Iran Ready to Enrich Uranium to Bomb-Grade Levels: "We Can Do That"

 https://www.newsweek.com/iran-ready-enrich-uranium-bomb-grade-levels-we-can-do-that-2093390

Iran can now enrich uranium up to the 90 percent level required for nuclear weapons even though it has no desire to build them, a prominent member of the Iranian parliament said following Israeli and U.S. attacks on its nuclear program.

Going forward, Iran will enrich uranium according to its needs at any levels and without abiding by conditions, according to Alaeddin Boroujerdi's statements on Iranian TV, multiple Iranian media reported.

"Iran may need to enrich uranium to 90% purity for fuel to power its ocean liner. We can do that. The only red line is the atomic bomb," the senior member of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission was quoted as saying by the UK-based Iran International English outlet. He described U.S. President Donald Trump's demands for zero enrichment as a "delusion".

It is unclear to what extent the damage at Iran's underground nuclear facilities, acknowledged by Tehran, affected the program's development.

Trump and administration officials have spoken of the "obliteration" of Iran's nuclear program by the attack but the leader of the IAEA Rafael Grossi estimated the setback for Iran was a matter of "months."

Americans’ – and Republicans’ – increasingly complicated relationship with Israe

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/13/politics/republicans-israel-support-analysis

Multiple indicators suggest Americans’ support for Israel has reached historic lows as its war in Gaza has dragged on. And while Republicans are much more likely to back Israel than Democrats, even that is getting more complicated – particularly as influential voices on the right voice skepticism of a hardline approach to Iran.

Americans’ support for Israel at record low, backing for Palestinians at all-time high

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-americans-support-for-israel-at-record-low-backing-for-palestinians-at-all-time-high/

This week’s poll found that Republican sympathies with Israelis have remained relatively steady, at 75% vs. 10% for Palestinians. Among independents, the Israeli-Palestinian split was 42% to 34%.

The poll found that 55% of Americans, and majorities of Democrats and independents, support the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Among Republicans, support for a Palestinian state was at 41%.

Less Than Half in U.S. Now Sympathetic Toward Israelis

 https://news.gallup.com/poll/657404/less-half-sympathetic-toward-israelis.aspx

Although Americans remain more likely to say their sympathies in the Middle East situation are with the Israelis rather than the Palestinians, the 46% expressing support for Israel is the lowest in 25 years of Gallup’s annual tracking of this measure on its World Affairs survey. The previous 51% low point in this trend of Americans’ sympathy for Israelis was recorded both last year and in 2001.

At the same time, the 33% of U.S. adults who now say they sympathize with the Palestinians is up six percentage points from last year and the highest reading by two points.

Given their majority-level sympathy for the Palestinians, it follows that Democrats are also broadly supportive of an independent Palestinian state. About three-quarters of Democrats, 76%, are in favor of such a state, compared with 53% of independents. While 41% of Republicans support a Palestinian state, 49% are opposed.

Democrats’ support for a Palestinian state has been trending upward since 2021, whereas independents’ has been relatively steady over the same period. Republicans’ support is up 15 points after dropping sharply last year.

'Look at the sea change now': Enten on 56-point swing among Dems supporting Palestinians

'Why the hell did you vote for the bill?': GOP senator slammed for megabill whiplash

What you're feeling is the banality of cruelty from Trump and the Republican Party

Elon Musk Responds to Trump's 'Back Home to South Africa' Comments

 https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-trump-south-africa-2093392

Musk was one of the most prominent supporters of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, spending at least $250 million to support his bid. However, he has been deeply critical of Trump's "big, beautiful bill," a major tax and spending package that passed the Senate with Vice President JD Vance's tiebreaking vote. It now heads back to the House.

The package would raise the U.S. debt ceiling by $5 trillion, impose large tax cuts and increase spending on border security and defense. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would add $3.3 trillion to U.S. fiscal deficits over the next decade. The bill also reduces health insurance and food subsidies for some lower-income households.

Musk described the bill as "political suicide" and "utterly insane and destructive," adding on X, "It gives handouts to industries of the past, while severely damaging industries of the future."

After Running Hot and Cold, Trump Heaps Praise on Netanyahu

 https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/trump-netanyahu-israel-praise-566d399f?mod=hp_lead_pos10

Relations between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have had plenty of ups and downs. As the two leaders prepare for a White House visit set for next week, things are decidedly on the upswing.

Trump has showered Netanyahu with praise for leading a 12-day assault on Iran aimed at setting back Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, a conflict the U.S. joined by launching bunker-busting airstrikes on underground Iranian uranium-enrichment sites.

Now the White House has renewed its push for a halt to the war in Gaza. In a Tuesday evening social-media post, Trump said Israel had agreed to the “necessary conditions” for a 60-day cease-fire with Hamas, a goal likely to come up in his meeting with Netanyahu.

“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Since the Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran, Trump has weighed in on Israel’s domestic affairs, urging Israeli authorities to drop charges against Netanyahu that accuse him of corruption, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing. The calls represent rare interference by a U.S. leader in a foreign country’s domestic judicial process.

“Bibi and I just went through HELL together,” Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend, using Netanyahu’s nickname. “Bibi could not have been better, sharper, or stronger in his LOVE for the incredible Holy Land. Anybody else would have suffered losses, embarrassment, and chaos!”

Trump has called the case against Netanyahu a political witch hunt and compared it to his own legal issues. Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records by a New York court last year and also found liable for sexual abuse in a civil case. Trump has denied wrongdoing and called both the cases against him disgraceful.

Trump’s decision to add U.S. forces to the air campaign against Iran and then to champion Israel’s leader reflects the president’s affinity—in military and political affairs—for leaders he sees as winners.

Trump-Musk feud reignites over the ‘big, beautiful bill’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5380120-trump-musk-fight-over-bill/

The Senate’s version of the bill, which narrowly passed earlier on Tuesday, would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion between 2025 and 2034, roughly $1 trillion more than the House-passed version, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!” Musk wrote on X.

“And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.” 

How Republicans got Murkowski to yes on Trump's megabill - Not in my backyard

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/01/murkowski-trump-alaska-megabill-00435981

What Murkowski was wrangling for was pretty basic: How to blunt the impact of the bill on her state.

“What I tried to do was to ensure that my colleagues understood what that means when you live in an area where there are no jobs, it is not a cash economy,” she told reporters. “And so I needed help, and I worked to get that every single day.”

And as part of Senate Republicans’ sweeping final amendment to the bill that was part of the overnight negotiations, they removed a controversial tax on solar and wind energy projects that Murkowski and a handful of other Republicans were agitating to be removed.

Another goodie bordered on the obscure, if not for the senator: Bowhead whaling boat captains recognized by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission will be able to deduct more for whale-hunting-related expenses, up to $50,000 from the current $10,000.

Tamar Epstein and the Scarlet Letter: The Kaminetskys and Rabbinic sanctioned adultery

Jewish society is faced with a major crisis - how to deal with a case of rabbinic sanctioned adultery. On the one hand we have adultery - which is one of the worst sins and one which is based on betrayal of the most important human - that of husband and wife. This betrayal aspect is why it is used as a metaphor for betrayal in the relationship of G-d and the Jewish people. There is a primal revulsion towards the betrayal of  a wife who has an affair with another man. It also is one of the most defiling of sins - because of its violation of the sanctity of marriage.

At the same time we are faced with another theme - loyalty to rabbinic authority and gedolim. There is no higher praise than to say one has emunas chachomim i.e., obeys the decisions and views of G-d representatives - the rabbis. In this case Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky and Rav Nota Greenblatt are American gedolim who have the stature of being of the select group of transmitters of G-d's Torah and Mesorah.

The halacha is very clear - Tamar Epstein is a married woman who is married to a man not her husband - the definition of adultery. But she did it with the guidance and encouragement of two major rabbinic figures. However the rabbis who sanctioned this adulterous relations refuse to justify their actions. By their silence they are demanding acceptance of their activities simply because of their status and authority as gedolim - not because they are experts in the halacha - or are correct.

From the point of view of the Kaminetskys and Greenblatts they are saying they have no need to justify anything they do - no matter how horrific in appearance - because they are gedolim. They are hoping that the perceived obscenity of what they are doing will eventually be forgotten and they will succeed in getting away with distorting the Torah. Thus they are not only giving the appearance of violating the Torah by facilitating apparent adultery but they are violating a specific requirement of halacha - that decisions which appear wrong - need to explained in detail to the public.

What about the other rabbis who know that R Greenblatt and the Kamenetskys are wrong? Why haven't there been loud cries of outrage from our rabbinic leaders? The answer is that the rabbis are very uncomfortable with being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Thus they are dodging the question with a technicality. They acknowledge that it is highly unlikely that there is a valid justification for the marriage without a get. However they say that they can not judge whether this is truly a case of adultery - unless they see a written justification for the act to which they can agree or disagree. Without this written justification - they feel they need to assume that what great rabbis have done - must be correct. The fact that the failure to provide a written justification is a violation of halacha - while puzzling - is also something which they say must be given the benefit of doubt.

So the crisis continues - a blatant act of adultery, a brazen concealing of justification,  demands of "trust me I am a gadol", timidity and fear of rabbinic leaders in addressing the issue - and the accelerated loss of emunas chachomim and growth of cynicism by the masses.

Rabbinic Authority - Descriptive vs rational justification

One of the outcomes of the discussions [ I II III ] about Chazal and Science is that there are two disparate models being used here. Each side thinks it is obvious that their model is correct. On the one hand we have the insular chareidi model which says that the only relevant information is that which comes from seeing the text the way our godolim see it. On the other hand are those that argue that it is fine to use that approach for practical halacha but one needs to be and has the right to be concerned with objective truth.

This reminded me of the summary of Prof. Michael S. Berger's excellent book - Rabbinical Authority. He says that determining the source of Rabbinic authority in the traditional world is basically a description of what a particular community considers to be authoritative. On the other hand the more modern elements say that we need to identity objective sources of authority - which are independent of what people in a particular community do.

p154-155

"Interpreting legal texts led us in chapter 9 to introduce Stanley Fish's analysis of literary criticism, which situates all interpretation within the context of interpretive communities. Indeed, a "text" has no existence independent of such a community, for only a community, with its values, assumptions, principles, etc., may construe a text as a "text" in the first place. We teased out the implications of such a model for interpretation in legal traditions in general and in the Jewish legal tradition in particular, showing how the ways the Sages read the Torah became characteristic of that community and were subsequently (consequently?) applied to the Mishnah, the Talmud, and even medieval codes.

All three chapters of part III offered alternative understandings of authority that, to varying degrees, rejected the Enlightenment assessment of authority. The Enlightenmentent model demands that some justification be provided for forgoing one's own independent judgments and decisions in order to defer to another's view. But in part III I tried to show that authority is embedded in a form of life which, in the end, renders such rational justification beside the point. Applying a Wittgensteinian approach to the issue of Rabbinic authority, we saw that the issue could not truly be understood outside a set of circumstances that already situates it - and those subject to it - in a particular context. Description, rather than justification, was seen to be a helpful and productive way of analyzing authority. The question that came up in the nineteenth century and that continues to the present is not really about the authority of the talmudic Sages but is about the contemporary relevance or appropriateness of a form of life that makes the Sages of late antiquity central to one's entire outlook and set of concerns. Various interpretive communities, represented in part by the range of Jewish denominations today, have resolved this issue in a variety of ways, and each, in the end, construes the "text of the Talmud" and "Rabbinic authority" quite differently. The choices made by each community naturally bear consequences for its members, but it is only in terms of these interpretive communities that we can properly discuss the issue of the Talmud's, or Rabbinic, authority.

No simple solutions, therefore, await us as we inquire into the nature of Rabbinic authority. Sages, texts, and interpretive communities and forms of life mix inextricably in complex and subtle ways such that the effort to separate them and view one as antecedent or primary to the others fails to capture how authority is to be understood in Judaism. Rabbinic authority is necessarily conceived in the intricate interface of community and text, a fitting condition for "the people of the Book."

Rabbinic Authority - Medical Model

 At one time I resided in the idyllic Brooklyn community of Midwood. One of my fellow residents was Rabbi Steinwurtzel a dayan of the Bobover Beis Din and a well known talmid chachom. He used to travel regularly by bus to Boro Park. One day I saw him waiting at the bus stop and offered him a ride to Boro Park. On the way I asked him what the basis of Rabbinic authority was. He replied it was like that of a doctor.

I assumed he meant that just as a doctor is understood to know more than I because of his training and education in scientific research and thus his authority comes from superior knowledge so is is the authority of the rabbi comes from superior knowledge. 

However I have recently come to a different understanding. Just as doctors were not automatically seen through history as authorities but only relatively recently partly because of advances in medicine and the need for extensive training and expensive equipment. However a major component of their authority comes from social pressure and taught cultural values. Similar rabbinic authiority requires social pressure and cultural training.   [See Paul Starr's book on the Social Development of Medicine]

Religious Freedom in America

 I'm reading "Sacred Liberty: America's Long, Bloody, and Ongoing Struggle for Religious Freedom" by Steven Waldman and wanted to share this quote with you.

"Those who demand religious rights have too often been mocked and murdered, tarred and feathered. The same nation that boasts of its commitment to religious liberty also allowed for the following injustices. In the seventeenth century, Massachusetts hanged people for being Quakers. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, nine of the thirteen colonies barred Catholics and Jews from holding office. In 1838, the governor of Missouri issued Executive Order 44, calling for the “extermination” of the Mormons. Protestant mobs burned convents, sacked churches, and collected the teeth of deceased nuns as souvenirs during anti-Catholic riots in the 1830s—just one of the many spasms of “anti-papism” that roiled America from the colonial era until well into the twentieth century.""Hundreds of thousands of Africans were stripped of not only their liberty but also their religions when they were brought to America, in what one historian called “a spiritual holocaust.” After the Civil War, the United States government banned many Native American spiritual practices while coercing indigenous children to convert to Christianity. Before and during World War II, Jehovah’s Witnesses were imprisoned, beaten, and even castrated for refusing, as a matter of conscience, to salute the American flag."

Start reading this book for free: https://a.co/2wwL4Qy

U.S. Halts Key Weapons for Ukraine in New Sign of Weakening Support for Kyiv

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-halts-key-weapons-for-ukraine-in-new-sign-of-weakening-support-for-kyiv-35d78cfc?mod=hp_lead_pos9

Withholding Patriot air-defense missiles comes as Ukraine faces persistent Russian air attacks

The U.S. has stopped the delivery of air-defense interceptors and other weapons intended for Ukraine and is using them instead to beef up Pentagon stocks, a Trump administration official and two congressional aides said Tuesday.

The U.S. move to withhold arms deliveries earmarked for Ukraine reflects the Trump administration’s slackening commitment to aiding Kyiv in its defense against Russia. Administration officials have stressed the need to focus more on the longer-term threats from China and, more immediately, military needs in the Middle East. 

Religious Freedom

Darash Moshe (Devarim 25:17 Vol. I, pp. 415-6)  Remember what Amalek did to you .. Don’t forget It is difficult to understand what is the need for us to remember the deeds of Amalek in our mouth and heart (Megila 18a) or what we are to do?  However the verse (Shemos 27:20) “You are commanded to bring clear oil of beaten olives for lighting and not the dregs , for kindling lamps regularly” answers this. The Torah is revealing to us something very important. The fact is that every superstition and nonsensical belief in the world claims to bring light to the world and creates beautiful things to deceive and capture souls. And nonetheless because many do not accept them, they compel anyone they can, with sword and spear, to adopt their faith and creed as is well known from history. This is true in all times, with respect to both matters of faith and matters of ideology, past and present, and especially in Russia and Germany Thus force is the dregs of their illumination. Ultimately, all that is left is wickedness, not the ideology. So what need do they have for the ideology once they have swords and spears?  In the end, only the sword and spear remain, while the light is completely extinguished, as we saw especially in places such as Germany and Russia. Because the coercion is mixed with ideology  some might mistakenly think that coercion is itself illuminating and that there is no need for ideology. as we saw in Germany and Russia. Therefore,no government should accept one single faith or one single ideology, because ultimately only the power will remain, without an ideology, and this leads to destruction, as we see with our very eyes …You might mistakenly think that this advice applies also to Torah since our nation is to be directed solely by Torah.  That is hinted at by the verse in Shemos that illumination is to be only from pure oil and not the dregs which symbolize coercion. It is only as a wise and understanding nation that we influence the world as we saw in the times of Dovid and Shlomo when many goyim converted solely from the love of G-d and Torah because it is forbidden to convert through force. Also in regard to Amalek, he attacked regarding a certain ideology that he wanted to demonstrate according to his faulty understanding which was not based on miracles and presented nothing to be afraid of. Thus he should have simply explained his views which could be accepted or rejected on its merits. However he didn’t attempt to show the light and good points of his ideology but immediately attempted coercion which is the dregs of any ideology.  Thus we are enjoined that we need to remember with our mouth and hearts that all religion and ideology that is forced solely by the government or by any coercion is inadequate to illuminate our lives and is nonsensense and false and misleads mankind and lacks true illumination. This is the lesson from remembering Amalek. The lesson is that no government should adopt a particular ideology or religion. It should focus on its basic purpose which is  to make a just society and protect the wellbeing of everyone and safeguard them from all harm as it states in Avos – that if it weren’t for the fear of the government, people would destroy each other. However in regards to religion and ideology,  each person should be free to do what he wants. In fact America established legally over 150 years ago that the country can not adopt a particular religion or ideology but all citizens are free to choose what they want and the government is concerned only with the welfare of each person and the well being of society and they do according what G-d wants. As a result America has prospered and been successful. We are obligated to pray to G-d for continued success and that soon Yehuda and Israel should be saved. 

Senate GOP closes in on passing Trump’s tax bill, but holdouts remain

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/30/senate-trump-tax-bill/

Senate Republicans inched toward passing their massive tax and immigration bill Monday, working through the evening to win over the final holdouts as they seek to deliver the first major legislative victory of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act would extend tax cuts passed in 2017, enact campaign promises such as no tax on tips, spend hundreds of billions of dollars on immigration enforcement and defense, and slash spending on social benefit programs.

The $3.3 trillion legislation survived a brief GOP revolt over the weekend to allow the chamber to move forward with debate on the measure — but its passage remains far from certain.

Tucker Carlson and the new country club antisemitism

 https://www.ynetnews.com/opinions-analysis/article/bk72ivwnex

There’s a new kind of antisemite in America. He doesn’t wear a swastika. He wears a sports coat. He sips whiskey, quotes Churchill out of context and claims to love Israel—until Israel fights back. His name is Tucker Carlson, and he just exposed the true soul of the MAGA far-right: sanitized, smiling and full of contempt for Jewish sovereignty.

Because what we’re witnessing is the rise of the Power Libel—the 21st-century mutation of the oldest antisemitic accusation. It’s not about blood anymore. It’s about influence. It’s about power. It’s about blaming Jews—individually or collectively, through the symbol of Israel—for the political, cultural and even spiritual decline of a nation. It’s the slander that says, “Israel is dragging us into war,” “Zionists control our politicians,” “Jewish interests corrupted our foreign policy.” It’s not screamed anymore. It’s performed. By pundits with Yale degrees and clean hands.

Carlson doesn’t just criticize Israel—he builds the stage for suspicion. He frames support for Israel as weakness. He suggests that the American public is being manipulated by shadowy forces that are never quite named, but always understood. And most dangerously, he wraps that message in a patriotic aesthetic that makes it palatable to millions of well-meaning people who don’t even know what they’re absorbing. And that’s what makes this moment so dangerous.

Senior Trump official: Israel’s border agreements ‘are all illusions’

 https://thehill.com/policy/international/5377340-trump-administration-israel-border-remarks/?tbref=hp

A senior Trump administration official described Israel’s modern borders as being drawn along “illusory” lines during wide-ranging remarks in which he also raised doubt about the survival of some Middle Eastern nation-states, blamed Europe for carving up the region over the past decade and offered praise for the Ottoman Empire.

The official made the remarks during a background briefing discussing President Trump signing an executive order on Monday lifting sanctions on Syria, and the administration’s efforts to establish diplomatic ties between the new Syrian government and Israel.

Trump Tries to Issue a Pardon—in Israel

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-benjamin-netanyahu-trial-israel-truth-social-6b1b3073?mod=hp_opin_pos_3

President Trump has taken up a new cause: the Benjamin Netanyahu innocence project. “It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure,” he wrote on Truth Social on Saturday, one of three posts against the Israeli Prime Minister’s trial, which has dragged on since 2020. “LET BIBI GO, HE’S GOT A BIG JOB TO DO!”

But the workings of Israel’s overactive legal system and domestic politics aren’t within a U.S. President’s purview. We doubt Mr. Trump is familiar with the details of the Netanyahu case, nor should he be. It isn’t America’s place to say, as Mr. Trump has, that “Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY,” or to threaten, “We are not going to stand for this” after mentioning U.S. military aid. That aid furthers a strategic purpose, as all the world saw this June in Iran, not a political one.

Trump launches ‘Fight’ cologne with help of Jill Biden photo

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Now you can smell like Trump as president hawks perfume

 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-perfume-fragrance-price-b2780035.html

The scent of ‘confidence, beauty, and unstoppable determination’ is just one star in a galaxy of products Donald Trump has advertised using the megaphone of the US presidency

Not content with stamping his name on sneakers, bibles, guitars, and cryptocurrency, the 45th and 47th president of the United States now wants you to buy his new perfume.

"Trump Fragrances are here. They're called 'Victory 45-47' because they're all about Winning, Strength, and Success — for men and women," announced President Donald Trump on his own social network Truth Social on Monday evening.

"Get yourself a bottle, and don't forget to get one for your loved ones too. Enjoy, have fun, and keep winning!"

White House Says Iran Failed to Move Enriched Uranium Before US Strikes |

Trump says no enriched uranium moved out of Fordo, as debate over strikes’ impact goes on

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-says-no-enriched-uranium-moved-out-of-fordo-as-debate-over-strikes-impact-continues/

US defense chief also says he’s seen no intel that stockpile was removed, contrary to claims by European officials; UN atomic agency head: Fordo centrifuges ‘no longer operational’

US President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday that no enriched uranium was moved out of Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordo, as public debate continued over how much Iran’s nuclear program was set back after Israeli and American strikes in the just-ended 12-day war.

'It was almost comical to watch him': Rep. Moulton on Secy. Hegseth's demeanor during Iran briefing

Trump Puts the Senate in Play in 2026

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-puts-the-senate-in-play-in-2026-83b84ecd?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

A common feature of Donald Trump’s two terms as President is that he can’t stand political prosperity. When events are going in his direction, he has an uncanny habit of handing his opponents a sword.

The latest example came Sunday after GOP leaders dragged several holdouts across the line to vote aye and start debate over the Senate version of the budget reconciliation bill. The vote was 51-49, but Mr. Trump couldn’t leave victory alone.

Instead he unloaded on the two GOP dissenters, Rand Paul of Kentucky and especially Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Mr. Trump dumped three different Truth Social posts on Mr. Tillis, calling him a sellout, a “talker and complainer” and various other insults.

He also all but promised to support a Republican opponent in the GOP primary for Senate in 2026, when Mr. Tillis’s term ends. “Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. “I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina.”

Trump - "only believe what I tell you. Anyone who thinks Iran can develop an A bomb is delusional"

We are witnessing great bitachon amongst Jews However it is bitachon in Trump not G-d Concern for Iranian A bomb can only be a sign of Trump hatred since he claims he destroyed the threat and we all know everything he says is always true

Satellite images reveal Iran attempting to regain access to Fordo nuclear facility

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/06/30/satellite-images-reveal-iran-attempting-to-regain-access-to-fordo-nuclear-facility/

Satellite images show an excavator operating near the crater at the Fordo site, with a sand conveyor removing soil. Iran appears to have made significant progress in clearing the crater near the ventilation shafts that were targeted in the strike.

Images from two days earlier had indicated that initial engineering activity had begun, but the latest photographs suggest Iran is now working to reopen access to the underground facility. Nonetheless, the paved access tunnels leading deeper into the mountain remain blocked by sand piles, apparently placed there by Iran before the attack.

Intercepted call of Iranian officials downplays damage of U.S. attack

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/06/29/trump-iran-nuclear-damage-intercepted-call/

The officials were heard saying Trump’s strike on Iran proved less devastating than expected. The administration calls the intelligence insignificant.

The United States obtained intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials discussing this month’s U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they had expected, said four people familiar with the classified intelligence circulating within the U.S. government.

The Trump administration did not dispute the existence of the intercepted communication, which has not been previously reported, but strenuously disagreed with the Iranians’ conclusions and cast doubt on their ability to assess the damage at the three nuclear facilities targeted in the U.S. operation.

Analysts broadly agree that the strikes involved immense U.S. firepower, including 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles, that severely damaged the nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. But the extent of the destruction and how long it may take Iran to rebuild has been hotly debated amid reports that Iran moved its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium before the strike and that the explosions sealed off the entrance to two of the facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings.

Nicolle Wallace slams GOP on Medicaid cuts: 'Mitch McConnell doesn't give a you-know-what

New Satellite Imagery Shows Iran Expanding Work at Fordow Nuclear Site

 https://www.newsweek.com/iran-fordow-satellite-images-construction-2091860

A question of intelligence: More fallout from Trump's Iran strikes

Yikes! Fox News’ Brit Hume slams Fox vet Hegseth for berating Fox reporter at Pentagon

MITZVOS AND SPECIAL NEEDS

 https://www.beineinu.org/chizuq-inspiration/gedolim-say/1892-mitzvos-and-special-needs

With regard to Jewish retarded -- parenthetically, I prefer some such term as "special" people, not simply as a euphemism, but because it would more accurately reflect their situation, especially in view of the fact that in many cases the retardation is limited to the capacity to absorb and assimilate knowledge, while in other areas they may be quite normal or even above average -- the Jewish identity factor is even more important, not only per se but also for its therapeutic value. The actual practice of Mitzvos in the everyday life provides a tangible way by which these special people of all ages can, despite their handicap, identify with their families and with other fellow Jews in their surroundings, and generally keep in touch with reality. Even if mentally they may not fully grasp the meaning of these rituals, subconsciously they are bound to feel at home in such an environment, and in many cases could participate in such activities also on the conscious level.

Trump: Make the deal in Gaza, bring hostages back

https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/06/29/trump-make-the-deal-in-gaza-bring-hostages-back/

US President Donald Trump is continuing to push for an end to the war in Gaza. Trump posted on his TRUTH social media platform that a deal must be signed. Over the weekend, Trump said all efforts are now focused on ending the war and securing the hostages' release as part of a broader move to expand the Abraham Accords.

The primary obstacle remains Hamas's refusal to accept the terms for ending the war: disarmament and the exile of its senior leadership. The central proposal currently on the table postpones discussion of these disputed issues to a later stage in the negotiations and seeks to address Hamas's demand for guarantees that the war will be brought to a complete end, even if talks are not concluded within 60 days. The proposal is still awaiting agreement from the parties involved

Musk condemns latest Senate bill that would 'destroy millions of jobs,' raise taxes on wind, solar projects

 https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/musk-condemns-latest-senate-bill-destroy-millions-jobs-raise-taxes-wind-solar-projects

Former DOGE head and tech mogul Elon Musk took to X on his 54th birthday Saturday to bash the latest Senate draft of President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which would "destroy millions of jobs" and raise taxes on all wind and solar projects that have not yet started construction.

"The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country! Utterly insane and destructive," Musk wrote in the post.

Trump: 'Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back!!!'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/410814

US President Donald Trump called for a ceasefire deal to return the remaining 50 hostages still held in Gaza in an all-caps post to his Truth Social platform this morning (Sunday).

The President wrote: "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!! DJT."

Trump told reporters on Friday that he believes a ceasefire in Gaza could be achieved this week.

“I think it’s close. I just spoke with some of the people involved. It’s a terrible situation that’s going on in Gaza, and we think within the next week, we’re going to get a ceasefire,” he said.

Iran could start enriching uranium for bomb within months, UN nuclear chief says

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79qeqg89g2o

Iran has the capacity to start enriching uranium again - for a possible bomb - in "a matter of months", the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has said.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the US strikes on three Iranian sites last weekend had caused severe but "not total" damage, contradicting Donald Trump's claim that Iran's nuclear facilities were "totally obliterated".

"Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there," Grossi said on Saturday.

Korach and Shabtsai Tzvi

 The commentary of the Netziv regarding the rebellion of Korach makes a nimber of assertions.

1) This was a revolt of gedolim against Moshe and ultimatey against G-d!

2) The motivation of the rebels was different. Korah wanted power. Dosan wanted to cause trouble and was utilized by Korach to recruit the 250 gediolim who were not only judges in Moshe's beis din but were known fot their piety and they sinned for the sake of getting closer to G-d

3) He notes that Nazir is described as were the 250 as sinning against their souls. He says the commonality is that the Nazir afflicts himself to develop ruach hakodesh. Something he is not deserving of by his spiritual level. They felt that only by doing the avoda of Cohanim could they get closer to G-d and they were willing to sin and die to accomplish that. That is why they were not swallowed up as their fellow rebels but were were burned by holy fire as were Aron's sons, He notes that the message of Tzitzis is that spiritual greatness can only be achieved correctly through mitzvos and conforming with    G-d's plan and not through sin. 

Bottom line the Netziv here explains as he did with the meraglim that gedolim also have a yetzer harah to sin even for the sake of Heaven as well as for baser reasons such as power or jealousy.

Rewriting Jewish history

 In the current Mishpacha there is an article about Rav Yisroel Salanter which notes at the end that the writing of Professor Etkes was utilized. It describes his mesiras nefesh in Paris to build Yddishkeit.

It first raises the question of why he lived most of his life outside the religious community of Eastern Europe and lived amongst the emigrants and irreligious in Western Europe. 

https://mishpacha.com/au-revoir-rav-yisrael/

Rav Yisrael Salanter left Eastern Europe in 1857, returning only for sporadic visits. For the next 26 years of his life, the great founder of the Mussar movement, and one of the greatest tzaddikim and geonim in the whole Russian Empire, resided in various cities across Germany — Halberstadt, Konigsberg, Memel, Berlin, Hamburg — and even spent a curious two-year stint in Paris, France.

What was behind his sudden departure? Why did he remain in Western Europe until his passing? And most importantly, what did he set out to accomplish during his long sojourn away from familiar surroundings?

He left for Germany to seek medical care for his worsening health issues. After he’d been there for several months, his observations on the spiritual state of German Jewry made him decide to remain. While Eastern Europe was then beginning its own confrontation with modernity and secularization, Germany and other Western European Jewish communities were already decades into the experience.

Since I have Professor Etkes biography I decided to compare it to the article. 

In the biography it is actually Part Five the Period of Wanderings 1857 to 1883

In the article it is noted that he left Eastern Europe for health reasons and then stayed in Germany because he saw a need for his influence. In the book it states that he left because he was not able to bring about significant change in the established religious communities. In fact, Rabbi Freifeld told me the same. Namely that he felt he could produce change only in a new community or one that had been destroyed by secularism. He himself used the metaphor of a team of horses racing downhill. Nothing can be done until they reach bottom. In other words, the frum community was not amenable to his influence and he felt more productive in kiruv work. That was left out of the article. 

In addition the book notes the health issue was a mental health issue - severe depression. Churchill and Lincoln also suffered from severe depression. Obviously, it is not politically correct to say that about a gadol

There were a number of other issues left out of the article. In other words, the article was willing to mention only that which might inspire without regard whether it provides an accurate understanding of what happened. There is no mention that the material was from a published biography and didn't even mention the name of the biography. For those who can get the biography and want to get a more realistic understanding I would recommend reading the book over the article. Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Mussar Movement Seeking the Torah of Truth published by JPS

"‘Not just an imperial Executive, but an imperial Supreme Court’: Tribe reacts to birthright ruling

Donald Trump Suffers Legal Blow: 'Grave Constitutional Violations'

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-suffers-major-legal-blow-grave-constitutional-violations-2091941

On Friday, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's executive order targeting legal firm Susman Godfrey, ruling it was "unconstitutional from beginning to end."

This is the fourth defeat in court Trump has suffered since imposing punitive measures on a number of law firms that either were involved in legal cases against him or represented his political rivals.

The executive orders Trump imposed on various law firms, including Susman Godfrey, featured a number of punitive measures such as blocking their employees access to government buildings, terminating government contracts and suspending security clearance.

Friday saw District Judge Loren AliKhan conclude that in the case of Susman Godfrey, Trump's order was "unconstitutional from beginning to end."

She said: "Every court to have considered a challenge to one of these orders has found grave constitutional violations and permanently enjoined enforcement of the order in full.

Iran says nuclear sites ‘badly damaged’ amid conflicting reports on strikes’ success

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-says-nuclear-sites-badly-damaged-amid-conflicting-reports-on-strikes-success/

White House publishes Israel Atomic Energy Commission report saying Fordo is inoperable, while Israeli sources told ABC News that the success of the strikes is ‘really not good’

Trump’s incompetent SecDef, Pete Hegseth, fails his intelligence assessment

‘Basically impossible to get them back’: Russia’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children is a war crime, say experts

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/27/russia-ukrainian-children-abduction-war-crime

As many as 35,000 Ukrainian children are still missing and thought to be held in Russia or Russian-occupied territories, according to an American team of experts, with families saying they are being forced to take desperate and risky measures to try to rescue them.

As Russian forces began their invasion in February 2022, children were abducted from care homes, from the battlefield after the death of their parents, or under coercion directly from their families.

Russia has rejected demands for the children to be returned, with an official accusing Ukraine of “staging a show on the topic of lost children” during ceasefire talks in Turkey this month.

Trump claims Iran’s nuclear program has been ‘obliterated.’ Senate Republicans aren’t entirely convinced.

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/26/senate-iran-intelligence-briefing-00428638

A number of Senate Republicans exited an afternoon briefing on U.S. airstrikes in Iran not quite ready to endorse President Donald Trump’s claim that Tehran’s nuclear program was “obliterated.”

Trump and other top Cabinet officials have spent the last 36 hours furiously doubling down on that characterization. But after hearing from several of Trump’s top military and intelligence officials on the latest damage assessment, Senate Republicans were more restrained in their responses — even as they trumpeted the attacks’ success.

“I don’t think anybody’s been on the ground to assess the extent of the damage,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) told reporters after the briefing.

Asked whether Iran’s nuclear program was set back months, years or was obliterated, as Trump has claimed, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said, “All of those things are true.”

'No one' in admin is providing details on Iran's nuclear program actually being destroyed

When the US president helped save Israel, then went ballistic on its leadership

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/when-the-us-president-helped-save-israel-then-went-ballistic-on-its-leadership/

Talking to reporters on the White House lawn first thing Tuesday morning, Donald Trump let loose what may well have been the most bitter public denunciation of Israel by an American president since, well, ever.

Over and over, and over, and over, he savaged Israel’s leadership for ostensibly breaching the ceasefire he had brokered with Iran (which Israel hadn’t, but was about to), for having “dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before” on Iran before the ceasefire came into effect, and generally for acting like ingrates after he had dispatched B-2 bombers to “obliterate” Iran’s three key nuclear facilities, notably including the near-impregnable Fordo.

But the overwhelming weight of his barrage was directed at Israel, generally regarded as America’s closest ally in the region, which had lost four more civilians hours earlier in a pre-ceasefire missile attack — a missile attack by the US-loathing, would-be Israel-destroying Islamic extremist regime in Tehran, which had continued to fire missiles immediately after the truce was meant to have begun at 7 am, and again more than three hours later. It was to the latest Iranian barrage that Israel was about to respond, so infuriating the US president.

Although his former chief strategist Steve Bannon assessed that Trump had been “as mad as I’ve ever seen the president of the United States,” and ascribed this to cumulative fury at “the many lies we’ve gotten from the Netanyahu government,” Trump seemed largely mollified just a few hours later, telling reporters there’d be no consequences for Israel because it ultimately “didn’t do anything” to violate the ceasefire. By Wednesday, he was praising the Israelis for scaling back the retaliation — “I was so proud of them” — and acknowledging that “technically they were right” to claim that Iran had breached the ceasefire with its morning missile fire. “It was a little bit of a violation.”

Mossad, nuclear secrets and tweets: Trump’s long history of leaking classified intel

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/symgbg9nll#autoplay

At NATO summit, US president again raised eyebrows by claiming Israeli operatives entered Iran’s Fordow nuclear site after US strike—echoing a pattern of past disclosures, including Mossad missions, spy satellites and classified nuclear details

Many were stunned by U.S. President Donald Trump’s dramatic claim on Wednesday that Israeli operatives had physically visited Iran’s strategic nuclear facility at Fordow, amid his emphatic declaration that Iran’s atomic weapons program had been “obliterated.” 

However, the statement appears to be another chapter in a long pattern of offhand remarks and apparent slip-ups by Trump over the years, during which he has revealed sensitive information to the public.

Trump: Israel confirmed Iran nuclear destruction

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/06/25/trump-israel-confirmed-iran-nuclear-destruction/

As analysis of US and Israeli airstrikes on three key Iranian nuclear facilities continues, two Israeli sources told ABC News it is too early to declare the operation a success.

One source downplayed the damage at the Fordo uranium enrichment facility – built hundreds of feet under a mountain southwest of Tehran – saying the outcome there is "really not good."

The sources said they do not know how much enriched uranium may have been moved from the sites in advance of the Israeli and American strikes, or how many centrifuges – used to enrich uranium – are left and can be made operational in the country. To establish such details could take months, one source said, or prove impossible.

Republicans are racing to make Zohran Mamdani the face of the Democratic Party

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/25/gop-zohran-mamdani-midterms-00423397

Just hours after Zohran Mamdani’s apparent victory in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, Republicans are already homing in on the 33-year-old democratic socialist as their new boogeyman ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

With the GOP preparing to defend its slim margins in Congress, Mamdani — who has vowed to hike taxes on New York City’s richest residents, freeze rent on more than a million apartments and push for city-owned grocery stores — has quickly emerged as a face for Republicans’ attack line against “radical socialist” Democrats.

Uproar Over Leaked Intelligence Underlines Murky View of Iran Strikes

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/uproar-over-leaked-intelligence-underlines-murky-view-of-iran-strikes-7f239b0a?mod=hp_lead_pos8

Trump’s claims of crippling damage don’t address whether Tehran moved a stockpile of highly enriched uranium

President Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his claims that U.S. military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites crippled Tehran’s ability to pursue a nuclear bomb, rejecting a leaked preliminary intelligence report that assessed the American strike had merely delayed Iran’s efforts for a few months.

The dispute points to a larger problem that is likely to bedevil U.S. intelligence analysis and experts for many months, as they attempt to determine the full extent of damage to the nuclear facilities that were struck.

IDF Shares Iran Nuclear Assessment as Trump Doubles Down on 'Obliteration'

 https://www.newsweek.com/idf-shares-iran-nuclear-assessment-trump-doubles-down-obliteration-2090390

IDF Chief Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin gave the assessment at a press briefing on Wednesday, June 25, though he cautioned that it is still early and the results of the strikes are undergoing evaluation.

"We fulfilled all of the goals of the operation, even more than expected," Defrin said, adding that he trusted Israeli military intelligence on the results of the strikes as they have been accurate in recent weeks.

President Donald Trump has described the strikes as causing "total obliteration" to the nuclear sites, pushing back on one early American intelligence assessment that key elements of the program had survived. The White House called that assessment false.

Iran Admits Heavy Nuclear Damage as Israel Backs Trump

 https://www.newsweek.com/israel-backs-trump-iran-nuclear-site-damage-2090538

The Israel Atomic Energy Commission backed President Donald Trump's assessment of the damage done to the Iranian nuclear site at Fordow, saying the U.S. strike "destroyed the site's critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable."

Separately, Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told Al Jazeera that "our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure" by the U.S. and Israeli strikes.

Trump had said the strike resulted in "total obliteration" of the Fordow facility, which is deep underground inside a mountain. That characterization was called into question by a leaked U.S. intelligence report, but the White House called the early assessment false.

"We assess that the American strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran's military nuclear program, has set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years," said the statement from the Israeli commission.

Kings have caused much trouble in History

 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 (Samuel I 31,1) David caused a plague (Samuel II 24,15). Achav, King of Israel, became the cause of the three year famine (Kings I 17,1). 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,” (rather than Samuel’s sons whom they did not consider fit). 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. 

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 (Mishlei 21:1). 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 [Shmuel 1 1:11] because Shaul was no longer king and thus had free will to harm him.

Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, zt"l: Zealotry is necessary - but only if guided by a clear understanding of Torah

Emes L’Yaakov (Bereishis 49:7): ... Look at what I wrote previously in Bereishis (34:5). There I explained that it is certain that that this represents a punishment for Shimon and Levi, nevertheless Yaakov specifically appointed these tribes to these exalted responsibilities of educating the children and supervision of holy food. That is because only Shimon and Levi manifested the kano’as (zealotry) required for these jobs. This was seen by their response to Yaakov concerning the rape of their sister Dinah (Bereishis 34:5): “Is our sister to be a prostitute?” They alone were referred to as the brothers of Dinah because they were willing to sacrifice themselves for her welfare. Thus for these positions to be fulfilled successfully it is necessary to appoint people who have the attribute of kano’as (zealotry) and mesiras nefesh (total devotion) to serve G-d and His Torah. These positions require men who when they see something irregular, will immediately be aroused for the sake of G-d like an inferno and they will serve their position well. Therefore Yaakov specially appointed Shimon and Levi for this work.

However if we look carefully to see whether they in fact did these jobs according to their father’s expectations, we see that only the tribe of Levi actually did the work of education but not the tribe of Shimon. It was only the tribe of Levi that served as a strong barrier against those who arose to nullify the covenant with G-d. In contrast we don’t find that Shimon was involved in this work. The reason for this is clear. Only the tribe of Levi was exempt from working for Pharaoh during all the years of slavery. Thus only the tribe of Levi was able to sit and be immersed in Torah study. Only when kano’as (zealotry) is grounded and defined by Torah parameters - is it successful. That is why when the Leviim saw the terrible chilul HaShem that resulted from the sin of the Golden Calf they immediately expressed their zealotry for G‑d and killed even friends and relatives who were participating in the sin. Similarly when there were Jews in the Wilderness who wanted to return to Egypt, it was the Leviim who were in the vanguard against them. During the entire time that passed from the events concerning Dinah until the Redemption from Egypt they maintained their zealotry - but it was always bounded and guided by their deep knowledge of Torah.

In contrast, while the kano’as of Shimon was also strong it was not guided by Torah and thus did not have proper nature. When did his “kano’as" manifest itself? It was in the events of the worship of Baal Peor. It was Zimri who expressed this “kano’as” against the rule of Torah provided by Moshe. It was used to uproot the attribute of modesty which was then prevelant amongst the Jews. He expressed his zealotry by his open involvement in sexual immorality with the non‑Jewish woman. Therefore it was only the kano’as of Pinchus, from the tribe of Levi ,who was guided by the laws of the Torah who was able to attack Zimri and defeat him and stop the plague that was punishing the Jews. Kano’as which is not guided by halacha does not have the ability to be successful because it ultimately just destroys the kanoi. It is only the gedolim in each generation who have the proper intuition and sensitivity to know and decide when it is necessary to be a kanoi and to protest and when it is best to remain silent. This ability is only acquired by those who have the keys to Torah in their hands.

Hegseth and Rubio Grudgingly Admit Bomb Intel Leak Is True

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/pete-hegseth-and-marco-rubio-scramble-to-smear-leakers-who-embarrassed-trump/

Two of Donald Trump’s top allies admitted a bombshell leak about the Iran strikes was true Wednesday.

But they then attacked leakers behind the release of the intelligence report that undercut the president’s claims about the success of U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Speaking on Wednesday in the Netherlands, where Trump is attending a NATO summit, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio mounted an aggressive counteroffensive after a leaked preliminary Pentagon assessment said the bombings likely only...

Trump says nuclear deal with Iran not ‘necessary’

 https://thehill.com/policy/international/5368881-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-talks/?tbref=hp

President Trump said Wednesday he doesn’t think it’s necessary to come to a deal with Iran to abandon or contain its nuclear program, but said U.S. and Iranian officials will meet next week over a possible agreement. 

Speaking following the NATO summit in The Hague, Trump said he assessed Iran’s nuclear capabilities to be destroyed, despite U.S. intelligence reports suggesting Tehran’s uranium enrichment program was set back months, not years.

Trump Says Iranian Nuclear Deal Isn’t Necessary After U.S. Strikes

 https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/iran-israel-ceasefire-conflict-news?mod=hp_lead_pos7

The president pushed back on an intelligence report saying the strikes only set back Tehran’s nuclear ambitions by a few months.

Zohran Mamdani's NYC Win is a Political Revolution

 https://www.newsweek.com/zohran-mamdani-nyc-political-revolution-2090477

Zohran Mamdani's win in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary is more than just a stunning political upset.

A self-described democratic socialist who ran on taxing the rich and making the city affordable, Mamdani defeated disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo, a well-funded, familiar and powerful figure backed by billionaire donors and establishment Democrats alike.

Mamdani took such a commanding lead over Cuomo on Tuesday that the former governor, who was seeking a comeback after resigning in disgrace over a sexual harassment scandal, conceded the race early. The ultimate outcome may not be known for days due to the city's ranked choice voting system.

He will now face off against incumbent mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent in November's election—and Cuomo could still reenter the race.

His platform focused on freezing rent, building affordable housing, free buses, free child care, a higher minimum wage and more, mostly paid for by new taxes on the rich.

Trump Warns Iran-Israel War 'Could Maybe Start Again Soon'

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-administration-iran-israel-middle-east-live-updates-2090459

Speaking at the NATO summit in The Hague, President Donald Trump defended his confidence in the Israel-Iran ceasefire, crediting the success to U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites. While declaring that the war is likely over, Trump conceded it might "start again soon," highlighting both the volatility of the region and his administration's central role in brokering what he has dubbed the "12-day war."

MTG suggests a link between JFK’s assassination and his opposition to Israel’s ‘nuclear program’

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/06/24/congress/mtg-on-jfk-00421426

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Tuesday appeared to suggest in a post on X that former President John F. Kennedy was assassinated over his opposition to Israel’s nuclear program.

“There was once a great President that the American people loved. He opposed Israel’s nuclear program. And then he was assassinated,” Greene posted on X as she defended her dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s weekend strike on Iran. Greene’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment asking for clarity on the remarks.

Israeli officials see "significant" damage to Iran's nuclear facilities

 https://www.axios.com/2025/06/25/iran-nuclear-program-israel-damage-intelligence

Israel, which initiated the war and faces a far more direct threat from Iran than the U.S., is largely satisfied with the early results from Trump's military strike on Saturday.

"A professional battle damage assessment takes time," an Israeli official stressed, suggesting it was far too soon to draw the kinds of conclusions included in the DIA report.

"Israeli intelligence services haven't arrived at any bottom lines for now," the official added. "But we don't think there was any bug in the operation, and we have no indications the bunker-buster bombs didn't work. Nobody here is disappointed."

The classified DIA report was based on early intelligence from just one agency, and the overall picture remains muddled — especially with Iran itself still assessing the damage and weighing its next moves.

U.S. initial damage report: Iran nuclear program set back by months, not obliterated

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/06/24/us-iran-bomb-assessment-nuclear-sites-not-destroyed/

Core components of Tehran’s nuclear effort were damaged but not destroyed by U.S. airstrikes on three key facilities, according to three people familiar with a Defense Intelligence Agency initial assessment.

Witkoff: US, Iran seeking ‘peace deal,’ strikes set Tehran’s nuke program back years

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/witkoff-us-iran-seeking-peace-deal-strikes-set-tehrans-nuke-program-back-years/

The Trump envoy said the American position is that Iran must not resume enriching uranium at all — a position that the White House vacillated on during previous talks with Iran, led by Witkoff, over the two months prior to Israel’s attack on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs that began earlier this month.

Witkoff also doubled down on the administration’s assessment that the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordo completely eliminated the Islamic Republic’s ability to attain a nuclear weapon in the near future. He said the program had been set back years, and lashed out against a leaked security assessment that said the strikes did not destroy the underground sites.

“The reporting out there that in some ways suggests that we did not achieve the objective is just completely preposterous,” he said, calling it “not even conceivable” that Iran would be able to reach a nuclear weapon within months.

Concern among NY Jews: Pro-Palestinian Zohran Mamdani wins Democratic primary for mayor

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/410618

Anti-Israel candidate Zohran Mamdani shocks Andrew Cuomo in NYC Democratic mayoral primary focused on Jewish issues, arousing concern among the city's Jewish population.

Early US intel assessment suggests strikes on Iran did not destroy nuclear sites, sources say

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/24/politics/intel-assessment-us-strikes-iran-nuclear-sites

The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by seven people briefed on it.

The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes, one of the sources said.

American strikes only set Iran’s nuclear program back by months — US intel report

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/american-strikes-only-set-irans-nuclear-program-back-by-months-us-intel-report/

Preliminary assessment says uranium stocks not destroyed, some centrifuges still intact; former UN inspector warns Tehran still has ‘ability to break out and produce weapon-grade uranium’

White House Reacts After Intel Assessment Contradicts Trump on Iran Strikes

https://www.newsweek.com/white-house-reacts-us-pentagon-iran-strikes-assessment-2090204

The White House issued a scathing statement after CNN, The New York Times and other media outlets reported that an early assessment by U.S. intelligence said military strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend failed to destroy key elements of Iran's nuclear program.

The assessment also found that the strikes only set Iran's nuclear program back by a few months, contradicting President Donald Trump's claim that the strikes "obliterated" the nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, an early Israeli intelligence assessment determined that the U.S.'s strikes set Iran's nuclear capabilities back by "several years," according to The Times of Israel. The reported assessment came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that "we sent Iran's nuclear program down the drain."

Amid Trump criticism: Israel limits Iran response to symbolic strike

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/06/24/amid-trump-criticism-israel-limits-iran-response-to-symbolic-strike/

Following sharp criticism from US President Donald Trump, Israel delivered merely a symbolic military response to Iran's Tuesday morning ceasefire violation, restricting its retaliation to a single radar strike north of Tehran after the American leader intervened to prevent a broader attack.

"Israel, don't drop those bombs," Trump declared. "If you do it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home, now!" The president had earlier told White House reporters that "Israel and Iran have been fighting for so long they don't know what the f*** they're doing."

Sources familiar with the situation revealed that Trump received updates throughout the night, confirming Iran had breached the ceasefire first. "Despite his harsh public criticism of Israel, the Israeli Air Force response will still proceed, with Trump containing and possibly supporting it."

Trump Says Israel Turning Jets Around: 'Friendly Plane Wave to Iran'

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-urges-israel-not-break-iran-ceasefire-do-not-drop-those-bombs-2089853

President Donald Trump said Israeli jets had turned back from their planned strikes on Iran and that a ceasefire remains in effect.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his air force struck a radar station near Tehran but, after speaking with Trump, refrained from carrying out further attacks

Trump sharply criticized Israel for preparing a heavy retaliation against a ceasefire violation by Iran that he said involved a single rocket missing its target.

"ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran," Trump posted to his Truth Social platform on Tuesday morning. "All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly 'Plane Wave' to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!"

In foul-mouthed tirade, Trump savages Israel for striking Iran, says it violated ceasefire

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-foul-mouthed-tirade-trump-fumes-at-israel-for-striking-iran-violating-ceasefire/

In a rare if not unprecedented public display of frustration with Israel by a US president, Donald Trump expressed in no uncertain terms on Tuesday that he was furious at Israel as the ceasefire he announced overnight threatened to unravel.

“I’m not happy that Israel’s going out now,” he told reporters, as Israeli jets were responding to Iranian missile strikes earlier in the day.

“There was one rocket that I guess was fired overboard [by Iran]. It was after the time limit, and it missed its target. And now Israel’s going out. These guys gotta calm down. Ridiculous…”

Trump lashes out at Israel and Iran with profanity for breaking ceasefire

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-lashes-out-israel-iran-profanity-breaking-ceasefire

President Donald Trump expressed deep frustration with both Israel and Iran on Tuesday, saying the two countries "don't know what the **** they're doing."

Trump made the comments while departing from the White House for a NATO summit Tuesday morning. Both Israel and Iran fired missiles at one another following the imposition of a ceasefire on Monday night.

"I'm not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, okay, now you have 12 hours, you don't go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I'm not happy with them. I'm not happy with Iran either, but I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning," Trump said.

He continued, "We basically have two countries that have been fighting for so long and so hard that they don't know what the **** they're doing." 

'I'm not happy with Israel' | Trump lashes out, warns Israel not to respond to violation

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/410574

President Donald Trump lashed out at Israel on Tuesday after Iran broke the ceasefire he brokered between the two countries.

According to the President, "Israel unloaded a lot, and now I just heard that Israel went out because they felt it (the ceasefire) was violated by one rocket that didn't land anywhere. That's not what we want, I tell you that."

While speaking with the press before leaving for the NATO summit, Trump expressed his frustrations, stating: "I'm not happy with Israel either."

He added: "I gotta get Israel to calm down now."

The President claimed that both Israel and Iran violated the ceasefire, but noted: "I don't think they did it intentionally, they couldn't bring people back.

He reiterated his anger with Israel's intention to retaliate against the violation and said he would try to stop it.

Trump pushes for quick end to Iran-Israel conflict amid fragile ceasefire

 https://thehill.com/newsletters/morning-report/5365720-trump-iran-israel-conflict-ceasefire/

A ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be in jeapordy early Tuesday, hours after both countries said they agreed to terms outlined by President Trump to halt their 12-day war.

Trump has pushed for a quick end to the Middle East conflict, signaling a desire to move on after the U.S. carried out bombings of Iran nuclear sites over the weekend and Iran retaliated by hitting a U.S. base in Qatar.

Israel’s military said early Tuesday it detected another Iranian barrage hours after the start of the ceasefire — underscoring the dangerous state of what the president predicted would be a pause in fighting “forever.”

The acceptance of a U.S.-brokered deal by both sides came after Iran’s military denied launching a final onslaught of missiles targeting Israel, which Israel said killed at least four people early Tuesday morning. Israel launched a blitz of airstrikes targeting sites across Iran before dawn, The Associated Press reported.

IDF symbolically strikes in Tehran after Trump orders Netanyahu to turn planes around

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-858826 

Explosions were heard in northern Tehran after US President Donald Trump called for all Israeli fighter jets to leave Iran's airspace. 

IDF sources have confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that the air force did in fact strike one radar north of Tehran. A symbolic strike to straddle the need to respond to Iran's attack on the North, while respecting Trump's demand to do nothing or at most respond symbolically.

Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered strikes in Tehran after Iran launched two missiles at northern Israel, hours after the ceasefire had taken effect. 

Trump's poor choices for national security staffing have new relevance after Iran bombing

Israel reports waves of Iranian missiles, soon after Trump announced ceasefire

 https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-announces-israel-iran-ceasefire-2025-06-23/

 Israel's military said Iran launched waves of missiles on Tuesday, with emergency services reporting three people killed, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a complete ceasefire between Israel and Iran to end a 12-day war.

Witnesses said they heard explosions near Tel Aviv and Beersheba in southern Israel. Israel's military said six waves of missiles were launched by Iran and Israel's national ambulance service said three people were killed in Beersheba, the first reported deaths in Israel since Trump announced the ceasefire late on Monday.

Rabbis Urge: Shun Voting for Cuomo in NYC Mayoral Elections (v.4)

 כבר ידוע ומפורסם חומר האיסור לבחור בעד אנשי רשע של דור המבול וסדום ועמורה וכדומה, וכעת עומד

על הפרק שמושל מדינת ניו יארק לשעבר ע.ק. הוא בין המועמדים להיות נבחר לראשות העיר ניו יארק סיטי

(מעיא"ר), והוא ידוע שבראש חפציו ומאוויו הוא להנהיג ולהכריח חוקי זימה ותועבה בכל העיר וגם בהחינוך,

כמו שכבר עשה בהעבר רח"ל, ונוסף על זה ידיו מלוכלות בדם ישראל וגם בדם מאוה"ע ע"י חוקים והוראות

של אכזריות ורציחה בכמה אופנים ובמיוחד בתקופת ה'קאווי"ד לא תקפ"ץ, וידוע איך שחירף וגידף רח"ל

כלפי שמיא, ובכן מובן מאליו שאסור לבחור בעדו, והוא חילול ה' איום ונורא, ומגביר שנאת ישראל רח"ל,

ומדי יום ביומו נתברר יותר האיסור החמור לבחור בעד מועמדים כאלו.

ובזכות שנשמע לדברי גדולי ישראל שכבר אסרו פעמים רבות לבחור במשחיתים ובמחוקקי חוקי און ותועבה,

יזכינו השי"ת להעביר מאתנו כל מיני גזירות קשות ורעות, ולגדל את כל בנינו ודורותינו על דרך ישראל סבא,

ולראות דורות ישרים ומבורכים, ולביאת משיח צדקנו במהרה בימינו אמן.

באנו עה"ח בחודש סיון תשפ"ה לפ"ק

Rabbis Urge: Shun Voting for Cuomo in NYC Mayoral Elections (v.4)

BS"D

June 23, '25

P.S.:  For those who've adopted the view that the greatest threat in this mayoral election is Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, please cooly consider the following facts.  As one astute observer noted here:

"Let's assume Cuomo is the lesser evil in comparison to Mr. Mamdani; there is no legitimate reason to rank Cuomo number one in Ranked Choice voting.

The candidates who are by far less repugnant - like Bartholomew and Tilson (neither who have proven evil records) - will be eliminated before any candidate gets 50% - unless it's a landslide."

(For info on Ranked Choice voting, see [copied below]: https://vote.nyc/page/ranked-choice-voting )

Simply put, there is no need to vote for the rabid homosexualist, abortionist, and elder-cidalist Andrew Cuomo as FIRST CHOICE in order to avoid Mamdani winning.

Accordingly, many of those who seek to mobilize naïve voters to vote for Cuomo as their first choice do not have the best of intentions. Many of them seek to grace a man with much innocent blood on his hands with a kosher stamp of approval. 

That effort and intention is repugnant in the extreme, at best. 

It is also dangerous in the extreme, inviting Divine Wrath on all of us.  We must never forget that the horrific terror attacks of September 11th, '01 occurred on a Mayoral primary election, like this one.

Our Sages exhort us that "G-d extends His Wrath," but He ultimately "collects His Dues." Those who refuse to learn from the past Divine Retribution condemn themselves to learn from future Divine Retribution.

Our responsibility is to ensure that they don't take us down with them.

במקום חילול השם, אין חולקין כבוד לרב.

Moreover, Middah Tovah Merubah; how much is the Divine reward for those who extend themselves to save others from collaboration in a public desecration of the Divine Name, such as this public whitewash of Cuomo-the-Blasphemous.

Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,

Executive Director,

Help Rescue Our Children

845.642.1679

Direct: 771.215.8892

Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337

torahjewsfordecency@gmail.com

Tomim Tih'yeh [countering "New-Age" infiltration]: 

Tomim1679@gmail.com

Presentations on New-Age dangers: 605-313-6831 ext. 2

Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).

~~~~~~~

## Fair Use ##

https://vote.nyc/page/ranked-choice-voting

New York City will use ranked choice voting for Primary and Special Elections for the offices of Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President and City Council, due to an amendment in the City Charter approved by voters in 2019.

How are results tabulated?

All first-choice votes are counted. If a candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, that candidate wins.

If no candidate earns more than 50% of first-choice votes, then counting will continue in rounds.

At the end of each round, the last-place candidate is eliminated and voters who chose that candidate now have their vote counted for their next choice.

Your vote is counted for your second choice only if your first choice is eliminated. If both your first and second choices are eliminated, your vote is counted for your next choice, and so on.

This process continues until there are two candidates left. The candidate with the most votes wins."

### (emphasis added -NL)