished in the Red Sea, because all that night God was weighing Israel in the scales of Justice, as we have been taught that the expression, “so that the one came not near the other all the night” (Ex. XIV, 20) indicates that the supernal angels appeared on that night to sing hymns of praise to the Holy One, and the Holy One said unto them: The works of My hands are about to sink into the depths of the sea, and ye desire to sing unto Me hymns of praise? But it came to pass that in the morning watch the Lord looked... (Ibid. v. 24); that is to say, He looked for Abraham's sake, He looked upon Abraham's merit, who rose up early in the morning to accomplish the will of the Holy One. Then it was that the waters went back, they fled before Israel.

Trump’s Iran gamble

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/28/iran-war-strikes-bombing-trump-nuclear/

It’s too early to call the riskiest foreign policy decision of this term a failure or success.

It’s jarring to hear a clear call for democracy in Iran from an American president who campaigned on preventing open-ended conflicts in the Middle East. Success will likely require more than a bombing campaign.

For a generation, Iran has been the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism, backing Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and other proxies as they wreaked havoc and killed Americans. The Islamic Republic looks more vulnerable than ever to toppling.

And the U.S. is not going it alone: In addition to Israel’s backing, Saudi Arabia condemned Iranian retaliation. Even Canada expressed support, despite Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent feud with Trump. Calls for more negotiations from European countries only underscored their irrelevance.

Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. Trump insisted that last summer’s bunker-buster bombs totally “obliterated” Iran’s enrichment program, but now he says it needs to be “totally, again, obliterated.” It’s always been clear he was exaggerating the success of Operation Midnight Hammer, and Iran has remained unwilling to give up its goal of proliferation. The danger of lobbing some bombs without seeing this through is that Iran’s leaders could become more determined than ever to get a bomb to deter future strikes.

For 1st time, Gallup poll shows Americans more sympathetic to Palestinians than to Israel

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-1st-time-gallup-poll-shows-americans-more-sympathetic-to-palestinians-than-to-israel/

Americans for the first time sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis in their conflict, according to a Gallup poll released Friday, indicating a sea change in the public views of Israel’s key ally.

Views on the Middle East divide sharply along partisan lines, with the shift over the past year the result of more independents souring on Israel.

Overall, 41 percent of Americans sympathize more with the Palestinians and 36% sided with Israel, the poll said, with the rest undecided or saying they favored both or neither.

The gap is not statistically significant, but it marks the first time since Gallup asked the question more than two decades ago that Israel was not on top.

It also marks a sharp difference from just a year ago, when Israel led in sympathies 46 to 33 percent.

US-Iran Strikes: Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei Killed

 https://www.newsweek.com/us-iran-strikes-iran-supreme-leader-ayatollah-ali-khamanei-killed-11598102

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in the U.S.- Israeli strikes on Iran, according to reports.

The death of the Islamic Republic leader marks a major achievement for President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who both called for regime change and urged Iranians to rise up against the clerical government in the wake of the strikes.

Israeli officials initially said they saw "signs" that Khamenei was dead, but later said they had confirmed his death, saying his body had been found, Reuters reported.

Trump Rolls the Dice on Regime Change With a Massive Attack on Iran

 https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/trump-rolls-the-dice-on-regime-change-with-a-massive-attack-on-iran-66b0cc69

President Trump and Israel launched attacks on Iran with the ambitious aim of bringing down the regime in Tehran, a goal that promises heavy use of force and which will rattle Gulf allies concerned about a wider regional war and instability on their doorsteps.

Trump’s military planners and advisers gave him several options as the U.S. built up a powerful force off Iran’s shores, including everything from a limited symbolic strike to a wide-ranging attack on the government’s power centers.

The president pushed early on for decisive options and appears to have chosen one. U.S. and Israeli forces went hard at Iran beginning early Saturday, attacking Iran’s leaders and symbols of the regime in addition to military assets that Iran would need to fight a war, people familiar with the matter said.

PM: Strikes meant to end ‘existential threat’; time for Iranians to cast off yoke of tyranny

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-strikes-meant-to-end-existential-threat-time-for-iranians-to-cast-off-yoke-of-tyranny/

Netanyahu says campaign aims to ‘create conditions’ for Iranians to change their destiny; Lapid, opposition figures offer praise, support for action

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday issued a video message to the public after Israel and the US launched a wave of strikes against Iran, saying the operation aims “to remove the existential threat” posed by the Islamic Republic, and “create the conditions” for Iranians to change their destiny.

“My brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel, a short while ago Israel and the United States launched an operation to remove the existential threat posed by the terror regime in Iran,” he said.

The major wave of strikes carried out Saturday morning targeted Iranian regime sites and military facilities, according to an Israeli official, who added that Israel was preparing for several days of conflict with Iran.

Chief of Staff: Significant and unprecedented war lies ahead of us

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/423103

DF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir on Saturday addressed Israelis, following the start of the US-Israeli "Operation Roaring Lion" against Iran.

"A short while ago, we launched Operation Roaring Lion," he began. "The IDF, in coordination with the United States military, has begun striking strategic targets in Iran. We are operating at a high level of operational readiness, both defensively and offensively."

"We now face a significant, decisive, and unprecedented operation, to dismantle the capabilities of the Iranian terrorist regime - capabilities that constitute an ongoing existential threat to the security of the State of Israel. This is an operation to secure our existence and our future here, in the land of our forefathers, for generations to come.

As popular YouTuber targets US Orthodox communities, the right grapples with antisemitism

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-popular-youtuber-targets-us-orthodox-communities-the-right-grapples-with-antisemitism/

Tyler Oliveira releases ‘exposés’ about Haredi locales Lakewood and Kiryas Joel, relying on selective interviews, amplifying antisemitic tropes, and garnering millions of views

That’s when he uploaded his latest video, titled, “I Exposed New Jersey’s Jewish Invasion…” It features man-on-the-street encounters and selective interviews that frame local disputes over welfare, land use and political influence as evidence of a broader “Jewish invasion.” Through loaded narration, ominous editing and repeated references to ethnic separatism, he amplifies antisemitic tropes while casting Orthodox Jewish communities as fraudulent drains on public resources. The video quickly reached more than 2.2 million views.

Oliveira portrayed Lakewood as rife with fraud by citing allegations involving Jewish officials in recent years, including a rabbi who was indicted in 2017 on charges of stealing public funds from a school he founded — charges that were later dismissed. He also highlighted the large family sizes common among Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish residents, a factor that has contributed to the township’s high birth rate relative to the rest of the state.

“There’s a major financial incentive to be an antisemite, whether it’s expressed as anti-Israel or explicitly as anti-Jewish,” Roberts said. “Tucker, Candace [Owens] and Nick Fuentes … they’re all profiting on it with no conscience that they’re spreading falsehoods.”

How US envoy Kushner’s ‘incomprehension’ of diplomacy stunned France

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/27/europe/us-envoy-kushner-diplomacy-stuns-france-intl

French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said the US ambassador had now provided assurances he had not meant to interfere in “the internal sphere of France.” As to Kushner’s initial no-show when summoned, Confavreux made allowances for the American real-estate magnate, who only took up his functions as ambassador to Paris in July, being relatively new to the more genteel world of diplomacy.

Yet beyond the ruffling of French feathers by a lack of diplomatic niceties lies the deeper question of how to handle increasingly obvious American attempts to interfere in European domestic matters

 – often using the very public platform X.

All three cases demonstrate at once a break with traditional diplomatic form, the use of social media rather than back channels, and a new willingness on the part of Washington to involve itself more aggressively in the judicial or political processes of other countries, and specifically European ones.