The Times of Israel reports that President Joe Biden is going to push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for concessions to the Palestinians as a condition for an Israeli-Saudi peace deal.
This is absurd, for three reasons:
1. It flips the logic of the Abraham Accords on its head, which is that the Palestinians do not get a veto over peace between Israel and other Arab states.
2. It is a demand with which Netanyahu cannot possibly comply, given the fact that his governing coalition is made up of right-wing parties who would bolt if Netanyahu offered deep concessions to the Palestinians. Biden might welcome that result, since he would prefer a different Israeli government, but it would not bring a peace deal closer.
3. The Palestinian fate does not depend on Israeli concessions. It depends on a complete change in Palestinian leadership. The Abraham Accords are showing, every day, that there is nothing to preclude Jews and Arabs, or Jews and Muslims, from getting along in the Middle East, other than the outdated Cold War/Holy War mindset to which the Palestinian leadership, and Iran, are still clinging. If the Palestinian leaders stopped supporting terror against Israel, there would be peace and concessions galore.
In a related story, a bunch of left-wing American Jewish "leaders" has written a letter to Biden stating that a Saudi-Israeli peace deal "must" include steps toward a Palestinian state. That implies they would reject a peace deal -- even if the Saudis accepted it -- that did not include Palestinian statehood. It is a radical, absurd demand -- one that can only encourage extremism.
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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