On the one hand, it's no secret that Israel would support a two-state solution -- with some kicking and screaming -- if the Palestinians would ever really accept one. On the other, Lapid is making a terrible mistake in an unfriendly forum.
That's right -- Israeli PM Yair Lapid told the UN, which is hostile to Israel, and where the Palestinians have been trying for decades to declare their "statehood" as an end-around to negotiations -- that Israel accepts a Palestinian state.
This jibes with Joe Biden's nonsensical claim yesterday that Palestinians are "entitled" to a state. No, they are not: they, like everyone else, have to build a state and agree to the basic rules of living in peace with their neighbors.
Perhaps Lapid made his announcement as part of some concession to the Biden administration -- perhaps to get Biden to back off the Iran deal, or to relieve some other form of pressure. If so, I doubt that deal will hold for very long.
The major criticism of Lapid's move comes from within Israel: that he is just an interim PM leading a collapsed government on the way to elections in November, and has no authority to offer such a momentous compromise.
The joke's on the little right-wing parties and politicians who, for reasons of personal ambition or narrow ideology, refused to allow Netanyahu to govern. Don't complain: you got what you should have known you were going to get.
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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