How Israel Can Outsmart Trump’s Peace Plan Without Killing His Nobel Fantasy

 

Donald Trump has unveiled his “21-point peace plan” for Israel and Gaza. Let’s call it what it is: not a roadmap for peace, but a 21-step audition for the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Trump doesn’t just want to end wars—he wants his name engraved next to Mandela and Rabin. He wants the medal, the handshake, the magazine covers. It’s classic Trump: a peace plan with his name in lights and everyone else cast as supporting actors.

But for Israel, the plan is a loaded trap. It calls for troop withdrawals from Gaza, international oversight of security, Palestinian Authority control, and a freeze on annexation. In other words: Israel makes concessions, terrorists reload, and Washington smiles for the cameras. Reject it outright, and Israel risks being branded the peace-killer. Accept it, and Israel risks becoming the security-suicide. That’s the bind.

So how does Israel survive Trump’s peace theater without wrecking his Nobel dreams? By leaning into Trump’s favorite language: optics, branding, spin.

First, give him headlines. Israel should embrace the easy points—hostage release, humanitarian reconstruction, temporary ceasefires. Those alone generate splashy images: aid trucks rolling into Gaza, freed families hugging on TV. Trump gets the photo-ops he craves. He can strut on stage declaring, “Nobody’s ever done peace like this before. Everybody said it was impossible—but I did it. Maybe even Nobel!”

Second, turn the tough clauses into conditions. Want Israeli troops out of Gaza? Fine—after Hamas disarms completely and hands over every rocket. Want the Palestinian Authority running the Strip? Sure—after it reforms itself into something less corrupt and less addicted to “pay for slay.” Want international peacekeepers? Okay—if they let Israel act unilaterally against any terrorist cell. Conditions so steep they’ll never be met, but dressed up as good-faith engagement.

Third, control the story. Israel should say, loudly: “We want peace. We welcome Trump’s vision. But peace must be built on security.” Every delay is responsibility, not rejection. Every objection is prudence, not sabotage. Let the Palestinians be the ones to scream “no.” When they do—as they inevitably will—Trump can still sell the attempt as “historic progress,” and Israel stays out of the blame game.

Critics will scoff: why not just rip the plan to shreds? Because Trump’s ego doesn’t work that way. He thrives on loyalty, flattery, and the illusion of progress. Israel gains nothing by humiliating him. It gains everything by playing along—up to the line, never past it.

This isn’t about peace. It’s about theater. Trump wants a Nobel stage with himself at the center, Israel as the dutiful partner, and the Palestinians as the villains who blew it. Fine. Let him have his play. Israel just needs to make sure it doesn’t confuse Trump’s script with its survival strategy.

 

 REPUBLISHED:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-israel-can-outsmart-trumps-peace-plan-without-killing-his-nobel-fantasy/ 

 

 WATCH:

 

The Satmar Anti-Zionist Manic Stance Directly Responsible In Part To Today’s Vicious Antisemitism

 

Joel Teitelbaum

The Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, survived the inferno of Europe and built a spiritual empire in America. His searing theology was crystal clear: Zionism was not only a secular rebellion against Torah Judaism but also a cosmic violation of God’s will. In his magnum opus, Vayoel Moshe, he cited the Talmudic “Three Oaths” (Ketubot 111a): that Israel not ascend to the Land en masse, not rebel against the nations, and that the nations not oppress Israel excessively. In his view, Zionism shattered the divine order. Jewish sovereignty before the coming of Mashiach was illegitimate, even dangerous.

This stance gave birth to the Satmar position: opposition to the State of Israel not merely politically, but theologically. The State, in their view, brought divine wrath, endangering Jews everywhere. For decades, Satmar leaders thundered that Zionism itself stoked antisemitism by parading Jewish power in exile and angering the nations prematurely.

Yet today, the world has turned. Israel’s very existence is not the cause of antisemitism—it is the shield against it. The vicious antisemitism erupting in cities across the West—from New York to London, from Paris to college campuses in America—is not nuanced, not theological, not even pretending to differentiate between Satmar, secular, Zionist, or Torah Jew. It is raw Jew-hatred, unmasked. The mobs do not pause to ask: “Are you Satmar? Are you anti-Zionist? Are you pro-Palestinian?” They see a Jew, and that is enough.

The Satmar Rebbe’s fears were that Zionism would bring about pogroms; in reality, it is Israel alone that prevents a second Holocaust. When missiles rain down, when Hamas butchers innocents, it is the IDF that stands in the breach—not any of the Satmar doctrines. The irony is stark: the very state they opposed is the only guarantor that Jews can defend themselves.

But what has history shown us? That while Satmar huddled in Williamsburg and Kiryas Joel condemning the Zionists, it was the very Zionists—religious and secular—who built an army, who gathered the scattered, who gave Jews a homeland that the nations could not strip away. It was not Satmar theology that saved the remnant of European Jewry—it was the State of Israel. Without it, Jews would be scattered, powerless, and hunted like dogs. 

And so the Satmar position, forged in the ashes of Auschwitz, now collides with the flames of twenty-first century hatred. Their insularity once insulated them from responsibility, but today, the line is clear: without a strong Israel, Jews everywhere are prey. The antisemite does not distinguish between a Satmar Hasid in Williamsburg and an IDF soldier in Gaza.

 He hates both with equal venom.

The Satmar Rebbe lived in a world where the Jewish people were stateless, powerless, and traumatized. But history moved forward, and Heaven granted us sovereignty. To deny that gift, to delegitimize Jewish survival, is to side with our enemies at the very moment when antisemitism has returned in its ugliest, most violent form. 

History, then, has delivered its verdict. The Satmar ideology may have been born out of trauma, but today it sounds like a dangerous echo—one that weakens Jewish unity in the face of an ancient, ever-mutating hatred. 

Antisemitism is not caused by Zionism. It is the world’s oldest sickness, resurfacing now with renewed viciousness. And the answer is not withdrawal, not denial, but Jewish power, Jewish pride, and Jewish sovereignty.

 

 REPUBLISHED:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-satmar-anti-zionist-manic-stance-todays-vicious-antisemitism/ 

The Jewish People's Podcast - Haredi in the IDF - HEALTHYJEW.ORG

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So let the world rage. Let the UN pass its resolutions. Let the mobs chant in the streets.

 

On elite campuses, professors and students chant for the destruction of Israel, cloaking genocidal hatred in the language of “justice” and “liberation.”. Anti-Zionism is Claimed To be different than anti-Semitism even by twisted Jews.

The world’s hatred of the Jewish people is not new. It is the oldest hatred in human history. The script hasn’t changed in three thousand years: the Jew dares to exist on his own terms, and the nations cannot stand it.

In the Middle Ages, it was blood libels and expulsions. England expelled its Jews in 1290, Spain in 1492. Jews were blamed for plagues, accused of poisoning wells, and herded into ghettos. Not because of crime or conspiracy — but because of covenant. The Jewish people, stubbornly surviving, were a living rebuke to Christian theology that claimed we were cast off and abandoned. Our survival embarrassed Europe. So it tried to erase us.

The Holocaust was not an accident of German madness. It was the modern, industrialized expression of the same ancient obsession: the world without Jews would be cleaner, purer, easier. Six million Jews were murdered not because of what they had done but because of who they were. The ovens of Auschwitz were stoked with the same fire that lit the Roman arenas and medieval pyres.

Islamic history offers no respite. Jews under Islam were permitted to live only as subjugated dhimmis — taxed, humiliated, and reminded daily of their inferior status. When Jews forgot their place, pogroms reminded them. The 20th-century rise of political Islam, fueled by the rhetoric of Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, and Ayatollah Khomeini, only amplified the theological hatred. Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran speak openly of annihilation. They do not hide their goal: a world without Jews, starting with a world without Israel.

And here we are, 2025. Europe once again trembles with Jewish blood. Synagogues guarded by soldiers. Cemeteries desecrated. Politicians issue empty condemnations even as they coddle Islamist votes. In America, Jews are assaulted in the streets of New York and Los Angeles., cloaking genocidal hatred in the language of “justice” and “liberation.” The far-right blames Jews for immigration. The far-left blames Jews for colonialism. The noose tightens from both sides.

Why? Because the Jew is an eternal reminder that history has meaning. That God has expectations. That man is not sovereign. Pharaoh, Haman, Caesar, Torquemada, Hitler, Hamas — all different faces of the same rage: the world cannot bear a people who carry a divine covenant. As long as a single Jew lives, mankind cannot declare itself free from judgment.

And yet — every empire that set out to annihilate us is gone. Egypt? Dust. Babylon? Ruins. Rome? A broken memory. The Third Reich? Ashes. The Soviet Union? Collapsed into history’s trash heap. And the Jew? Still here. Back in his land. Speaking his ancient tongue. 

This is the paradox that infuriates the nations: the more they try to destroy us, the more we prove indestructible. “Behold, a people that dwells alone, not reckoned among the nations” The hatred of the nations confirms the chosenness of Israel.

So let the world rage. Let the UN pass its resolutions. Let the mobs chant in the streets. We have seen it all before. The hatred runs deep — but our survival runs deeper. For three thousand years they have tried to bury us. And for three thousand years we have risen from the grave.

 

 REPUBLISHED:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/so-let-the-world-rage-let-the-un-pass-its-resolutions-let-the-mobs-chant/

A Jewish Man’s Personal Plea To Protect Children in Shul

 

A Jewish Man’s Personal Plea To Protect Children in Shul

• By Jewish Link Staff
• | September 18, 2025

(Courtesy of PSS) As a father and member of the local community, I write this with a heavy yet resolute heart. This comes from a sense of responsibility—not from a place of accusation. We claim to be shomrei Torah u’mitzvot, yet ignore tragic dangers occurring within our own mikdashei me’at. We spend time making sure our lulav is straight and that our mezuzot and meat are kosher, so how can we show less care for the wellbeing of our precious children?

Our shuls are sanctuaries — places of Torah, tefillah and learning. Shuls should also be safe spaces, yet in recent years, we have seen painful reminders that vigilance is so crucial. Sexual abuse, tragically, does not distinguish between religious and secular. When our children are left unattended, we risk giving predators the opportunity they seek.

In our sacred shuls, where the Shechinah rests, it’s easy to assume that all is safe, all is holy, and that everyone within these walls shares the same values of yirat shamayim and kedusha. However, assuming safety is not the same as ensuring it. When it comes to our children — the most precious treasures that Hashem has entrusted us with — we simply cannot afford to be complacent.

We are commanded in Devarim 4:9, “Hishamer lecha u’shmor nafsh’cha me’od — Be very careful and guard your soul.” Chazal teach us that this shemirah includes our own safety, but also the protection of others, especially of those who cannot protect themselves.

Unfortunately, the walls of a shul do not automatically protect children from all harm. In too many communities — yes, even in the Orthodox world — cases have come to light of children who were abused in the very places that should have been their safe haven.

Predators do not always look like threats. They may be respected community members, youth leaders, even family friends. They thrive on access, opportunity and silence. An unattended child — wandering the halls, playing behind a mechitza, running unsupervised in classrooms — is a vulnerable child.

Let us not pretend: The yetzer hara does not stop at the doors of the shul. It disguises itself, adapts and waits. Our job is to shut the door before it can enter.

We don’t like to believe that such evils could happen in our communities. However, both recent and distant history have shown us otherwise. Sexual abuse has occurred in shuls, yeshivot and camps, often committed by people known and trusted.

Our local shuls are large and children often wander freely into coatrooms, unoccupied classrooms or other unsupervised areas. In the hustle of Shabbat and Yom Tov davening, socializing or kiddush, children are often left alone. Some play outside. Some explore rooms. The assumption is that “someone is watching,” but more often than not, no one is.

What Can We Do?

As recommended by PSS (Project Sarah Services):

1. Keep Children in Sight

Children should not be roaming shuls without supervision. Parents and caregivers must remain vigilant, especially during davening. Shuls can implement designated areas where children are supervised by responsible adults or teens.

2. Policies With Rabbinic Backing

Every shul should work with its rabbi and board to create child protection policies that are in line with Halacha and best safety practices. These should include:

Two-adult rule: No adult alone with a child in a room.

Bathroom policies for young children.

No unsupervised access to secluded areas (coatrooms, utility closets, side rooms).

These policies must be public, transparent and enforced.

3. Education Without Shame

Modesty (tzniut) and safety are not contradictory. It is necessary to teach children about body safety, personal boundaries and how to recognize inappropriate behavior, all within a Torah framework. Parents should have age appropriate conversations with their children on these topics.

4. Background Checks and Accountability

Youth leaders, babysitters and volunteers must undergo background checks and training in child safety. This is not a sign of distrust; it is a sign of communal responsibility. The same way we ensure our eruv is kosher, we must ensure our caregivers are trustworthy.

5. A Community That Supports Reporting

In too many cases, abuse continued because suspicions were silenced. We must make it clear: Reporting abuse is not lashon hara, it is le toelet — a constructive, halachically permitted act to prevent harm. Gedolei Yisrael have paskened that when there is reason to suspect abuse, it must be reported to authorities.

As we approach Rosh Hashanah, our hearts naturally turn inward. We examine our actions, our relationships and our commitments to Hashem and to one another. We plead for a year of life, health and protection for ourselves, our families and klal Yisrael.

How can we stand before the Kisei HaKavod and ask Hashem to watch over our children if we ourselves have failed to do so?

This year, as we hear the shofar, let it remind us that teshuva is not only about bein adam laMakom, but also bein adam lachaveiro. What greater chaveiro is there than a child, who relies on us to be their eyes, ears and voice?

Kesiva v’chasima tova, may we all be inscribed for a year of health, happiness and safety.

---

Special thanks to PSS (Project Sarah Services) for instrumental and invaluable expert guidance on this topic.

https://jewishlink.news/a-jewish-mans-personal-plea-to-protect-children-in-shul/

Mental Health Is a Halachic Priority : A Mental Health Guide for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

 

Mental Health Is a Halachic Priority 

It’s worth reminding ourselves that guarding our lives includes guarding our mental health. This isn’t a modern twist on tradition—it’s embedded in our halachic framework. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 328) teaches that one must desecrate Shabbat to save a life, even when the danger is uncertain. The Gemara says that even doubt of pikuach nefesh overrides Shabbat. 

This principle applies to mental illness, too. If someone is in emotional crisis, if they are severely depressed or suicidal, we are not only permitted but obligated to act, even on Yom Kippur. We must make the phone call. We must provide the food. We must remove the shame. 

Yet, too many people still suffer in silence, afraid their struggles make them spiritually unworthy or religiously lacking. They hesitate to seek help in fear of judgment or misunderstanding. But our tradition doesn’t ask us to suffer to prove our faith. It asks us to choose life. 

In Sefer Yoel (2:13), the prophet cries, “Tear your hearts and not your clothing.” Teshuvah is not about theatrics. It’s not about saying the right words or performing rituals without meaning. It’s about honesty: emotional, spiritual and psychological. 

The deepest form of teshuvah might not come from the pages of a machzor, but from a whisper in the dark: “I can’t do this alone anymore.” 

This isn’t weakness. It’s courage. 

The Torah was given to be lived—in this world, in the messiness of human experience. Our sages understood that physical and emotional suffering are real and that our halachah must address the realities of life. 

Yet too often, mental health remains hidden in Orthodox circles. We whisper about therapy. We hesitate to mention feelings of anxiety, depression or grief. But these are real. They are as real as any illness. 

And pretending otherwise is not piety. It’s denial. 

A Torah that lives in this world must address this world. That means supporting each other through struggles, normalizing help-seeking, and training leaders to recognize the signs of mental health crisis. 

This High Holiday season, may we all remember: 

You don’t have to be perfect to come before G-d. 

You don’t need to have it all figured out. 

You are allowed to bring your questions, your sadness, your fears. 

Because G-d doesn’t ask for perfection. He asks for truth. 

And as you stand before Him—however whole or broken you may feel—may you hear in the stillness: “My beloved child, you are enough. Come home.” 

May this be a year of healing, of return and of wholeness. 

Shanah Tovah U’Metukah. 

 READ MORE:

https://jewishaction.com/web-exclusive/return-to-wholeness-a-mental-health-guide-for-rosh-hashanah-and-yom-kippur/?

Middle East Dialogues: A Conversation with Alan Dershowitz - Sharp As Spicy Hummus at 87 Years!

Spain's Very Short Memory, The Legacy of Jew-Hatred Continues, they will pay a dear price again --- As of mid-September 2025, Spain has called for sanctions against Israel and imposed its own measures, including a total arms embargo . The actions followed escalating tensions over Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

"In early September 2025, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a permanent and comprehensive ban on selling arms and ammunition to Israel. The embargo also prevents ships carrying fuel for the Israeli military from docking at Spanish ports and bans Israeli military planes from Spanish airspace.Spain has also banned imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and will deny entry to anyone who participated in what Sánchez described as "genocide" against Palestinians. Consular services for Spanish citizens in illegal settlements will also be limited.On September 15, 2025, Sánchez called on international sports bodies to ban Israel from competitions, comparing its military actions to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This demand followed widespread pro-Palestinian protests in Spain that disrupted the Vuelta cycling race, in which an Israeli team was participating.Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, officially recognized a Palestinian state in May 2024, a move that drew strong criticism from Israel."

A 1492 Letter Regarding Jewish Property in Spain 

 

The letter, from Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, is in the Museum's Permanent Collection

 

In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued the Alhambra Decree, ordering the expulsion of all Jews from their kingdoms. In a matter of months, Spanish Jews were forced to renounce their faith or leave their thousand-year homeland behind. Meanwhile, the Spanish economy crumbled as hundreds of thousands prepared for departure, liquidating their assets and scrambling to arrange their affairs.

Amid this chaos, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella wrote a crucial directive to their agent Rodrigo de Mercado, Governor of Medina del Campo, regarding the dissolution of Jewish property in Spain. Signed on December 10, 1492, this letter in the Museum’s Permanent Collection marks a transformative moment in world history. It tells the story of a unique culture nearly destroyed, and of a disastrous blunder by the Spanish government that impacted not only the Jews of Spain but Christian and Muslim countries across Europe and Africa.

Ferdinand and Isabella initially signed the decree for the expulsion of all Jews residing within their domain on March 31, 1492. Spanish Jews, who numbered around 300,000, were required to emigrate or convert to Catholicism by the end of July the same year, giving them a period of four months to liquidate all of their property, vacate their homes and businesses, and venture abroad. The magnitude of the undertaking and the timeframe given resulted in social and economic chaos, to which this letter responds directly.

It reads: “As regards what you say about the goods which some people have taken from the Jews in their towns and lands, as well as outstanding debts, we command you to find out which goods were seized and the number of debts that remained and they are collecting.”

Letter from Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain

 

The King and Queen of Spain’s instruction alludes to the issues that immediately arose following their March order. Four months was insufficient time for the liquidation of all Jewish-owned assets. Where liquidation was possible, Jews were unable to sell their property at its real value due to the saturation of the market as hundreds of thousands of people simultaneously placed their land, homes, tools, and belongings up for sale. 

Compounding these difficulties was the prohibition against Jews’ owning the standard currency of the day: gold and silver. In addition, Jewish creditors would have no means of collecting money from their non-Jewish debtors after their departure. Likewise, non-Jewish creditors would be unable to retrieve debts owed to them by Jewish debtors who were being forcibly expelled.

The letter further instructed, “Stop seizing or expropriating what each one [Jew] has in their own towns and lands. However, whatever you find outside of their towns and lands in goods and other assets, seize it all according to the provision you have.”

The measures that Isabella and Ferdinand enacted through this letter and their following orders were ultimately insufficient to prevent damage to the Spanish economy. The country was deprived of the skills and talents of thousands of individuals. Moreover, prominent Jewish thought centers in cities like Toledo, a major hub for Jewish life, were extinguished. Jewish doctors, lawyers, artisans, and professionals flooded neighboring countries, enriching their cultures and economies instead of Spain’s.

King Bayazet, then the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, remarked: “Do they call this Ferdinand a politic prince, who can thus impoverish his own kingdom and enrich ours?”

Within the year, 175,000 Jews left Spain, while those who stayed were forced to renounce their faith. The Jewish presence in Spain was virtually extinguished for the next several hundred years. This letter chronicles a moment in that tragic and transformative episode in Jewish history, after which Jews went on to disseminate Sephardic culture and innovation around the world.

https://mjhnyc.org/blog/1492-letter-regarding-jewish-property-in-spain/

Is Israel Becoming Dhimmis in Their Own State?

Times of Israel Headline Screams:
“In Israel, Sec. of State Rubio Reaffirms US Ties”  

 

The headline looks harmless enough. A senior American official lands in Israel, flashes smiles, pledges “ironclad” support, and recites the well-rehearsed script of eternal friendship. But beneath the pleasantries lurks a darker question: why does Israel look like the supplicant, waiting for reassurance, as though its sovereignty and survival depend on the blessing of Washington?

Israel was reborn in 1948 so Jews would never again live as dhimmis—a tolerated but humiliated minority, second-class in their own land or any land. Yet reading the headlines, one wonders: have we traded one master for another? Once, Jews looked nervously over the shoulder of the local sultan or czar; today we look toward Foggy Bottom and Capitol Hill.

Of course, Israel needs allies. No nation, especially one surrounded by implacable foes, survives in isolation. But there is a line between alliance and dependency, between partnership and patronage. When every Israeli military move is prefaced by, “Will the Americans approve?”—when every headline trumpets the reassurance of a visiting dignitary rather than the confidence of our own leaders—we risk internalizing the mentality of second-class status.

The irony is painful. In the Arab world, Jews once endured dhimmitude—paying the jizya, bowing their heads, living under the whim of rulers who allowed their existence but never their equality. In the modern State of Israel, founded with blood and faith precisely to end that degradation, headlines now hint at a different but parallel subservience: Jews waiting for the nod from a foreign power before daring to act like a sovereign people.

What does it say about us if Israel’s legitimacy is measured not by its eternal right to the Land of Israel, not by the covenant of Tanach or the sacrifices of our soldiers, but by the reassuring words of an American politician whose tenure will be gone in four years? What happens the day that reassurance is not offered—or worse, is withdrawn?

The danger is not only strategic, but spiritual. A nation that defines itself by foreign approval will inevitably forget its own essence. Israel’s essence is not as a “strategic asset” for America, but as the covenantal homeland of the Jewish people, answerable to Hashem, to history, and to its own people’s destiny.

By all means, let American officials come, shake hands, and reaffirm ties. But Israel’s headlines should not scream with relief at their patronage. They should scream with the confidence of a sovereign nation that knows who it is, why it exists, and Who brought it back to life.

Israel cannot afford to live as dhimmis in its own state. Not before America, not before Europe, not before anyone. We are not guests here. We are home.

 

 REPUBLISHED:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-israel-becoming-dhimmis-in-their-own-state/

Let’s stop lying to ourselves!

 

Gaza is not about 1967. It’s not about settlements. It’s not about humanitarian aid, water rights, or another donor conference in Geneva. Gaza is not even about Gaza.

 The war Israel fights today is the same war our ancestors faced 1,400 years ago — the Arab–Jewish war. It began when Islam declared that Jews were a cursed people, fit only to be humiliated, ruled, and ultimately erased. It has never ended.

And what drives them mad is not “occupation.” It is Jewish sovereignty. The very existence of Israel is the unforgivable crime. For 1,400 years Jews were allowed to live — but only as dhimmi, broken, subordinate, grateful for the scraps of tolerance thrown their way. Then came 1948. For the first time in Islamic history, Jews stood up, armed, independent, and sovereign in their own land. That is the “Nakba.” That is the real wound that never heals. 

Every Western diplomat and well-meaning pundit insists the “conflict” between Israel and Gaza has a solution: a two-state arrangement, land swaps, economic aid, confidence-building measures. They propose endless conferences, road maps, accords. They speak the language of compromise. But the truth is harsher: Gaza is not a land dispute. It is not about settlements or 1967 borders. It is not even about statehood. Gaza is simply the latest battlefield in a 1,400-year Arab–Jewish war that has never ceased — and for which there is no neat solution.

Since the 7th century, when Islam burst out of Arabia, Jews have lived under Muslim domination as dhimmi: tolerated but humiliated, allowed to survive only as long as they knew their place. The Jew could live — but never stand as an equal. This was not colonialism or modern geopolitics. This was theology. The Quran and subsequent Islamic tradition carved out a worldview: Jews rejected Muhammad, and thus they are forever marked as enemies. The Hadith even anticipates the apocalypse in which Muslims will hunt down Jews hiding behind rocks and trees. When Hamas screams that they are “carrying out the will of Allah,” they are not inventing anything new. They are quoting scripture.

What Israel represents is not just a piece of territory in the Middle East. Israel is the ultimate rebellion against 1,400 years of Muslim domination. For the first time since the rise of Islam, Jews are not a tolerated minority under Islamic power, but a sovereign people in their ancestral land, armed, independent, and unwilling to bow. That fact alone is intolerable to the ideological heirs of the Caliphate. No peace plan can erase that humiliation.

The Arab–Jewish war is therefore not cyclical violence; it is the continuation of an ancient clash. Gaza’s rockets and Israel’s responses are modern expressions of an old pattern: Islam’s refusal to accept Jewish sovereignty, and the Jewish refusal to disappear. Every cease-fire is a pause in a centuries-old war of civilizations. Every attempt at compromise founders on the same reef: Israel insists on being, and the Arab world insists it cannot be.

Western negotiators, sitting in air-conditioned hotels, refuse to hear this. They treat Gaza as a solvable border dispute, as if Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat could sign away 1,400 years of theology. But ideas rooted in scripture do not vanish with diplomatic signatures. That is why every “peace process” has failed, and why each new round of violence erupts with greater ferocity.

Does this mean Israel is doomed? No. It means Israel must stop believing in fantasies. There will be no permanent peace, no handshake that “ends the conflict.” Israel survives, and thrives, by strength — by recognizing that survival is the goal, not utopia. The only “solution” is deterrence, vigilance, and a clarity of vision: we are not engaged in a border squabble but in an ancient war, with no expiration date.

The Gaza war is not 2025. It is 732, 1099, 1929, 1948, 2023. It is the same story told over centuries: the Jew insists on life and sovereignty; the Arab world insists he cannot have it. That is why the Gaza–Israel war is not solvable — because it is not a conflict at all. It is the continuation of the Arab–Jewish war, 1,400 years old, and still raging.

There is no solution. There is only survival. Israel’s only path is to fight, win, and keep winning. To crush those who rise against her. To stop yearning for the photo-op handshake that will never come. This war will not end in our lifetime because it did not begin in our lifetime. It began in Medina in the 7th century. It roared in Hebron in 1929, in the refugee camps in 1948, on the Temple Mount in 2000, and in the skies over Gaza today. 

 

REPUBLISHED: 

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/lets-stop-lying-to-ourselves/

Haredi "Olam Hatorah" To IDF Sodiers - "You Should Have Stayed In The 4 Walls Of The Yeshiva" --- Defense Ministry says 45% of 20,000 wounded soldiers have physical injuries, 35% have PTSD or other mental ailments, and 20% are suffering both physically and mentally

 

WE DO NOT CARE:The challenges include “a shortage of staff, with a ratio of 1:750 patients per rehabilitation worker; the need to simplify bureaucracy; and new and unique needs required for the newly wounded” 

More than 10,000 IDF soldiers have been treated for mental health issues since Oct. 7

 

Defense Ministry says 45% of 20,000 wounded soldiers have physical injuries, 35% have PTSD or other mental ailments, and 20% are suffering both physically and mentally

 

Wounded IDF soldiers arrive for the funeral of a comrade at Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, July 8, 2025. 

 

The Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department said on Sunday that it has treated some 20,000 wounded soldiers since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023, more than half of whom are suffering from mental health conditions.

According to the Defense Ministry, some 56% of those treated by the rehab centers amid the war are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions.

Some 9% of the wounded are defined as having moderate-to-severe injuries; 56 soldiers are classified as having over 100% disability — the most severe level of injury; 24 wounded have 100% disability; 16 of those wounded are paralyzed; and 99 are amputees who received prosthetics, the ministry said.

Each month, around 1,000 wounded soldiers from the war are treated by the rehab department, in addition to around 600 requests from previous wars.

 

 Israeli soldiers wounded in the war with Hamas walk in the rehabilitation division of Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan

 

Including previous wars, the ministry said the rehab department is caring for a total of 81,700 wounded veterans, including 31,000, or 38%, suffering from mental health conditions. It forecasts that by 2028, the center will be treating some 100,000, with at least half of them suffering from PTSD and other mental health conditions.

The rehab department’s budget stands at NIS 8.3 billion ($2.5 billion), NIS 4.1 billion of which is dedicated to treating those with mental health conditions, the ministry said.

Officials at the rehab department say they have identified that “in the coming years, alongside the national challenges of the increase in the number of wounded, the continuation of the war, the treatment of those dealing with mental health conditions, the concern about suicide, and the shortage of therapists, there are challenges that require immediate response.”

The challenges include “a shortage of staff, with a ratio of 1:750 patients per rehabilitation worker; the need to simplify bureaucracy; and new and unique needs required for the newly wounded,” it said.

The Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department said on Sunday that it has treated some 20,000 wounded soldiers since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023, more than half of whom are suffering from mental health conditions.

According to the Defense Ministry, some 56% of those treated by the rehab centers amid the war are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions.

Some 9% of the wounded are defined as having moderate-to-severe injuries; 56 soldiers are classified as having over 100% disability — the most severe level of injury; 24 wounded have 100% disability; 16 of those wounded are paralyzed; and 99 are amputees who received prosthetics, the ministry said.

Each month, around 1,000 wounded soldiers from the war are treated by the rehab department, in addition to around 600 requests from previous wars.

 

 Israeli soldiers wounded in the war with Hamas walk in the rehabilitation division of Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan

 

The rehab department’s budget stands at NIS 8.3 billion ($2.5 billion), NIS 4.1 billion of which is dedicated to treating those with mental health conditions, the ministry said.

Officials at the rehab department say they have identified that “in the coming years, alongside the national challenges of the increase in the number of wounded, the continuation of the war, the treatment of those dealing with mental health conditions, the concern about suicide, and the shortage of therapists, there are challenges that require immediate response.”

The challenges include “a shortage of staff, with a ratio of 1:750 patients per rehabilitation worker; the need to simplify bureaucracy; and new and unique needs required for the newly wounded,” it said.

 

IDF troops simulate an aerial evacuation of wounded soldiers near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, in images cleared for publication on March 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

 

In light of the challenges, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich recently announced the establishment of a public committee headed by Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, chairman of Leumit Health Services, to formulate recommendations on how to expand the treatment and rehabilitation of wounded IDF soldiers.

The new initiative plans to examine and recommend improvements in key areas, including recognition of wounded veterans, streamlining medical and psychological rehabilitation, employment integration, family support systems and allocation of budget and manpower resources.

Since the war began with the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion, 904 IDF soldiers have been killed across the various arenas of conflict.

That figure includes 329 soldiers killed during the October 7 attack and 460 during the ensuing ground operations in Gaza and amid operations on the border. It also includes 29 soldiers killed in Hezbollah attacks inside Israel, and 51 soldiers who were killed during ground operations in Lebanon.

Two soldiers were killed in a drone attack from Iraq, and one soldier was killed in a ballistic missile attack from Iran.

The military’s list also includes a soldier killed by friendly fire in the West Bank, a soldier killed due to malfunctioning ammunition on the Lebanon border, two soldiers killed in a tank accident in northern Israel, and a number of other deadly incidents amid the war that were not directly related to the fighting.

 

Friends and family attend the funeral of Sgt. Shlomo Yakir Shrem, who was killed during an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, at the military cemetery in Kfar Etzion, July 15, 2025. 

 

Twelve soldiers were killed in terror attacks in the West Bank and Israel, and five soldiers were killed during counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/more-than-10000-idf-soldiers-have-been-treated-for-mental-health-issues-since-oct-7/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2025-09-14&utm_medium=email

The Echoes of 9/11 on October 7: A War Rooted in Hate Theology

 

September 11, 2001, and October 7, 2023, are not two separate events. 

They are chapters in the same book, authored by the same ideology: radical Islam’s war against Jews, Christians, and the West. The methods differ—planes into towers, paragliders into kibbutzim—but the theology behind both atrocities comes from the same place: the conviction that Islam must rule the world, and that Jews especially must be destroyed.

Let’s stop deluding ourselves. The terrorists are not vague “militants.” They are not “resistance fighters.” They are theological warriors, quoting chapter and verse as they slaughter. Al Qaeda on 9/11 and Hamas on October 7 were not acting despite Islam, but in their own eyes, because of it.

Hamas’s founding charter quotes the Quran directly: “The Day of Judgment will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Jews hide behind the stones and the trees, and the stones and the trees say, O Muslim, O servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him” (Sahih Muslim 2922). That isn’t a fringe idea—it’s a Hadith considered authentic in Islamic tradition. For Hamas, this is not metaphor. It is policy.

When Al Qaeda struck America, bin Laden declared it was a holy war. He quoted the Quran: “Fight them until there is no more fitnah [unbelief] and religion is all for Allah” (Quran 8:39). His target was not just the U.S. military—it was the very existence of a free, pluralistic West. The Jews were the “little Satan,” America the “great Satan,” both obstacles to a world submitted to Allah.

October 7 was soaked in the same theology. Hamas fighters stormed Israeli towns screaming “Allahu Akbar,” not “Free Palestine.” Their goal was not territory, but theology: the humiliation of the Jews. In their eyes, this is obedience to the Quran: “Humiliation and wretchedness were stamped upon them [the Jews]… They incurred wrath from Allah” (Quran 2:61). To Hamas, slaughtering Jews is not a crime—it is a divine command.

And the hatred is not limited to Jews. The Quran describes Christians, too, as destined for defeat: “They have certainly disbelieved who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary’” (Quran 5:72). This is why 9/11 targeted America, not only Israel. It is the same war, the same creed, the same script.

The echoes between 9/11 and October 7 are therefore not just tactical, but theological. Both were sermons with bullets. Both were commentaries on scripture written in Jewish and American blood. Both were acts of worship as much as they were acts of war.

What does the West do? Deny it. Whitewash it. Pretend this is about borders, poverty, or politics. After 9/11, intellectuals rushed to insist “Islam is a religion of peace.” After October 7, the same voices bend over backwards to claim Hamas does not represent “real Islam.” Meanwhile, Hamas clerics broadcast weekly sermons dripping with Jew-hatred, quoting Quran 5:82: “You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers [to be] the Jews…” These are not marginal verses. They are mainstream. And jihadists act on them.

The tragedy is not only that Jews were butchered on October 7. The tragedy is that we still pretend this has nothing to do with religion. The West hides behind illusions of “coexistence.” Israel clings to hopes of “managing” Hamas. But the killers have told us in plain Arabic: they are obeying God.

The echoes of 9/11 on October 7 ring with one command: believe your enemies when they tell you who they are. Radical Islam wants the West humiliated, America dethroned, and the Jews eradicated. If 9/11 was a wake-up call, October 7 is the alarm blaring again.

Israel must respond not as if this is a border dispute, but as if it is a holy war—because that is exactly how our enemies see it. Hamas must be crushed, not contained. And the West must face reality: the jihad that hit New York and the jihad that hit the Negev is the same jihad. If Israel falls, the towers will fall again—whether in Manhattan, London, or Paris.

The towers burned. The kibbutzim burned. The texts that inspired both burn still. Until we take them seriously, the echoes of 9/11 and October 7 will not fade. They will grow louder.

 

 REPUBLISHED:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-echoes-of-9-11-on-october-7-a-war-rooted-in-hate-theology/

 

WATCH: 

 

Halbertal — a Haredi leader — advocates a complete separation of “church” and state, and argues against continued government subsidy of the Haredi community

As the Haredi draft issue simmers, Dov Halbertal has some fascinating things to say

 

Rabbi Dov Halbertal

Monday was a terrible day. The terror attack in Jerusalem that killed six and wounded many more, some very seriously, felt like a return to the “old days” of terror attacks on busses and at busy intersections. Not a good return, obviously. Horrible.

Interestingly, and to their great credit, as the crowd was (understandably) fleeing the shooting, a Haredi soldier and another Haredi young man (armed, I’m not sure how) ran towards the terrorists and eliminated them. It was an act of great bravery, expected of soldiers … but still. And a reminder that there’s every reason for Haredim to be in the army. Period.

Later that day, we learned that that same morning four soldiers had been killed in Gaza when their tank went over a mine that had been placed in their way for precisely that purpose. Another reminder of the horrific cost that the continued military assault on Gaza City (which may or may not be the right move—a different issue) will undoubtedly exact.

Which will again raise the question of who’s bearing what burden?

In Israeli jargon, to “carry the stretcher” is to help share the burden of protecting this country. Why? Because one of the milestones of basic training is a long hike (how long and where depends on the unit) in which soldiers carry a stretcher the entire way. “No one gets left behind” — AND everyone has to take a turn carrying the stretcher.

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That was hardly the only clip about and by Haredim that has been making its way around, and today we introduce an important public figure in Israeli circles, Rabbi Dov Halbertal.

Dov Halbertal identifies as Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and has held significant positions within the Haredi religious establishment in Israel, including serving as head of the Office of the Chief Rabbi of Israel.

Some of his positions are controversial in larger Israeli society,. Early in Israel’s history, there was bitter disagreement (even more boisterous than the controversy surrounding Haredi service in the IDF) about whether or not women should have any role in the army at all. Though that issue has long since been settled, Halbertal, interestingly, remains a hold-out and continues to argue that women should have very limited roles in the IDF and should not serve in combat units.

But some of his other positions are controversial in, and critical of, Haredi society. The following clips speak for themselves.

The first clip, which was clearly created for social media (though I don’t know where it was first posted), is about as clear an indictment of Netanyahu as anyone has made. That it comes from the Haredi sector makes it particularly interesting.

Those around the world who continue to support Netanyahu (which is fine—that’s politics) should ask themselves, as an indication of how familiar they are with what’s really roiling this society — how many of the names that Halbertal names can they identify, and whether they understand why is he pointing to them …

Elsewhere, Halbertal opined about the ongoing Haredi demands of the government, and its threats that it will topple the coalition (a threat it has made for years and years with other coalitions, too) if the Haredim do not get what they want.

Halbertal — a Haredi leader — advocates a complete separation of “church” and state, and argues against continued government subsidy of the Haredi community. 

There are voices out there, even in the Haredi world, who want something different. What we do not know yet is how much pressure will come bottom-up to force current leadership to care more about people like Dov Halbertal think and say.

Will the heroism of a Haredi soldier this week change the discourse in that community? That’s an issue worth following.

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 WATCH VIDEOS WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES:

https://danielgordis.substack.com/p/as-the-haredi-draft-issue-simmers?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=ts9o2&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

The World Has to Get Used to Jews With Military Power

 

 The Era Of The Passive Jew Is Over!

For nearly two thousand years, the image of the Jew was largely the same across continents: powerless, bookish, vulnerable. From medieval Europe to the Arab lands, Jews lived at the mercy of their hosts. They survived by wit, prayer, commerce, and scholarship—but rarely by the sword. The notion of the Jew as a soldier, let alone as a military power, was unthinkable. The world grew accustomed to this stereotype. Jews were victims, not fighters. They were the persecuted, not the defenders.

Then came the rebirth of the State of Israel, and with it a historic reversal. For the first time in millennia, Jews became masters of their own defense. The same people who were herded into ghettos, who endured pogroms, who were deported to the gas chambers, now patrol borders, fly fighter jets, and command tanks. This is nothing less than a revolution in Jewish history and in the consciousness of the nations.

But not everyone has adjusted. Much of the international community still instinctively recoils when Jews exercise power, especially military power. When Israel fights back against terror, critics are quick to invoke disproportionality, as though the Jew must remain weak to remain authentic. The expectation lingers that Jews may suffer, but not strike. They may pray, but not shoot. They may cry, but not conquer.

This is not only hypocrisy—it is historical blindness. The Torah itself records a nation that fought wars, built armies, and secured its survival by strength and faith together. King David was not only a poet; he was a warrior. The Maccabees were not only priests; they were generals. Jewish sovereignty has always required Jewish arms. What the world sees today in the Israeli soldier is not an aberration but a restoration.

Israel’s military power is not an accident; it is a necessity. Surrounded by hostile neighbors, the Jewish state cannot afford illusions. Without deterrence, there is no survival. Without strength, there is no peace. And so the world must adjust its expectations: Jews are no longer a powerless minority but a sovereign nation with tanks, missiles, and resolve.

This shift is uncomfortable for many, not least because it shatters centuries of ingrained imagery. But it is time to face reality. The era of the passive Jew is over. The era of the sovereign Jew has begun. Israel is not ashamed of its military; it is proud of it. A Jewish soldier defending his people is as authentic an expression of Jewish destiny as a rabbi studying Torah.

The world may struggle with this new reality, but it will have to get used to it. Never again will Jews wait helplessly for others to defend them. Never again will Jewish survival depend on the goodwill of kings, priests, or presidents. From now on, the Jewish people carry their fate in their own hands. And that is how it must be.

Let’s be clear: no one lectures America about being “disproportionate” when it bombs terrorists. No one told Britain to hold back when the Nazis blitzed London. But when Jews defend themselves? Ah, then the rules change. Then the world remembers the Jew it preferred — weak, dependent, apologetic.

Too bad. That Jew is not coming back.

The Jewish people are not going back to the ghettos of Europe or the refugee camps of the Middle East. We are not returning to a time when others decided whether we live or die. We have our own state, our own army, our own destiny. And yes, that means Jews with tanks, jets, and an iron will to win.

If that makes the world uncomfortable, so be it. History has changed. Jews with power are not a temporary accident — they are the new reality. Israel exists, Israel defends itself, and Israel will not ask permission from anyone to survive.

The world had two thousand years to get used to powerless Jews. Now it must get used to Jews with power.

 REPUBLISHED:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-world-has-to-get-used-to-jews-with-military-power/

Am Yisrael lives because Jews of every stripe stood together today

 

Six killed, 6 seriously injured in Jerusalem as terrorists open fire on bus, pedestrians

 

Photo Courtesy Times Of Israel/Chaim Goldberg

In the civilized chaos that defines our modern reality, an ultra-Orthodox man—someone many would hurry to dismiss as detached from Israel’s battlefront—rose in defense of life. At the Ramot Junction bus stop, where two Palestinian gunmen opened fire in broad daylight, six people were killed and over twenty injured. But history turned its gaze in an unexpected direction. A  Haredi soldier and an armed civilian, identified as a Haredi man, neutralized the attackers.

There is a grim irony here: while today our community proved its willingness to defend, many within it still believe the opposite—rejecting conscription and labeling service as betrayal. But when crisis strikes, heroes emerge regardless of ideology or uniform. It’s time to ask: are we honoring those heroes, or are we betraying them with our silence?

Our nation has survived thanks to the unexpected defenders—warrior-yeshiva students, craftsmen turned security guards, battalions formed against existential threats. When we forget that legacy, we weaken our collective identity. Today’s act of courage is not an outlier; it is a call to remember. 

The Haredi man defied the dominant narrative: that Haredim are removed from national duty, that Torah and arms cannot coexist. 

It is worth reminding ourselves: Haredim were once soldiers. They fought for the walls of Jerusalem, for the shtetlach of Poland, for the survival of their families in forests and cellars, and later for the State of Israel itself. 

The tragedy of our time is that an entire community has been taught to forget its own story. The courage of their grandfathers is no longer seen as their inheritance. Yet history still whispers the truth: the Torah world has always produced warriors. And if destiny calls again, it can do so once more.

So how did the narrative shift? Partly it was survival strategy: the Chazon Ish, in the fledgling years of the State, sought to preserve the flame of Torah by carving out narrow exemptions for yeshiva men after the Holocaust. That temporary policy hardened into ideology. Over time, what began as an emergency measure evolved into a claim that army service and Torah are inherently incompatible. History, however, testifies otherwise.

Even in the earliest years of the State, the religious Zionist brigades like the “Netzah Yehuda” unit were overwhelmingly traditional. To speak of “Haredim do not fight” is to ignore entire battalions of Torah-observant Jews who fought in ’48, ’56, ’67, and ’73. 

Let no one dare say again, “Haredim don’t fight.” The bus stop in Ramot is the witness, and the dead are the testimony. May we never forget — and may we never again divide ourselves when the enemy is united against us.

 

 REPUBLISHED:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/am-yisrael-lives-because-jews-of-every-stripe-stood-together-today/

 

 

When A Briiliant Rabbi Is Too Smart To Be Appreciated By The Haredi Yeshiva World! Yehi Zichro Baruch! I encourage everyone to "YouTube" his videos (Jews Get It Free)

 Paraphrased -"My software converting my speech to text was anti-Semitic, every time I said the Prophets of Israel, it spelled "P-R-O-F-I-T-S". PM

 

Rabbi Berel Wein ZTL

No Opinion (excerpted From The Wein Press)

For the past few decades, I have written two articles every week for distribution in my synagogue and through the Destiny Foundation. One article has always been based upon the teachings and insights that one can derive from understanding and studying the Torah portion of the week that will be heard publicly in the Sabbath services.  

 

The other article was based upon my own personal thoughts and opinions concerning events, personalities, issues and societal controversies that were then under general discussion. Since everyone else had an opinion regarding these matters, I took the liberty of expressing my opinion as well. And the truth be said, I did have an opinion regarding almost every issue raised in Jewish and general society over the past number of decades. In fact, I so valued my opinions that I collected quite a number of them, edited them and then published them in a book entitled “In My Opinion…”. I was quite satisfied with the reception and distribution of this book, and I have received many comments regarding its contents. Needless to say, not everyone agreed with my opinions, but that never bothered me because deep down in my heart I always know that I am always right.

 

However, as my years have advanced and my eyesight has declined. it has become increasingly difficult for me to produce these two articles every week. It is not so much that I lack what to say as it is that I find it harder and harder to find the energy and the simple physical skills necessary to produce and write these articles. I therefore decided, beginning with this year's Torah cycle last month, that I would only produce the article about the Torah reading of the week and cease continue writing and producing the opinion article. The opinion article always was longer and, in many ways, much more difficult to write and produce. It always required heavier and more detailed editing because opinions are by their very nature controversial ideas and are about personal controversy, and I was always hesitant about my producing and publishing these types of articles. But nevertheless, the opinion articles flowed on for a number of decades. However, as I mentioned above, my energy level and my eyesight have declined over the past year, and I therefore resolved that I was no longer going to produce any opinion articles for general circulation.

 

Somewhat naïvely, I thought that this would pass relatively unnoticed. There is no shortage of printed material published by excellent writers and noted rabbinic scholars every week so I certainly felt safe in assuming that the opinion article that I wrote would not necessarily be noted as being missing. However, I was wrong because I received quite a number of messages from people demanding to know why I stopped sending them my weekly opinion article. In one sense, I am very flattered that apparently people have noted that my opinion article no longer appears. However, I have also been forced through the medium of this newsletter to apologize and explain why my opinion article no longer appears. Again, my friends, it is not for any lack of opinion that I do not publicly express my opinion any longer. It is simply that the process of writing it and distributing it has become difficult and burdensome to me. I long ago learned that when there is no longer any enthusiasm for the project at hand then it is wiser and safer to close down the project and let it rest on its previous laurels. So, I simply decided to close down the project of writing an opinion article every week. I am never happy to give up on a project but I have always prided myself on being practical and realistic and being able to say when enough is enough.

 

I had thought that when I no longer have to write about my opinion, I would have fewer opinions. 

 

However, this has not been the case. In fact, I am afraid that I have become even more opinionated than I was before when I was still writing an opinion article every week. It is simply human to have an opinion about everything that goes on around us. Life itself is little more than a series of incidents that lead to decisions that form the type of life that we live in general terms through the creation of the society in which we exist. There are very few individuals if any that have no opinions about the country and society in which they live, about the governmental leaders of that society and about their own personal goals, ambitions and plans.

 

 Sometimes our opinions are obvious to all and sometimes they are so delicate and sensitive that we ourselves don't quite recognize and appreciate them. They are certainly there, and they certainly guide and lead us in myriad ways, even if we do not acknowledge or understand their presence and importance. It may be possible to abstain in expressing one's opinion, from voting in an election process, from even acting upon one's own opinion, but I feel that it is almost impossible to say honestly that one has no opinion. We all have opinions on issues that matter even if we do not reveal them to others and sometimes we even stifle them within our own selves. So, I am certain that all of you are aware that even if I do not resume an opinion article every week for distribution, I still have opinions about the life and society that goes on around me. Advanced age serves as a stimulus for achievement in life goals, no matter what age we attain or infirmity that we may unfortunately suffer from. 

 

And as I write these words, the sneaking suspicion has crossed my mind that perhaps occasionally in the near future I will once again write about my opinion concerning the events and personalities of the time. Just as one should be able to say that enough is enough, one should also be able to say never say never.

https://www.rabbiwein.com/blog/post-2437

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/rabbi-berel-wein-ztl-the-rabbi-who-gave-the-jewish-people-their-story/

Full-Page Ad In The Jerusalem Post - “Instead of spending money to keep bochurim out of the army, let’s invest in finding ways to support their Torah learning while in the army.

 

The Abraham Accords Were Never More Than A Trump Photo-Op!

 

West Bank annexation could end Israeli normalization hopes, Saudi crown prince warns - KAN

 

This comes after a similar warning from the UAE, which stated that any annexation would be a red flag that could lead his country to exit the Abraham Accords.

Israel’s annexation of the West Bank would end any chance of normalization, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) said on Saturday, according to a report by Israeli public broadcaster, KAN News.

MBS's comments came during a meeting with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) in Riyadh, according to the report.

MBZ previously issued a similar warning, stating that any annexation would be a "red flag" that could lead to the Gulf country exiting the Abraham Accords.

The two leaders agreed in Riyadh that if Israel moves forward with West Bank annexation, then withdrawal from the Abraham Accords would be a real possibility, according to a source in the Saudi royal family cited by KAN.

The source added that annexation would also kill the chances of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He further noted that by taking such steps, Israel is playing into the hands of Iran and Hamas, whose interest is to block ties between Israel and Arab states.

 

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L), President of the United Arab Emirates, stands for a photograph with Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz (R), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia September 3, 2025. 

 

UAE, Saudi Arabia push for a Palestinian State

 

The report also specified how Saudi Arabia’s endgame goal seems to be the recognition of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution to the conflict.

On Wednesday, MBZ wrote on X/Twitter: "In these challenging times, the UAE sends a clear message: annexation is a red line, and peace through a two-state solution must remain the path forward."

The Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the UAE in 2020, were signed on the basis that Israel would forgo applying sovereignty in the West Bank in exchange for normalized relations.

Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan are also signatories to the accords, which were signed during the first term of the Trump administration.

 

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-866569?