SHABBAT READING:
The Scouts’ Report: From Rhetoric to Demagoguery: Dr. Sarah Schwartz, The Torah.com, June 24, 2022— When the scouts return from traversing the land, they display the cluster of grapes they brought with them, and offer a report that initially sounds positive:
Num 13:27 …We came to the land you sent us to; it does indeed flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
But the report quickly turns sour:
ב Num 13:28 However, the people who inhabit the country are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw Anakites (or “giants”) there. 13:29 Amalekites dwell in the Negeb region; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites inhabit the hill country; and Canaanites dwell by the Sea and along the Jordan.
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NO NEGOTIATIONS POSSIBLE
WATCH: Melanie Phillips: Israel, Iran and the Global Struggle Against Barbarism | The Brendan O’Neill Show: Spiked, YouTube, June 19, 2025 — Times columnist Melanie Phillips returns to The Brendan O’Neill Show to discuss Israel’s audacious strikes on Iran, the fanaticism of the Iranian regime, and why Israel is the best contender for leader of the free world.
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Isolationists Relitigate the Iraq War to Let Iran Go Nuclear: Jonathan S. Tobin, JNS, June 19, 2025
MAGA’s Misguided Isolationists: Editorial Board, WSJ, June 19, 2025
The 5 Groups Hoping to Sway Trump on Iran: Phillip Elliot, TIME, June 18, 2025
What Did U.S. Intelligence Agencies Know About Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program While Telling Us Iran Was Not Building a Nuclear Weapon?: Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, June 19, 2025
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For Further Reference
Israeli Strikes on Iran Divide Trump’s Coalition, Pitting Hawks Against Isolationists: Times of Israel, June 13, 2025 — Establishment Republicans have backed Israel’s strikes on Iran, but the crisis is forcing US President Donald Trump to walk a political tightrope between the hawks in his base and the isolationists who helped sweep him to power.
Ted Cruz Defends AIPAC From ‘Foreign Influence’ Claims, Accuses Tucker Carlson of ‘Antisemitism’: Corey Walker, Algemeiner, June 18, 2025 — US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) forcefully defended the role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in domestic politics, arguing in a newly released interview with well-known far-right provocateur Tucker Carlson that the group does not operate as a “foreign agent” on behalf of the Jewish State.
Trump’s Rebuke of MAGA Isolationists Is Smart Foreign Policy. We Must Stop Iran. | Opinion: Dace Potus, USA Today, June 19, 2025 — President Donald Trump on June 16 called out fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson by his new nickname, “kooky Tucker Carlson,” who has called Trump “complicit” in Israel’s strikes against Iran.
GOP Hawks Clash With MAGA Isolationists as Trump Contemplates Next Steps in Iran: Sarah Ferris, CNN, June 17, 2025 — As President Donald Trump prepared to leave the G7 summit a day early amid an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, he dialed up his go-to national security confidant Sen. Lindsey Graham — who’s also one of the GOP’s most vocal war hawks.