https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rjabtslykl#autoplay
At times, the press conference felt surreal. Was Trump laying out an implausible fantasy, or was he, as his supporters believe, a visionary reshaping the Middle East? Whether his plan for Gaza is viable remains to be seen, but for now, his latest grand proposal has ignited global debate.
First. No Arab country has agreed to accept Palestinians from Gaza. Jordan, with its 2.39 million registered refugees, has no need or incentive to further burden itself with this historical headache (see: Black September). Egypt, for its part, neither wants nor likely has the ability to create a refugee crisis in Sinai, which could become a breeding ground for extremism and pose a threat to Israel across the border, and to the peace treaty itself.
Third. International law prohibits forcibly transferring a population unless there is a clear military necessity for a limited period (see: the IDF's evacuation of northern Gaza). It also prohibits changing the ethnic, religious, or racial composition of a population. Trump's plan envisions a permanent transfer. Even if there is a humanitarian aspect to the proposal, such as clearing unexploded ordnance and rebuilding infrastructure, it is doubtful whether the end goal, a permanent exodus that would turn Gaza into an international zone, justifies the means.
Seventh. On a related note, direct military involvement in Gaza would cost American taxpayers a fortune. Does the US currently have hundreds of billions of dollars available for this project? Has its economy suddenly become strong enough to withstand such an expense? This, after all, is the same economic vulnerability that helped propel Trump into the White House just three months ago.
https://time.com/7211200/usaid-foreign-aid-freeze-trump-rubio/
Most of the people TIME spoke to about USAID, both from within and outside the agency, agreed that it would benefit from a bit of a shake-up. "There's real reform needed in the sector," says the official at the NGO. "Many of us have been advocating for that." Programs are duplicated. Some initiatives have outlived their usefulness or have led to dependency rather than the development outcomes that were intended. There is waste, and oversight is often difficult. The system tends to favor bigger Western organizations and not smaller, more nimble local agencies. "If there was a process through which all of these programs could be reviewed, I think that everyone would be rolling up their sleeves to have the programs reviewed," says one former senior USAID official. "But there is no such process." Others were more damning. “There are certainly things that could be done to improve USAID," says Rieser, "but these people, who know next to nothing about USAID’s programs or dedicated personnel, are not the ones to do it.”
One of the most important issues arises in light of his almost universal acceptance as the posek – Was he Daas Torah? I was told that he had resolved a major dispute involving the Chassidic community by announcing with his ruling that it needed to be accepted because his view was Daas Torah! I asked Rav Dovid Feinstein about this. He replied that he had never heard his father voice the claim that his view had the authority of Daas Torah. In the Igros Moshe he wrote that it is not only possible to disagree with him but that there is nobody today that you can’t disagree with. He even said it was possible to disagree with the Chazon Ish and further sometimes even Rishonim concerning matters that their view has not gained wide acceptance. However I was told by a member of his family that when Rav Tendler his son in law proposed making a medical school to which Rav Moshe disapproved, he said "Since my view is accepted by the Jewish people and is Daas Torah I forbid it!"
While Rav Moshe did not claim he was Daas Torah or was infallible, where did his rulings come from. I once discussed this Rav Rottenberg who was a close student of Rav Moshe. He said “I once had a question regarding when to date the Kesuba. It was published in the Igros Moshe. Before the meeting with Rav Moshe I of course reviewed all the relevant sources. When I objected to Rav Moshe’s ruling he told me ‘if you review the sources you will see I am correct’ I of course had already done the review and I still disagreed. People claim that Rav Moshe poskened directly from the gemora. They are wrong, he poskened from Heaven.”
Reb Moshe - (Artscroll biography 2nd edition 2011): There are people who maintain that talmidei chachom are not qualified to decide political matters that gedolei Yisroel should limit themselves to Torah and Halacha. Such people cannot be considered within the Torah camp. One might well say disregarding the advice of a talmid chachom is far worse than violating a commandment. One who violates a commandment because he is too weak to resist temptation at least knows that his action is wrong. By contrast, one who ignores the advice of a talmid chachom denies that a Torah scholar’s wisdom is superior. This is a far more serious breach (page 224).
Igros Moshe volume 8) "Active involvement of gedolei Torah in politics also in Israel aroused his opposition. He used to say that greatness in Torah is not combined with expertise in politics"
Igros Moshe (O.C. 1:109): This that you apologize for disagreeing with me in a halachic issue – this is totally unnecessary. That is because this is the way of Torah that it is necessary to establish the truth. Chas v’shalom to silence one who disagrees with you – whether he is being more lenient or more strict. [While there is a discussion about disagreeing in a formal court session Sanhedrin 36 where the court is deciding on the guilt or innocence…] it is not a problem to disagree with the gadol (greatest scholar) when he is saying something in the course of teaching the material or even if he is making a practical halachic ruling but he is not part of a formal court. We see this in many places in the gemora where students question their teacher’s view. … It is obvious in these cases the rulings were not part of a formal court session. Furthermore it is apparent that there is no one today who has the status of gadol for this law that no one can disagree with him… Therefore even if you consider me to be a gadol – it is permitted to disagree with me and consequently it is required that you express your opinion and there is no need to apologize. Nevertheless regarding the halachic question that was raised, my view -that I wrote that it is prohibited - is the correct one.
Igros Moshe(Introduction): And therefore I also found it appropriate to publish my teshuvos, since I am merely clarifying the halacha and every talmid chachom and posek is able to examine my words and decide for himself whether to make halachic rulings in accord with my views. They can see that I did not blindly rely even on the writings of our great rabbis. I analyzed them with all my strength to understand their correctness - as we find stated by Rabbi Akiva Eiger. Similarly I request that all those who read my writings that they should carefully examine my words and only then [if they are acceptable] to make practical rulings in accord with them
https://wherewhatwhen.com/article/an-interview-with-rabbi-yosef-rottenberg
WWW: What did you learn from him that influences the way you pasken?
YR: I learned from him to think for myself. Reb Moshe wasn’t impressed if you showed him a sefer where it said the opposite of what he thought. “This is what I think,” he used to say. So, even though in certain matters I pasken not like R’ Moshe, when friends point out this out to me, I say to them, “I’m doing exactly like R. Moshe. R. Moshe said to think for yourself. I’m thinking for myself!”
I also learned that minhagim (customs) are very chashuv (important). Once we were all standing around, and somebody came over and mentioned to R’ Moshe that a certain rabbi was writing a get (Jewish divorce) on a typewriter. R’ Moshe said, “A get on a typewriter? This rav will never get out of gehinnom.” Now, R’ Moshe, as everybody knows, was the finest, most eidel (gentle), the sweetest person alive. You never heard a bad word about a Jew from his mouth, ever. We all got shook up from hearing this, and went back to our seats.
I don’t know how I had the nerve to do this, but I came there to learn, so I went over to the Rosh Yeshiva, and I said, “Rebbe, what’s takeh wrong with a get on a typewriter?” Do you know what R’ Moshe answered me? In Yiddish, he said, “We have to think about that.” In other words, he had not yet decided definitely that it was against the halacha.
So why did he give such a klala (curse) to the person? It was because he changed a custom that was observed by Yidden for thousands of years. Maybe it’s not assur (forbidden) to write a get with a typewriter, but since the custom is to write it with a quill like a sefer Torah, for not observing the minhag, he will go to gehinnom. The point is that Jewish customs have to be kept. He was very makpid (exacting) on minhagim.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/29/politics/gaza-condoms-fact-check/index.html
During her first official White House briefing as President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt announced that Trump had prevented a “preposterous waste of taxpayer money.” Trump’s team, she said, used the president’s pause on foreign aid to thwart a plan in which “there was about to be $50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza.”
In three previous years under Biden, USAID spent no money on condoms in the entire Middle East: A detailed federal report published last year said USAID did not provide or fund any condoms in the Middle East in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 fiscal years.
And Jeremy Konyndyk, president of the advocacy organization Refugees International and a USAID official during the Biden and Obama administrations, said, “This is total garbage. Either fully invented, or someone who doesn’t know how to read a spreadsheet.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5124454-gop-trump-agenda-vote-delay/?tbref=hp
The GOP’s ambitious plan to quickly advance President Trump’s legislative agenda is hitting an early speed bump, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) being forced to punt an initial vote on the legislation.
Republicans are looking to pass the Trump agenda measure through a process known as budget reconciliation, which will allow the GOP to circumvent Democratic opposition in the Senate.
Before crafting the actual bill, however, lawmakers must advance a budget resolution — which lays out the parameters of the legislation — through the Budget Committee, on which a host of hard-line conservatives sit and have the power to thwart any effort. Legislation needs majority support in the committee before heading to the House floor for a vote of the entire chamber.
The decision to delay the markup comes after leadership presented lawmakers with a framework that proposed $500 billion in spending cuts,
But Norman — who is also a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus — called that figure a “nonstarter” and said he is pushing for a bottom-line figure between $2 trillion and $5 trillion.
Forced displacement of Gaza’s population would probably be a violation of international law and would be fiercely opposed not only in the region but also by America’s western allies. Some human rights advocates liken the idea to ethnic cleansing.
President Trump’s move to abolish the U.S. Agency for International Development, whose programs have helped people deal with humanitarian crises in more than 100 countries, is troubling—both because the agency does critically important work and because the president’s threat to shut it down exceeds his authority and usurps congressional powers.
President Trump campaigned on shrinking America’s role abroad. But since taking office, he has articulated a worldview that is at times closer to expansionism than isolationism.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/04/usps-suspends-china-packages-shein-temu/
The U.S. Postal Service abruptly suspended inbound package shipments from China and Hong Kong on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s trade war began in earnest.
“The one consistency of Trump’s trade war is the lack of foresight. This would be easily avoidable if anyone knew what they were doing and proves yet again why our trade policy must come from the Congress,” Rep. Richard E. Neal (Massachusetts), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, told The Post.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-latest-bombshell-us-will-take-over-the-gaza-strip/
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said the plan was not “the best use of United States resources to spend a bunch of money in Gaza,” adding that he would “prefer that to be spent in the United States first.”
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-840712
US President Donald Trump told The Jerusalem Post that he believed Jordan and Egypt "won’t tell [him] no" when asked to welcome Gazan refugees during his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
"They won’t tell me no. I want to remove all the residents of Gaza," he responded, "It will happen.".
