יום חמישי, י׳ תמוז תשפ״וThursday, June 25, 2026
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President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry seem never to miss an opportunity to caution us that Israel’s opposition to the agreement will further isolate it around the world.
What is downright infuriating, however, is that her statement seems to both acknowledge these problems while papering them over.
Under the deal, sanctions will no longer be available as a way to force compliance.
First, of course, the contrast with the Arab treatment of Arab murderers of Jews is striking.
By most accounts, the one person with the political muscle to swing enough Democratic votes to override a veto is Sen. Schumer.
One of the more troubling aspects of the path to this agreement is the way the administration repeatedly revised its end-game expectations.
The U.S. vote was the sole negative one cast (India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Macedonia, and Paraguay abstained).
The president described the attack as “an act that drew on a long history of bombs and arson and shots fired at churches, not random, but as a means of control, a way to terrorize and oppress...”
And whereas at the outset the plan was that Iran would have to surrender most of its centrifuges, it will now be able to retain several thousand.
Seventy-one members of the Assembly, including Glen Cove Assemblyman Chuck Lavine, who heads the New York chapter of the National Association of Jewish Legislators, joined in the effort to secure a majority to protect the rights of Jewish voters.
Students in New York City schools are protected by publicly funded security guards, so it would seem a no-brainer that students attending non-public schools be similarly protected.
Seems like Israel is being faulted for not tying both hands behind its back instead of just one.
We still have trouble understanding why anyone would care, except perhaps if she had tried to qualify for special status under a government program designed to benefit members of minority communities.
He says government should be in the business of seeking ways to include citizens in the voting process, not to exclude them.
Last November, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a New York City audience that Israel “went to extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties.... In this type of conflict, where you are held to a standard that your enemy is not held to, you’re going to be criticized for civilian casualties.”
This is the same president who recently acknowledged that, at best, the proposed deal with Iran will expire in ten years and that afterward Iran basically would be free to do whatever it wanted.
As for the president’s new, softer tone vis-à-vis Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel, this is most likely being driven by the results of the recent Israeli election.
What especially appeals to us is his grand – some critics would say extravagant –view of what the borders of Israel should look like.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Vatican’s unwelcome gesture was diametrically at odds with what President Obama signaled in an interview with the news outlet Al Arabiya.
On the face of it, the very word “snapback” brings to mind all the right things.
It’s not just the Saudi king who’s staying away; most Gulf heads of state are skipping the event as well.
Given the circumstances, the incongruity is manifest.
The campaign reportedly also killed nearly 2,000 Islamic State fighters.
The fight against terror is a case in point.... The establishment of a collective forum for dialogue in the Persian Gulf region...is long overdue....
Mr. Obama himself inelegantly cautioned members of the Senate to be careful not to “screw up” the negotiations by seeking to have input into the future of the sanctions regime that has been imposed on Iran.
In practical terms, there already is great significance in how Iran emerged from the nuclear talks.
Indeed, some caucus members based their decision to stay away from Mr. Netanyahu’s speech on their contention that the Israeli leader had disrespected America’s first black president.
These are fundamental issues for Israel’s security and yet Mr. Abbas refuses even to acknowledge them as grist for negotiations.
In any event, Mr. Netanyahu after the election sought to soften his statement on Palestinian statehood and apologized for what he conceded were remarks that “offended some Israeli citizens and offended members of the Israeli Arab community.”
But the letter was not delivered to the ayatollahs by special messenger, diplomatic pouch, regular mail, or even e-mail. In fact, it was not delivered to the ayatollahs at all.
Both Iran and Hizbullah are cited as playing major roles in fighting ISIS, which is described as constituting the preeminent terrorist threat to American interests worldwide.
If there’s no deal, then we walk away.
But when you live in a tough neighborhood Israel should not be made to apologize for its strength.
The president has made clear – I can’t state this more firmly – the policy is Iran will not get a nuclear weapon.
Some Jewish organizational types (most prominently the ADL’s Abe Foxman and the Reform movement’s Rabbi Rick Jacobs) have gone public with requests that Mr. Netanyahu cancel his speech for just those reasons.
Plainly, the Iranians have something President Obama desperately wants, apparently even at the expense of permitting Iran to eventually emerge as a nuclear military power.
Indeed, Congressman Nadler asserted that “It would be very wise for both parties to this invitation to consider measures to mitigate the damage this political maneuvering has inflicted.”
Speaker Silver has been an extraordinary public servant since his election to the Assembly in 1975 and has been an exemplary leader of that body since 1994.
Drawing Congress into the Iran nuclear debate is the last thing the White House wants.
Plainly, there is no guiding hand dictating choices across the board.
While we recognize the Republican Jewish Coalition is hardly a non-partisan outfit, a snippet from a statement the group released is worthy of note:
His general openness to using government to better people’s lives extended to religious Jews.
There are so many national issues that have to be addressed that it isn’t just policing, as I think we all well know....”
Also left unsaid was the fact that the menorah and its oil were in the Beit HaMikdash, which of course was located on Har HaBayit – the Temple Mount that present-day Muslims claim as their own.
No one would deny that the program subjected detainees to less than pleasant treatment, but the salient point is, for what purpose?
For the past six years President Obama has consistently deplored all Palestinian efforts to end-run negotiations in search of a UN-imposed agreement on Israel.
The fundamental principle in play, however, is statistical dynamics, not race.
The problem was put into sharper focus with reports that Israeli jets had bombed areas adjacent to the Damascus international airport as well as a town near the border with Lebanon.
Mr. Obama repeatedly assured those skeptical about the worth of negotiations that a military option remained on the table despite the continuing diplomatic efforts.
Are Rev. Sharpton and President Obama saying that no non-biased person could have come to the same conclusion as the grand jury?
Because of the disparate nature of the perpetrators, who are also relatively young, and given the lack of more traditional targets and the reverence Palestinians have for their homes, one now hears talk of Israel returning to a policy of destroying the houses of terrorists’ families.
In any event, the Constitution gives Congress what is popularly described as the “power of the purse” – that is, the power to raise revenues through taxation and to decide how the money should be sent.
June 19, 2026 
