Trump Defends Iran Deal Amid Republican Criticism

 https://www.newsweek.com/iran-media-says-deal-touted-by-trump-inconsistent-with-reality-11987756

President Donald Trump has defended the peace deal he says the U.S. is nearing with Iran following backlash from hardliner Republican lawmakers saying the agreement would appear to be weaker than what was established before the war.

Reported elements of the draft agreement so far suggest that the U.S. and Iran could agree to end the war without immediately addressing Iran's nuclear program - which had been one of the justifications the White House had raised for launching the war in February.

Critics, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, say such an arrangement would not be "America First" and that it appeared similar to the Obama-era nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew from in his first term in office.

Trump said to assure Netanyahu he will thwart Iran nuke program as Israel fears ‘very bad’ deal

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-said-to-assure-netanyahu-he-will-thwart-iran-nuke-program-amid-jitters-over-emerging-deal/

US President Donald Trump sought to reassure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that a final agreement with Iran will fully dismantle Tehran’s nuclear program, a senior Israeli official said in a statement on Sunday, as details emerged of a deal being cobbled together with Iran that appeared to leave central Israeli and American demands unmet and prompted profound concerns in Jerusalem.

According to multiple reports, confirmed by Israeli officials, the initial deal will focus on extending an existing ceasefire for another 60-days and opening the choked Strait of Hormuz to vital shipping, with the key issue of Iran’s nuclear activities relegated to discussions during that period, and no requirement for Iran to export its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. In addition, the plan is said to include a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, but does not include disarming the Iran-backed group.

Trump “clarified that he will stand firm in the negotiations on his longstanding demand for the dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of all enriched uranium from Iranian territory, and that he will not sign a final agreement without these conditions being met,” the unnamed senior official said.

Haredi kollel accused of major fraud

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/427503

The kollel received over 40 million shekels over a decade for hundreds of students, but a covert audit revealed that only a few dozen students were studying there.

The Israeli Ministry of Education has filed a major lawsuit against a kollel in Ashkelon, alleging what officials describe as one of the largest cases of fraudulent reporting ever uncovered in a Torah study institution.

At this stage, the Ministry of Education is seeking approximately 3 million shekels from the organization, representing government support funds transferred at the beginning of 2022 during the period when inspections were conducted.

The alleged fraud was uncovered in 2022 during a covert inspection conducted at the organization’s institutions. Inspectors reportedly found that only a few dozen students were present at the site.

‘Nightmare for Israel’: Senior GOP senators criticize alleged terms of emerging Iran deal

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/nightmare-for-israel-senior-gop-senators-criticize-alleged-terms-of-emerging-iran-deal/

After Iran says nuclear issues aren’t part of current talks, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo compares terms to 2015 Iran deal, says it will let Tehran ‘terrorize the world’

Senior US senators from the Republican Party voiced criticism on Saturday over the reported terms of the deal that US President Donald Trump, who is also a Republican, is negotiating with Tehran to end the Iran war.

Iran, meanwhile, said that nuclear issues were not part of the current negotiations.

Wicker, on Friday, blamed Trump’s advisers for pushing him to make a deal with Iran “that would not be worth the paper it is written on” rather than allowing the president to “finish the job he started.”

Why Gaza’s civilian rule cannot begin while Hamas still holds weapons and power

 https://www.ynetnews.com/opinions-analysis/article/rkqxtpylzg

Four months after the Trump administration unveiled its most ambitious postwar framework for Gaza, the civilian governance architecture at its center has effectively ceased to function.

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the technocratic body tasked with replacing Hamas as the strip's administrative authority, remains stranded in Cairo, unable to enter the territory it was designed to govern.

Senior committee members are threatening resignation. Every phase of the roadmap is frozen.

And the reason, stripped of diplomatic euphemism, is straightforward: Hamas is still there, still armed and still capable of vetoing any political arrangement it dislikes through the credible threat of violence.

What's inside the Iran deal Trump is close to signing

 https://www.axios.com/2026/05/24/iran-deal-strait-hormuz-sanctions-nuclear

The agreement the U.S. and Iran are close to signing involves a 60-day ceasefire extension during which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened, Iran would be able to freely sell oil, and negotiations would be held on curbing Iran's nuclear program, according to a U.S. official.

 The deal would avoid an escalation of the war and decrease the pressure on the global oil supply. However, it's unclear whether it will lead to a lasting peace agreement that also addresses President Trump's nuclear demands.

Trump Has Lost the Governing Plot

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-has-lost-the-governing-plot-4879dd64?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

His personal obsessions and campaign of retribution are damaging his Presidency and his party.

 Republicans don’t want to say this publicly, but privately they do: President Trump’s personal political obsessions are hurting his Presidency, harming the chances for further policy gains the rest of this year, and putting control of the House and Senate in jeopardy.

That’s the backdrop to the GOP revolt this week in Congress on war powers and funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Trump’s unrelated priorities are handing Democrats gift after gift and forcing Republicans to take difficult votes that could cost them in November. His desire for political revenge is also alienating Members of Congress he will need this year.

Tulsi Gabbard resigns as director of national intelligence

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/05/22/tulsi-gabbard-resigns-director-national-intelligence/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=acq&utm_campaign=RH-ACQ&utm_content=dtpmonthly_20260522_RH&campaign_id=18247939

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is resigning from the Trump administration, she said Friday, after her husband was diagnosed with an extremely rare bone cancer.

Her departure ends a stormy 15-month tenure in which the former Democratic congresswoman was largely excluded from President Donald Trump’s inner national security circle, even as she pushed his political priorities on election security, declassification and Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential contest.

A person familiar with the situation said that Williams’s diagnosis notwithstanding, Gabbard had been pressured to depart by White House officials increasingly unhappy with her actions, which had brought unwelcome publicity or diverted attention from Trump’s messages. The person, like some others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration dynamics.

Returning A Goy's lost Property

Sanhedrin (76b)  One who marries his daughter to an old man or takes a wife for his infant son, or returns a lost article to a Cuthean, concerning him Scripture sayeth, that he bless himself in his heart saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart to add drunkedness to thirst: The Lord will not spare him.

Rashi (Sanhedrin 76b) והמחזיר אבידה לכותי - השווה וחבר כותי לישראל ומראה בעצמו שהשבת אבדה אינה חשובה לו מצות בוראו שאף לכותי הוא עושה כן שלא נצטווה עליהם: 

Sinai Source of Religious Hatred

Shabbos (89a)  One of the Rabbis asked R. Kahana: Hast thou heard what the mountain of Sinai [connotes]? The mountain whereon miracles [nissim] were performed for Israel, he replied. Then it should be called Mount Nisal? But [it means] the mountain whereon a happy augury [siman] took place for Israel. Then it should be called, Mount Simanai? Said he to him, Why dost thou not frequent [the academy of] R. Papa and R. Huna the son of R. Joshua, who make a study of aggadah. For R. Hisda and Rabbah the son of R. Huna both said, What is [the meaning of] Mount Sinai? The mountain whereon there descended hostility [sin'ah ] toward idolaters. And thus R. Jose son of R. Hanina said: It has five names: The Wilderness of Zin, [meaning] that Israel were given commandments there; the Wilderness of Kadesh, where the Israelites were sanctified [kadosh], the Wilderness of Kedemoth, because a priority [kedumah] was conferred there; the Wilderness of Paran,because Israel was fruitful [paru] and multiplied there; and the Wilderness of Sinai, because hostility toward idolaters descended thereon. Whilst what was its [real] name? its name was Horeb. Now they disagree with R. Abbahu, For R. Abbahu said: its name was Mount Sinai, and why was it called Mount Horeb? Because desolation [hurbah] to idolaters descended thereon.

Rashi (Shabbos 89a) Hatred  for idolaters (the nations of the world): Since they did not accept the Torah. 

Derashos HaRan (7) All of our quarrels with the nations stem from our difference in faith, as our sages stated (Shabbath 89a):The meaning is that because the Blessed One separated us from all the nations, not to intermarry with them and not to eat forbidden foods, this furthering and separation from them has inevitably caused this hatred. This is the intent of "When I liken you, I shall console you." That is, when I liken you with the other nations, so that they will all be of the same faith with you, I will console you. For then the consolation will be complete, with no subsequent worry of war or of the hatred of the aforementioned nations against us

Iran is winning by losing: how Tehran turned Gulf victims into its biggest lobbyists

 https://www.ynetnews.com/opinions-analysis/article/bj5yw3c1ml

Something extraordinary happened on Monday that no analyst predicted and no diplomatic textbook describes. The leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, three countries whose territory Iran has been striking for weeks, picked up the phone and called Donald Trump to beg him not to bomb Tehran. They succeeded. The scheduled American military assault on Iran, set for Tuesday morning, was called off. Not by negotiations. Not by Iranian concessions. By the very nations bearing the brunt of Iranian aggression.

Trump said Monday evening he had planned a very major attack but put it off, for a little while, hopefully maybe forever, after receiving requests from Gulf leaders to give negotiations more time. He said the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had each personally urged him to delay the planned strike, citing ongoing negotiations with Tehran and expressing confidence that a deal would be reached. Trump, framing the concession as deference to allies rather than weakness, agreed to stand down.

This is the paradox at the center of the current ceasefire. Iran attacks the Gulf states. The Gulf states then lobby Washington for restraint on Iran's behalf. Tehran fires at the hand that feeds the argument for its survival. And the hand, rather than withdrawing, extends further.

'Bibi's hair was on fire:' Inside the call between Trump, Netanyahu on Iran ceasefire talks - Axios

 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-896906

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had a difficult conversation on Tuesday about ceasefire talks, Axios reported on Wednesday. 

Trump reportedly called Netanyahu on Tuesday to inform him that mediators were working on a "letter of intent" to end the war and launch a month-long period of negotiations, which would include matters such as Iran's nuclear program and opening the Strait of Hormuz.

Two Israeli sources stated that the two leaders were in clear disagreement about how to deal with Iran moving forward. One US source briefed on the call told Axios that "Bibi's hair was on fire after the call." 

Trump says Netanyahu will ‘do whatever I want’ on Iran after pair said to hold tense call

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/irgc-threatens-war-will-spread-far-beyond-the-region-if-us-renews-attacks-on-iran/

US President Donald Trump asserted Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will do “whatever I want” when it comes to a potential military strike on Iran, in remarks made a day after the pair reportedly held a tense call on the subject.

The two leaders disagreed on the path forward during the call, as Netanyahu was highly skeptical of the framework, believing the US should continue applying military pressure on Iran to further weaken the regime by destroying its critical infrastructure, two Israeli sources said.

The US source said that Netanyahu’s “hair was on fire after the call,” though Israeli sources noted that Netanyahu “is always concerned” about how negotiations with Iran will go, even during stages that previously failed.

Iran Sticks to Its Guns as Trump’s Threats Begin to Lose Power

 https://www.newsweek.com/iran-sticks-to-its-guns-as-trumps-threats-begin-to-lose-power-11967826

Almost three months into the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and nearly five weeks since President Donald Trump announced a blockade of the Islamic Republic, a defiant Tehran shows little sign of budging in the face of the White House's fiery threats.

Rather, the conflict appears thus far to be emboldening Iranian leadership. Despite the loss of their supreme leader, the killing of other key commanders and decision-makers and the destruction of considerable firepower, Iranian officials have largely put domestic divisions aside and closed ranks to maintain a hefty set of demands to end the war on their own terms.

It's a costly bet. Yet the price for the White House, the region and the world is adding up as well.

"I think that the Trump administration has led itself into a very tight corner," Saikal said. "It has kept changing its goalposts and doesn’t really know how to end the war. President Trump has pathologically never been able to accept defeat. He has now narrowed his objective to ‘no nuclear weapons’, despite the fact that Tehran has always said that it won’t produce nuclear weapons."