Lawrence: Trump's describing his so-called Iran deal the only way he knows how. With nonstop lying.

Reacting to Scandal

 https://www.torahmusings.com/2010/12/reacting-to-scandal/      Dec 16, 2010

A new book by Dr. Daniel Eidensohn, Child & Domestic Abuse: Torah, Psychological, & Legal Perspectives, displays a different balance between thoughtful response and outrage. The first volume contains essays by an assortment of professionals — rabbis, psychologists, social workers, lawyers. Each, in his own way, lashes out at the community’s response to sexual abuse of children and attempts to explain the proper response according to the Torah and/or their professional training and experience.

Dr. Eidensohn writes that we will not change the attitude of our rabbinic leaders by providing Torah sources and arguments, even from someone as respected as R. Moshe Sternbuch, who advised Dr. Eidensohn on the publication and personally reviewed the Synopsis section. The only way to spark change is to dramatically describe victims’ pain. When community leaders recognize the extent of the problem and its effects, they will join the cause. “To the degree that the rabbis and community leaders can be convinced that abused children suffer horrible lifetime wounds, you will discover that the legal objections disappear” (p. 12). The same, I believe, applies to the problem of corrupt and unethical practices. When leaders realize how much this damages the community, how deeply this disrupts the basic functioning of our community, they will respond seriously.

Eidensohn’s first volume provides an interesting contrast to another recent book, Breaking the Silence: Sexual Abuse and the Jewish Community, edited by Dr. David Pelcovitz and David Mandel. This book also contains essays by rabbis, doctors and lawyers, and contains victims’ accounts of abuse and its aftermath. The experts writing in this book are top notch, many of whom are household names in the Orthodox community. They provide statistics, guidelines, and concrete advice. The book is edited and typeset in a much more professional way than Dr. Eideonsohn’s. It is nothing short of a communal guidebook for best practices.

Yet, Dr. Eidensohn’s book is what really makes me want to do something. It inspires the passion that is necessary to change our communal practices. It elicits the appropriate level of outrage. It is a J’accuse against the bumbling efforts of Jews unwilling to make hard choices to save our children, incapable of admitting mistake, and failing to learn from the collapse of the Catholic Church over precisely this issue.

These books, along with speeches and blogs, serve an important purpose. They alert the public to dangers and provide guidance on managing them. More importantly, they clearly confirm the existence of the problem, something our communal leaders have slowly done over the past decade only with great reluctance and after the application of tremendous pressure. These books demonstrate, not that any further proof was necessary, the disconnect between leadership and laity that has caused such great distrust. How can the leadership regain this trust?

Destroying a Nation's Angel

 Shemos Rabbah (21:05) When Pharaoh and the Egyptians began to pursue them, they raised their eyes heavenwards and saw the guardian angel of Egypt hovering in the air and became sore afraid, as it says, And they were sore afraid. What then is the meaning of And, behold, Mizraim was marching after them? Because the name of their guardian angel was Mizraim, and God does not cast down a nation before He destroys their guardian angel first.

Likud reportedly scraps election campaign highlighting Netanyahu’s close ties to Trump in wake of US-Iran deal

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/likud-reportedly-scraps-election-campaign-highlighting-netanyahus-close-ties-to-trump-in-wake-of-us-iran-deal/

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party has canceled a planned election campaign highlighting the premier’s close ties to US President Donald Trump, after assessing that the messaging will not help Netanyahu’s chances at the upcoming election, the i24 news outlet reports.

According to the report, the decision to scrap the campaign was made several days ago as Trump finalized the terms of a deal with Iran that many in Israel find deeply undesirable.

With the deal in mind, Likud officials assessed that Netanyahu’s close ties with the US president would not bring in new voters or increase his chances at the polling booth later this year.

Mike Pence Warns US Deal With Iran ‘Much Bigger Than a Mistake’

 https://www.newsweek.com/mike-pence-warns-us-deal-with-iran-much-bigger-than-a-mistake-12082593

Former Vice President Mike Pence is warning that reported U.S. concessions to Iran, in an agreement first announced by President Donald Trump, are "much bigger than a mistake," arguing that they risk being a "lifeline" for Tehran.

Pence also warned that the reported details on the memorandum of understanding "smacks of appeasement" and that Trump should "stand firm" against Iran and that this is not a moment to pull back.

When asked by Collins is he thinks the reported agreement is a mistake by the Trump administration, Pence replied, "Well, it's much bigger than a mistake."

Trump Is Losing the Hawks Who Once Defended the Iran War

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-iran-deal-conservatives-worried-58348d67?mod=hp_lead_pos4

Many of the hawkish conservatives who rushed to President Trump’s defense at the beginning of the war with Iran now fear he is at risk of losing at the negotiating table, emboldening Tehran and setting back joint U.S.-Israeli interests in the process. 

Early details, such as reports that a preliminary peace deal eventually could unlock billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds, have turned once loyal allies into critics. They worry the deal doesn’t do enough to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and offers economic relief to Tehran that could allow the regime to rebuild its missile arsenal. Some Trump allies have expressed frustration in recent days that the administration hadn’t yet released the text of the agreement the president announced Sunday.

The Iran deal is an American failure that endangers Israel

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/06/15/the-iran-deal-is-an-american-failure-that-endangers-israel/

The senior American official distorted the truth in a briefing to reporters: The centrifuges will remain, the enriched uranium will not be removed, and Trump himself contradicted him the next day. Iran won on the money issue: Lifting sanctions on oil exports will channel tens of billions of dollars to the Revolutionary Guards, more than they earned by bypassing sanctions. Senior US official to Israel: "You will not be a signatory to the agreement, but every action you take will have to be coordinated with the US."

The meaning is that the enrichment facilities and the centrifuges will remain, and there is no problem using them to enrich uranium to higher levels. A senior US diplomatic official said that in the negotiations set to open this coming Friday in Geneva, the sides would discuss the "technical details," and that he hoped oversight, supervision and restrictions on Iran's nuclear program would be achieved there.

The greatest practical failure in the agreement is the money issue, which was the major problem with the 2015 Obama agreement, the deal Trump called the worst ever. Yesterday, Obama gave an interview and struggled to hide a mocking smile over what Trump had achieved. The mockery was justified.

'Sold their brothers': Israeli right-wing figures brand Witkoff, Kushner as 'losers' over Iran deal

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-899553

Israeli media figures and commentators turned sharply against Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff this week, accusing two of US President Donald Trump’s closest Middle East envoys of helping push an Iran deal that many in Israel view as dangerous and incomplete.

The criticism came amid mounting Israeli concern over the emerging US-Iran memorandum of understanding, which critics say prioritizes regional calm and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz while leaving Iran’s nuclear program, missile program, and support for regional proxies for later negotiations.

But while Netanyahu avoided a direct public attack on Trump’s envoys, some Israeli commentators did not.

Channel 14, a right-wing Israeli television channel often described as Israel’s answer to Newsmax because of its strongly conservative, pro-Netanyahu editorial line and influence among right-wing viewers, carried some of the sharpest criticism.

5 reasons Trump allies don’t like his Iran deal

 https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5926899-trump-allies-oppose-iran-mou/

Conservative pundits and hawkish Iran experts are warning against any agreement that gives up key leverage against the Islamic Republic, or opens access to badly needed funds, without completely giving up its nuclear capacity. 

“Ask yourself: Why are so many of us who support and defend President Trump all expressing the same concerns about this deal?” asked Marc Thiessen, a conservative commentator with a line to the president, on Tuesday. 

“I can’t square some of the things that are coming out of the administration from reliable sources. That’s what I find so disturbing,” Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane said Monday on Fox News’s “Hannity.” 

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday the memorandum would immediately allow Iran to begin exporting oil and fuel, with the U.S. waiving transport and banking sanctions. 

Trump's Iran agreement raises a basic question: Is it actually a deal?

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-iran-agreement-raises-basic-question-actually-deal

President Donald Trump has hailed the newly signed Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) as a breakthrough that normalizes relations between the two countries after months of fighting. 

But by the White House's own account, the agreement settles few of the issues that dominated months of negotiations, leaving sanctions relief, frozen assets and Iran's nuclear program for a new round of talks.

"This is really just the first MOU and then we're going to launch into the real technical discussions later this week," a senior administration official told reporters Monday. 

Trump says Israel 'fighting Hezbollah too long' as Lebanon war drags on - analysis

 https://www.jpost.com/international/article-899599

Trump signals growing frustration with Israel’s prolonged Hezbollah campaign in Lebanon, questioning strategy, civilian impact, and the lack of a decisive outcome after nearly 1,000 days of fighting.

Over the last few weeks, the American president has several times suggested that Israel shouldn’t be attacking Beirut because this is leading to tensions with Iran regarding a US-Iran deal.

Now, Trump is also saying that Israel has been fighting in Lebanon for too long. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has dragged on for 981 days since Hezbollah attacked Israel on October 8. Israel has not been able to defeat Hezbollah or achieve a decisive victory.

Trump on Lebanon: 'If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone, Syria should do it'

 https://www.jpost.com/international/article-899575

Trump says he considers the Lebanon war a minor one, and an arena in which Syria can take on Hezbollah in partnership with the United States if Israel under Netanyahu cannot be reigned in.

"If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, Syria should do the job," said US President Donald Trump in a bilateral meeting with the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday.

"Israel's fighting Hezbollah for too long, and too many people are being killed. You don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody because there's a lot of people in those apartment houses and they're not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you," the president said.

Millions take calcium and vitamin D for stronger bones. A major review finds little benefit

 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260614011852.htm

For years, calcium and vitamin D supplements have been promoted as a simple way for older adults to protect their bones and prevent falls. But a massive review of nearly 154,000 people found that calcium, vitamin D, or a combination of both provided little to no meaningful protection against fractures or falls for most older adults.

A comprehensive review published in The BMJ suggests that calcium supplements, vitamin D supplements, or taking both together provide little to no clinically meaningful benefit in preventing fractures or falls for most older adults.

Falls are a major health concern among seniors. Nearly one in three people age 65 and older experiences a fall each year, and many of these incidents result in fractures. Such injuries can lead to pain, reduced independence, lower quality of life, and, in some cases, the need for long term residential care. As populations age, preventing falls and fractures remains an important public health goal worldwide.

Trump Says Israel Wouldn’t Exist Without Him

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-netanyahu-rift-israel-not-exist-without-potus-12078441

President Donald Trump signaled a deepening rift with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by claiming "there would be no Israel" without him in a stinging rebuke at the G7 (Group of Seven) summit.

Speaking alongside Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, at the summit of the world's biggest economies in Évian-les-Bains, France, Trump said: “Without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president was willing to do what I did.”

Referring to an unspecified Israeli strike, Trump said: "I saw that attack, I saw where that bomb went. That was vicious." Trump said as he also warned Netanyahu to be "more responsible" with respect to Lebanon.