Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, visited the U.S. yesterday. At home, her husband is busy dismissing key security officials amid concerns about leaks -- a major problem -- while the battle bogs down in the eastern provinces.
The Wall Street Journal op-ed pages are scolding the West for failing to arm Ukraine, and for allowing Putin to use his "deterrent." Well, that's what nuclear weapons allow you to do. It's also what being unpredictable lets you achieve.
As I've been saying for months, the only way out of this is a negotiated deal. There is no circumstance in which Russia will accept a Western victory -- only a stalemate that can be spun as a Russian win. All other options are bluster.
The Biden administration has already squandered the negotiating leverage the West had when Ukraine had military and diplomatic momentum after repulsing Russian attacks on Kiev. Now that leverage is slipping fast. Time is running out.
If the war is allowed to continue, Russia could achieve gains that allow it to threaten Ukrainian sovereignty again, and the West will have to step in more forcefully, with a much higher risk of escalation, and a cold winter ahead.
The time for negotiations was yesterday. What's happened to Biden? What happened to President "Diplomacy Is Back"? Where's all the diplomacy we were promised? And if the U.S. is trying to pursue "victory," what does that look like?
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
Topics:
- The anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump
- The escalating tariff battle with various different trading partners
- The future of the Middle East peace talks, and ongoing antisemitism
- The Jeffrey Epstein files and whether they mean anything at all
- The continued crisis of the Texas floods, and stories of heroism and survival
And more!
Special guests:
- James Rosen - Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
- Bob Price - Breitbart News Texas reporter, on the ongoing floods
- Robert Cahill - Trafalgar Polling, on a new alliance of reliable pollsters
- Rabbi Yaakov Menken - Coalition for Jewish Values - on Israel & antisemitism
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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