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Some thoughts on Netanyahu’s speech before Congress – and the Jewish Federation allocations to agencies
By BERNIE BELLAN After just having watched Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, I’m left wondering – as are probably most pundits, just who it was that Netanyahu was trying to reach?
There certainly wasn’t anything new in what he had to say. He offered his oft-repeated litany of warnings about the dangers posed by Iran and its surrogates in the Middle East and insisted that Israel will continue its war in Gaza until it has achieved its aims.
By now though, Netanyahu has backed down from his initial goal of “totally eradicating” Hamas to instead pressing for the removal of Hamas from power – to be replaced by some sort of Palestinian civilian administration (of course, without even giving a hint of which Palestinians could be expected to form that administration).
The timing of Netanyahu’s appearance before Congress was indeed strange. No doubt, he expected to be coming to America when President Biden was still determined to continue his hopeless quest to defeat Donald Trump, so Netanyahu was for sure anticipating that he could coddle up to a soon-to-be-elected President Trump by issuing heaps of praise in his speech for how much Trump had done for Israel.
There have been many reports that even Netanyahu – who has bent over backwards to flatter as supreme a narcissist as Donald Trump, had angered Trump when he issued congratulations to President Biden over his winning the 2020 election. (Anyone who refused to go along with Trump’s insistence that the election was stolen ended up on the wrong side of Trump.) Netanyahu’s coming to the US was meant largely to patch up those damaged feelings – especially when until Sunday, July 20, it seemed all but certain that Trump was headed to victory this coming November.
Then that darned Biden had to go and throw all of Netanyahu’s calculations into the dumpster. Now, instead of being able to offer a non-stop series of remarks intended to flatter the man who was all but certain headed to a sweeping victory in November, Netanyahu had to modulate his speech to also thank President Biden for the strong support he had shown Israel since October 7. Better to keep one foot in the Democrats’ camp too, Netanyahu realized.
Still, will Netanyahu’s speech make any difference at all in the coming US election? Not at all. Anyone who knows Trump understands that he really could care less about the Middle East – unless there’s money to be made for the Trump organization there.
What about Trump’s much ballyhooed “deal of the century,” which he kept talking about back when he was President – and on which his son-in-law Jared Kushner was working (quite constructively, I’ll admit) to bring about a larger peace deal that would have included Saudi Arabia, but which also got stuck on the thorny issue of creating a Palestinian state? Is there any likelihood that a Trump administration would want to revisit that plan? Not while Netanyahu and the right-wing fanatics who are keeping him in power are still calling the shots.
While the Republican Party is sure to give staunch support to Israel – no matter who is in charge in Israel, what can be said about the Democrats?
Kamala Harris is likely to try and steer clear of enunciating any kind of clear policies when it comes to providing support for Israel. Sure, she’ll repeat the standard mantra of America standing behind Israel, but when it comes to translating that policy into concrete action, I expect that Harris will bob and weave. The mere announcement that Biden was dropping his determination to remain in the presidential race – thus leaving the floor clear for Harris to step into the role as candidate, led to a huge torrent of support from among American Jews for Harris.
So, if Harris can count on the roughly 80% of American Jews who voted for Biden in 2020 to come around again – what does that mean for her working to gain back some other constituencies who had lost interest in voting for Biden? Are Arab Americans in Michigan – where they form a sizeable group of voters, now likely to return to the Democrat fold? We’ll have to wait for polls to tell us how likely that is – and just how much Harris’s entering the race instead of Biden will have narrowed the fairly large gap that existed between Trump and Biden. I rather tend to think that Harris will be able to continue building momentum and that the 5% of Americans who, to this point, have remained undecided about which presidential candidate they will vote for will largely swing her way. On top of that, large numbers of voters who indicated they would vote for Trump – largely because they found him less unattractive than Biden, will begin to switch over to Harris.
And, where does that leave Netanyahu and his Machiavellian calculations? Based on what has happened to date, when he has consistently torpedoed deals that would have led to a cease fire, he is likely simply to procrastinate – which will keep him in good stead with those two right wing fanatics who are propping him up: Smotrich and Ben Gvir.
Switching gears – there will be many interesting stories in the days to come on this website about different members of our Jewish community – both current and former – in particular, stories that Myron Love has written about relatively young members of our community who have stepped up to assume leadership roles, including brothers Harley and Bradley Abells, Jonathan Strauss, and Elena Grinshteyn. (So, if you’re reading this on July 24, keep an eye out for new stories soon to appear.)
I have to add a note of caution though – which I’m prone to doing when it comes to discussing the long term health of our Jewish community. And that note emanates from my own report on allocations to the beneficiary agencies of the Jewish Federation in this issue.
As I observe in my story about those allocations, while the total amount to be distributed has remained fairly constant the past two years, it is somewhat lower than what it was three and four years ago, and when inflation is taken into account, it is far less than what it was 10 years ago.
While the Combined Jewish Appeal has been successful in realizing its goals each year for the past many years, again, when inflation is taken into account, what the community is raising relative to what it raised 10 years ago is far less.
But, as I’ve also noted in my reports about the Jewish Foundation each year that it announces the total value of grants it has distributed, it is the Foundation that has been very much stepping into the breech between what the needs of the community are and what has been raised by the Combined Jewish Appeal.
This past year the Foundation distributed just under $7 million in grants. That was also approximately how much the Foundation distributed the previous year, but it was a huge increase from just two years prior (2020) when the Foundation distributed a little over $5 million in grants.
And, as I reported in the July 3 issue, the Foundation is now committed to distributing 5% of the total value of its investment portfolio next year. Considering that the portfolio is now valued at over $160 million, that means the Foundation is likely to distribute over $8 million in grants in the coming year. Add to that the fact that the Foundation continues to receive a very large number of contributions each year ($5.8 million this past year), and the Foundation has become the bedrock of the financial sustainability of our Jewish community. Where would be without the Jewish Foundation? I’d hate to think.
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Dutch Arrest 15 Suspected of Spreading Islamic State Propaganda on TikTok
Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.
Fifteen people were arrested in the Netherlands on Tuesday on suspicion of spreading propaganda for Islamic State on TikTok and trying to persuade people to commit terrorist attacks, Dutch prosecutors said.
The arrests were triggered by a TikTok account that spread large amounts of IS propaganda with Dutch subtitles, the prosecutors said.
The TikTok posts, some with more than 100,000 views, encouraged people to join Islamic State and glorified becoming a martyr for the violent Islamist group, they said.
Thirteen of the suspects are Syrian, and four have Dutch nationality, prosecutors said, implying that some were dual nationals. Four are minors.
The suspects, aged 16 to 53, were detained in raids across the Netherlands, following the arrest last month of a person who the prosecutors said was the main suspect.
TikTok is owned by China’s Bytedance.
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US Used Mobile Launchers for Missiles at Qatar Base as Iran Tensions Rose, Satellite Pictures Show
Satellite image shows F-15E, A-10 Thunderbolt, and C-130 Hercules at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, in Al Azraq, Jordan, Feb. 2, 2026. Photo: 2026 PLANET LABS PBC/Handout via REUTERS
US forces in Qatar‘s al-Udeid, the biggest US base in the Middle East, put missiles into truck launchers as tensions with Iran ratcheted up since January, analysis of satellite images showed, meaning they could be moved more quickly.
The decision to keep the Patriot missiles in mobile trucks rather than semi-static launcher stations — meaning they could rapidly deploy to strike or be moved defensively in case of an Iranian attack — shows how risks heightened as frictions grew.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, its backing for allied terrorist groups in the Middle East, and crushing of internal dissent, though talks to avert a war continue.
There are also US bases in Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkey, and on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards have warned that in case of strikes on Iranian territory, they could retaliate against any US base.
A comparison of satellite photographs in early February with those taken in January shows a recent build-up of aircraft and other military equipment across the region, said William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground.
At al-Udeid, the Patriot missiles were visible parked mounted into M983 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) at the start of February, Goodhind said.
“The decision to do so gives the Patriots much greater mobility, meaning they can be moved to an alternative site or repositioned with greater speed,” he said.
It was not clear on Tuesday whether the missiles were still in the HEMTTs.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon was not immediately available for comment.
Iran says it has replenished its missile stocks after two weeks of conflict last summer when Israel bombed its nuclear facilities and some other military targets, a campaign that the United States joined late on.
Iran has underground missile complexes near Tehran, as well as at Kermanshah, Semnan and near the Gulf coast.
The Iranian naval drone carrier IRIS Shahid Bagheri was visible in satellite photographs on Jan. 27 at sea some 5 km from Bandar Abbas. It was also visible near Bandar Abbas on February 10.
Here are changes at US Middle East bases observed in satellite pictures:
AL-UDEID, QATAR:
Images from February 1 showed an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, three C-130 Hercules aircraft, 18 KC 135 Stratotankers, and seven C-17s. On Jan. 17 there had been 14 Stratotankers and two C-17s.
Up to 10 MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems were parked in HEMTTs.
MUWAFFAQ, JORDAN:
Images from Feb. 2 of one location in Muwaffaq showed 17 F15-E strike aircraft, 8 A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, four C-130s, and four unidentified helicopters. Images from Jan. 16 were low resolution and it was not possible to identify all aircraft there.
Feb. 2 images of a second location in Muwaffaq showed a C-17 and a C-130, as well as four EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. Pictures of that location on Jan. 25 had not shown any aircraft.
OTHER BASES:
At Prince Sultan base in Saudi Arabia, images on Feb. 2 showed a C-5 Galaxy and a C-17 aircraft. Images on Dec. 6 showed five aircraft that appeared to be C-130s.
Satellite images from Feb. 6 showed seven more aircraft than had been observed on Jan. 31 at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Images taken on Jan. 25 and Feb. 10 showed an increase in aircraft at Dukhan base in Oman.
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US Vice President Vance’s Office Backtracks After Statement on ‘Armenian Genocide’
US Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media before boarding Air Force Two upon departure for Azerbaijan, at Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, Armenia, Feb. 10, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Pool
The White House on Tuesday deleted a post from Vice President JD Vance’s account that commemorated massacres of Armenians as a “genocide,” saying the message that was likely to irk US-allied Turkey was posted in error.
Vance, who was on a two-day trip to Armenia, visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan during the first-ever visit by a US vice president to the South Caucasus republic.
There, he and wife Usha Vance participated in a ceremonial laying of a wreath of carnations, chrysanthemums, and roses at the site, which honors the 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives in the final years of the Turkish-led Ottoman Empire.
Vance’s official account on X later described the visit as designed “to honor the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide.”
After that post was deleted, a Vance aide who declined to be named said the message was posted in error by staff who were not part of the traveling delegation.
“This is an account managed by staff that primarily exists to share photos and videos of the Vice President’s activities,” said a spokesperson for Vance, referring to his own comments, which did not include the phrase “genocide.”
TRUMP’S TIES TO TURKEY
Turkey is a NATO ally of the United States and President Tayyip Erdogan has maintained close ties with President Donald Trump, including supporting the US diplomatic initiative on Gaza.
Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, but contests the figures and denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.
Although the US Congress and Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, have both recognized the 1915 massacres as a genocide, Trump avoided that language in his own statement on the killings last year.
The social media deletion came four days after the White House defended, and then deleted, a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes posted to Trump’s Truth Social account.
Trump later told reporters that he had not watched the entire video before a White House aide posted it to his account.
Asked by a reporter whether his visit to the memorial was intended to recognize a genocide, Vance said, “Obviously, it’s a very terrible thing that happened little over 100 years ago, and something that was just very, very important to them culturally.”
“So, I thought out of a sign of respect, both for the victims, but also for the Armenian government that’s been a very important partner for us in the region, to Prime Minister Pashinyan, I wanted to go and pay a visit and pay my respects.”
Vance’s visit was aimed at promoting agreements the Trump administration struck with Armenia and Azerbaijan to build toward peace after nearly 40 years of war between the Caucasus rivals. Trump has presented those diplomatic efforts as among the chief accomplishments of his time in office.
In Armenia, Vance signed a deal with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that could pave the way for the US to build a nuclear power plant there.
On Tuesday, he traveled to Azerbaijan and signed a strategic partnership deal encompassing economic and security cooperation, as Washington seeks to expand its influence in a region where Russia was once the main power broker.