Wise of HM عبدالله بن الحسين of #Jordan to send his government’s talented and capable PM جعفر حسّان to Washington to serve as point person to advance and expand the Hashemite kingdom’s bilateral ties with the US.

As someone involved in establishing this position long ago, I can say its elimination would be seriously ill advised. Strongly encourage Secretary Marco Rubio to consult IDF and others to better understand how this role is vital in seriously contributing to Israeli and Palestinian security.

Very saddened at the passing of Stanley Fischer. A remarkable man and a remarkable mind, he lived a remarkable life. Not only was he truly brilliant, but he was also profoundly decent. May his memory be a blessing. reuters.com/business/finan…

Will France recognise Palestinian statehood at UN conference next week? with Karim Emile Bitar Rym Momtaz ريم ممتاز (rmomtaz.bsky.social) Robert Danin Yossi Beilin and Max Rodenbeck #PalestinianRights #Israel thenationalnews.com/news/us/2025/0…

Is Trump trying to help Bibi or engineer his political departure? It’s not clear to me which.

An insightful and informative discussion between Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps and @rachelabramsny on the perceptions from within Israel and its media on what is happening in Gaza. It’s also a great listen. ⬇️

A passionate, compassionate, and thoughtful cris de coeur from a friend of Israel offering a comprehensive critique of its deeply flawed path: nytimes.com/2025/08/03/opi…

I thought MAGA was all about respecting sovereignty & not interfering or telling other countries how to run their own affairs? news.sky.com/story/jd-vance…

This is astounding: Ben Gvir visits & films long-jailed Marwan Barghouti in his solitary confinement cell. Quite an acknowledgement of Barghouti’s continued symbolic importance to the Palestinian nationalist movement (and to Israeli adversaries) even after 23 years incarceration

Delegation accompanying POTUS to meet Putin is curious in a number of ways: 1. The remarkably large number of top officials. 2. The inclusion of both Sec. Bessent & Sec. Lutnick. 3. The absence of DNI Gabbard.

Of course the IDF should withdraw from Lebanon. But Barrack & the Admin should leverage that step to press for parallel compliance and implementation from both sides. Otherwise, Hezbollah will never disarm and the incentive for Lebanon to act diminishes. timesofisrael.com/us-envoy-israe…

This is a dramatic shift in US policy since Bush '43 & every successive administration that have opposed building in E-1, seeing it as nearly fatally precluding a future contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank. middleeastmonitor.com/20250820-us-wo…

Can we get this practice against ‘sodcasting’ and ‘headphone dodgers’ adopted in the US? London Asks Commuters, ‘Please Put Your Headphones In, Thank You’ nytimes.com/2025/08/26/wor…

This would be a rather remarkable development which I’ve not seen previously reported. Could you please provide the names of these top Israeli security officials, Mr Kristof, or perhaps links to reliable reporting on this? Would be grateful. Nicholas Kristof

This is clearly not the Platonic Ideal: Texas A&M, Under New Curriculum Limits, Warns Professor Not to Teach Plato nytimes.com/2026/01/07/us/… via @NYTimes

Kind shout-out by Daniel Estrin on Morning Edition for my characterization of Trump’s Board of Peace as a US-led International Trusteeship for Gaza. NPR npr.org/2026/01/19/nx-…