Trump’s turn against Israel offers stark reminder of what his diplomacy looks like

 https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/13/politics/donald-trump-israel-netanyahu-diplomacy/index.html

Trump’s original grievance-based analysis reflects a transactional, unorthodox approach to foreign policy that often prioritizes his own personal goals over a standard understanding of the national interest. It also highlighted a contrast with his potential 2024 election opponent. Biden reacted to the attack by using all of the tools of traditional statesmanship, including rhetoric, personal behind-the-scenes contacts with key foreign leaders and by mobilizing allies. Like Trump, Biden has had a personal and political beef with Netanyahu – but shelved his differences with him weeks before the attack and has been in constant contact with the prime minister since it occurred.

Biden is seeking to strike a balance. He has shown the most ardent support for Israel of any recent US president and acknowledged its desire to retaliate and reestablish its sense of security after the most shocking penetration of its borders and national psyche in 50 years. But Biden is also sending private and public signals to Netanyahu that Israel’s response should not infringe the laws of war and that he should consider the humanitarian consequences of an invasion of Gaza, as he seeks to prevent the war escalating into a dangerous regional conflict that could draw in the US.

Trump breaks silence on Israel's military campaign in Gaza: 'Finish the problem'

 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-israel-gaza-finish-problem-rcna141905

Trump did lay out a few markers in the three weeks that followed the Hamas attack. He said on Oct. 11 that a future Trump administration would “fully support Israel defeating, dismantling, and permanently destroying the terrorist group Hamas,” while telling the Republican Jewish Coalition later that month that Hamas fighters “will burn forever in the eternal pit of hell." That month, his campaign also said that, if elected again, he would bar Gaza residents from entering the U.S. as part of an expanded travel ban.

In the four-plus months since, however, the former president’s once-ardent public backing of Israel has gone mostly quiet.

Doctors question science behind blood sugar diet trend

 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-68452019

Prof Kar thinks using CGMs - which are used by people with diabetes - when there's no health reason to do so can drive an obsessive focus on numbers which, in the most extreme cases, "can translate into eating disorders".

According to eating disorder charity Beat, "people with eating disorders often fixate on numbers... as part of their illness, so we'd never recommend that anybody affected uses glucose monitors".

The Judge’s Ruling on Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis Is a Mess

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/judges-ruling-on-fulton-county-district-attorney-fani-willis-is-a-mess?ref=home

Judge McAfee, at age 35, is even younger than Ito was during the O.J. trial and has only been on the bench a year. His inexperience, and perhaps his mindset as a white male Republican member of the Federalist Society, have begun to show.

Worse, at the end of all that, McAfee produced a poorly written, poorly reasoned ruling. McAfee had promised the prosecution and defense that he would have his decision out today and that “no ruling of mine is ever going to be based on politics. I’m going to be following the law as best I understand it.”

Judge rejects Trump’s bid to disqualify Georgia prosecutor

 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/15/judge-rejects-trumps-bid-to-disqualify-georgia-prosecutor-00147286

A judge in Atlanta ruled Friday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can continue prosecuting former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants for trying to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election if one of her top prosecutors on the case, Nathan Wade, is removed from the team.

But Judge Scott McAfee wrote that either Willis and her entire office or Wade must step aside to prevent an “appearance of conflict” over potential financial improprieties caused by their romantic relationship. Within hours of the ruling, Wade offered his resignation in a letter to Willis.

The Untold Story of Zipporah, Wife of Moses

 https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/4240317/jewish/The-Untold-Story-of-Zipporah-Wife-of-Moses.htm

What were they speaking about? Rashi tells us that Moses had divorced his wife:

How did she [Miriam] know that Moses had separated from his wife? R. Nathan says: Miriam was beside Zipporah when Moses was told that Eldad and Medad [newly appointed prophets] were prophesying in the camp. When Zipporah heard this, she said, “Woe to their wives if they are required to prophesy, for they will separate from their wives just as my husband separated from me.”

From this, Miriam knew [about it] and told Aaron.11

In truth, however, it was only Moses who was required to separate from his wife in order to be constantly “on call,” ready to speak to G‑d at any moment. Other prophets remained married and led normal family lives.

Signs

 Zohar (Balak 163) It is written in the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon that there are three signs, the sign of sin is jaundice, of insanity is excessive talking and that he knows nothing is that he praises himself 

As Biden impeachment stalls, House GOP turns to backup plans

 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/13/house-gop-biden-impeachment-plans-00146622

House Republicans are increasingly acknowledging that they don’t have the votes to impeach President Joe Biden, leaving them in search of other ways to antagonize the White House.

The New Antisemitism

 https://time.com/6763293/antisemitism/

The core of this new antisemitism lies in the idea that Jews are not a historically oppressed people seeking self-preservation but instead oppressors: imperialists, colonialists, and even white supremacists. This view preserves vestiges of the trope that Jews exercise vast power. It creatively updates that narrative to contemporary circumstances and current cultural preoccupations with the nature of power and injustice.

Outrage as Los Angeles synagogue hosting Muslim group covers up hostage posters

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hk79hacta?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=internal

The Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles, HAMAKOM(formerly Temple Aliyah), which also operates a community center, school and kindergarten, rented out its premises to a local Muslim organization, the Islamic Society of West Valley (ISWV), for a Ramadan event, and ordered the hostages' posters to be covered.

"The fact that they felt the need to hide posters of hostages to make terrorists and their supporters feel more what? Comfortable? says it all. They want to bow down to those who hate us instead of standing up loud and proud in support and defense of Israel," a local community member told Ynet.

Nasrallah rejoices at ultra-Orthodox threat about leaving country over military draft

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjog5ol0a

Nasrallah referred to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's statements regarding the draft and his call to find a solution. According to Nasrallah, the issue is currently "a big problem in Israeli society." He addressed the chief rabbi's ultimatum, where he threatened that all ultra-Orthodox would leave Israel if they had to draft, and rejoiced: "Let them pack their bags and leave."

Schumer's anti-Netanyahu speech stuns Israel

 https://www.axios.com/2024/03/14/schumer-israel-netanyahu-speech-reaction

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) speech calling for a new government in Israel landed like an earthquake Thursday, delivering a huge shock to the already tense U.S.-Israel relationship.

Why it matters: In addition to being the most senior Jewish elected official in the country, Schumer has had one of the longest and closest relationships with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of any U.S. politician.

Schumer's speech stunned officials and observers in both Washington and Jerusalem because he has been — and still is — the Democratic Party's most avid supporter of Israel in decades.

His harsh remarks about Netanyahu create more political space for other Democratic members of Congress to publicly voice their criticism of the Israeli government amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

After uproar, Schumer clarifies: Israel has the right to choose its own leaders

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/386773

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday sought to clarify his remarks against the Israeli government which caused a firestorm.

“The US cannot dictate the outcome of an election. That is for the Israeli public to decide,” he wrote in a post on social media.

“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice. There needs to be a fresh debate about the future,” he added.

Earlier, Schumer gave a speech in which he called for new elections to be held in Israel, saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has lost his way." He further called the Prime Minister an "obstacle to peace."

Chuck Schumer Lectures Israelis on War and Peace

 https://www.wsj.com/articles/chuck-schumer-israel-benjamin-netanyahu-75bf4d58?mod=hp_opin_pos_3

But precisely because Israel is a democracy, accountability for Mr. Netanyahu is baked in. The Prime Minister at this moment represents a broad consensus in Israeli society that the country can’t afford to allow Hamas to continue its violent and corrupt control of Gaza after the horrors unleashed on Oct. 7.