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.
Monday, April 13, 2026
Did Trump Buy Ed McMahon’s Home To Save Him From Foreclosure -Compulsive Liar
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.
Hungary’s Viktor Orban, ally of Trump and Putin, concedes election defeat
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.
Sunday, April 12, 2026
The U.S. Sank One of Iran’s Navies. The Other Still Controls Hormuz.
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.
Trump declares US Navy will begin blockading Strait of Hormuz ‘effective immediately’
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.
Trump says US will blockade Strait of Hormuz after Iran talks end without a deal
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.
Trump’s ‘new, reasonable’ Iran is neither new nor reasonable, and he knows it
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.
Vance says no agreement with Iran after marathon talks in Pakistan
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’s Nuclear Program Has Survived, Clouding Talks
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.
The real life or death matter: The struggle between religious and civil judiciaries
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.
Saturday, April 11, 2026
US intel said to assess Iran can recover underground launchers, fire thousands of missiles
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.
Melania Trump put the Epstein files on the front burner
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.
Friday, April 10, 2026
Melania says her piece about Epstein – doth the lady protest too much?
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.
Melania Trump denies connection to Epstein case, calls accusations ‘baseless lies’
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
First lady Melania Trump on Thursday denied ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his sex crimes, saying that accusations she was somehow involved were an attempt to defame her, thrusting the affair back into the spotlight after her husband had sought to put it behind him.
The seemingly out-of-the-blue message came as her husband, US President Donald Trump, and his administration had finally seemed to move past more than a year of controversy surrounding Epstein, especially as the Iran war had become all-consuming in Washington.
Democrats, meanwhile, jumped on Melania Trump’s comments, saying they agreed with her call for a congressional hearing. In a social media post, Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee that is investigating Epstein, called on the Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer, to schedule a public hearing “immediately.”
Heart of King controlled by G-d
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
Hashgacha Protis - Knowledge or Awareness?
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.
Divine Providence is dependent on spiritual level
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…
'Not buying it': Nearly half of Israelis say Israel and US did not win Iran war, poll finds
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.
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Divine Providence
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’.
Idolatry
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.
Trump Allies, U.S. Officials Fear Iran Victory Lap Is Premature
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.
Israel failed to achieve its goals, and the price is likely to be heavy
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.
The ceasefire in the fighting with Iran, for now for two weeks, leaves Israel in a problematic strategic position: It failed to achieve any of the war goals it had set for itself; it remains entangled in the war in Lebanon; and its international standing is at an unprecedented low point amid accusations that it dragged the US into a war with Iran. To that must be added the continuing damage to the Israeli economy, especially to the home front, and the severe crisis of trust between the government and the Israeli public, particularly in the north.
The IDF did achieve in the operation most of the operational objectives it had set for itself, but Netanyahu failed to translate those into a broader strategic result. Just as happened in the war in Gaza and in the previous war in Lebanon, Israel has found itself in an endless campaign, with the goals it set appearing either too ambitious or impossible to achieve. The regime in Iran did not collapse, as had been claimed it would; control over 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium was not achieved; the missile array was only partially neutralized; and support for the proxies continued and even turned into an active regional campaign involving the Hezbollah terrorist organization, the Houthis and Shiite militia groups in Iraq.
US and Israel set out ambitious, vital war goals; as of the ceasefire, none have been achieved
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
Launching what was initially described as “a pre-emptive” campaign against Iran on February 28, the United States and Israel set out a series of highly ambitious and ultimately vital goals. When US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire and declared victory 39 days later, amid significant tactical success but inadequate strategic planning, none of them had been definitively achieved.
But, for now, the single most important war aim — ensuring that this regime can never get that weapon — remains unfulfilled. Iran’s nuclear “industrial base” has been further degraded, the regime retains its buried stockpile of highly enriched uranium. It may, if anything, be more inclined to attempt a breakout to the bomb, with a heightened determination to destroy Israel and to achieve broader invulnerability to future attack.
Similarly, while its ballistic missile capabilities, including all the necessary manufacturing elements, have been greatly degraded — Netanyahu and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have both said Iran is not capable of building more missiles at present — the regime proved able to keep firing throughout the war, at Israel and Gulf neighbors, including at longer ranges and with diversely deadly warheads.
Trump’s semantic games about old and new regimes symbolize the biggest danger of this current, fateful moment. The fighting is at a fragile halt, with the Islamic Republic still oppressing its people and still seeking to destroy Israel, emboldened to have survived an assault led by the world’s mightiest military power, and with no binding agreements in place to ensure that it cannot reconstitute what it has lost.
And yet the US president is telling the world, and himself, that he is dealing with “reasonable” people — indeed that he has received “a 10-point proposal” from them, believes it to be “a workable basis on which to negotiate,” and expects that a two-week ceasefire period “will allow the agreement to be finalized and consummated.”
Netanyahu left with vague promises, no clear victories after another war ends without a decisive win
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
And this, it seems, is how it may end.
Not with the dramatic death of Iran’s “whole civilization,” in the words of US President Donald Trump’s threat, but a two-week ceasefire with Iran that looks to leave the Islamic Republic in a position to survive and rebuild after nearly 40 days of war.
The Trump administration, of course, is saying that it won.
“Nothing is over yet,” said Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. “I don’t see how it is possible to bridge the positions of the US and Iran.”
Government leaders have obvious reasons to sell the abrupt end to the fighting as a temporary measure, though the prospect of Trump bringing the US back into an unpopular war without a clear path to achieving his goals appears unlikely.
A pause, not an end: What the two-week ceasefire with Iran really means - opinion
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.
Trump Declares Premature Victory in Iran
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.
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.
From Khamenei’s death to the 'Islamabad Accords': Ceasefire leaves unanswered questions - editorial
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.
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Trump claims Iran won’t enrich uranium, will give up uranium, while US lifts sanctions
No indication Tehran accepted such terms, as US president threatens tariffs, touts progress; Pentagon claims Iranian military decimated, despite ongoing missile, drone attacks
He notably appeared to make Washington’s 15-point plan for ending the war the basis of negotiations with Iran, even though his post announcing the ceasefire said Iran’s 10-point response would be the basis for talks.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials and state media published on Thursday what they said were the contents of the 10-point response on which the US had agreed to negotiate.
That 10-point plan notably included continued Iranian control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, an end to international sanctions on the country, and “acceptance” of uranium enrichment.These items would run contrary to Washington’s public statements about what it wants Iran to do.
Netanyahu says Iran’s enriched uranium will leave 'by agreement or renewed fighting'
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
Netanyahu spoke after a temporary ceasefire took effect overnight in coordination with Israel, saying the pause was not the end of the war but “a station on the way” to achieving all of Israel’s objectives.
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