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How Germany’s New Leader Can Make History

Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Friedrich Merz speaks at the party headquarters, after the exit poll results are announced for the 2025 general election, in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth

JNS.orgThe Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant observed that “out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.” Kant’s point was that human actions and the history they create are too complicated and too replete with contradictions to allow for utopian thinking or cast-iron predictions. The latest illustration of that dictum comes in the form of Friedrich Merz, the victor in last week’s German election and the new chancellor in waiting.

Eighty years after the defeat of Adolf Hitler and Germany’s Nazi Party, can it really be said that the leader of a country that conquered Europe, subjugated its nations and murdered its Jews now offers the best hope for the future of the continent, and thereby the rest of the world? Based on Merz’s past record and the promises he made during the election campaign, the answer has to be a tentative “yes.”

Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won 208 seats—well short of the 316-seat majority needed to form a government outright but within realistic sight of a coalition government. For now, Merz is focused on parliamentary horse-trading, opening coalition negotiations with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), whose share of the vote tumbled to just 16.4%—its worst performance for well over 100 years. Extremist parties also performed strongly, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) leaping into second place above the SPD, and the Left Party, rooted in the former Communist regime in East Germany, coming fourth with nearly 9% of the vote.

If he can’t pull off forming a government with the SPD, Merz will be under pressure to open talks with the AfD, despite his pledge to retain the “Brandmauer” (“firewall”) that has kept the far right out of government in postwar Germany. That prospect may result in the SPD becoming more malleable in negotiations than they otherwise might be.

Once he begins the business of governing, Merz may well find that foreign policy occupies much of his attention, as well as sets the tone for how future generations will remember him. As this century reaches its quarter mark, Merz is assuming the chancellor’s office during a time of profound change for Europe. All indications are that the transatlantic relationship that formed the basis of the world order after 1945 is rapidly unraveling. After being forcibly pulled into World War II—only to emerge as Europe’s main security guarantor during the Cold War—the United States under President Donald Trump is pivoting towards Asia and the Pacific.

As shocked as European leaders say they are by Trump’s move, it’s been a long time in coming. During the twilight of his first term, former President Barack Obama told the Australian parliament that the “United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay.” Events over the last decade and a half—trade wars with China, the future of Taiwan, the threat presented by North Korea—underline that a good deal of merit underlies such a pivot. If the United States has to choose a region to prioritize, especially now, with ever-depleting resources and a public that is tired of foreign wars, it won’t be Europe.

Here is where Merz can make a real difference. Despite the estimate of the German commentator Jörg Lau that there is “hardly a more pro-American politician in Germany” than Merz, the incoming chancellor offered a matter-of-fact response to the signals from Trump that Europe’s privileged relationship with America is coming to an end. “It is clear that [the Trump administration] does not care much about the fate of Europe,” Merz declared during a televised debate. As much as that sounds like scolding, it might be better understood as the voice of a politician sniffing out a historic opportunity.

Merz has declared that achieving “independence from the US” in defense matters is his explicit aim. He is pushing for Germany’s defense budget to be boosted by more than $200 billion—no doubt an example Trump would urge other European leaders to follow. Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, who also sits on the center-right, are leading a push for European nations to take charge of their own defense, warmly citing Poland as a case of a government that has made this a priority, bolstering its defense spending in 2025 to nearly $50 billion.

As daunting as this task will be, it will yield more concrete results than an endless, fruitless debate with a White House that has so far taken a much more benign view of Russia than that found in European capitals. Trump may deem that Moscow is not a threat to Washington—at least not in territorial terms—but it remains the greatest single threat facing Europe. There is much to prevent Russian dictator Vladimir Putin from pushing his forces beyond Ukraine, not least his country’s faltering economy and the eye-watering human cost of his illegal, brutal invasion of his southern neighbor, but any European leader who believes that he will stop there is a fool. Indeed, if Trump does secure a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, Putin could well see that as a golden chance to regroup and rearm his forces. The challenge for Merz is to be ready for that eventuality and to be prepared to respond to any further Russian aggression with the use of force, with or without the United States.

A militarily strong Europe with Germany at its center (words that would have been unthinkable for most of the postwar era!) would be good news for Ukraine and other states in Russia’s sights. It would also be good news for Israel.

One of Merz’s first acts after winning the election was to announce that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was welcome to visit Germany without fearing that the arrest warrant issued for him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague would be executed on German soil, something the previous government of SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz wavered on.

Merz has also stated that Germany’s relationship with the Jewish state created from the ashes of the Nazi Holocaust is “unique—no ifs or buts.” Following the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Merz said that Palestinian asylum seekers would not be welcome in Germany because his country “already has too many antisemites.” He will also take a tougher stance on Iran, having already criticized current German policy as “characterized by the idea of a cooperative government in Tehran” and declaring “this illusion has to be abandoned.”

Merz could, therefore, shape himself into a European leader without precedent: a Reaganite conservative and admirer of American democracy who nonetheless knows that the writing is on the wall as regards U.S. engagement with Europe. If that is the path he follows, we would be wise to hope that he succeeds.

The post How Germany’s New Leader Can Make History first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Examining Three Remarkable Women From Jewish History in These Turbulent Times

A Torah scroll. Photo: RabbiSacks.org.

Anyone interested in history will know that the Yalta Conference was a meeting between the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union that took place in February 1945 towards the end of the Second World War. There is a famous photograph of Roosevelt and Stalin sitting next to an unhappy Winston Churchill, who realized he was being marginalized. As we now know, Stalin suckered Roosevelt into believing him to be someone that could be worked with, when he was actually a murderous fanatic. And it seems so far that Putin is going to sucker Trump over Ukraine, and I fear Iran will too.

Like Roosevelt, Trump wants a deal. But as Barack Obama has shown, naive appeasement is the road to disaster. Only time will tell if the case with Iran is going to be another example.

But here, by way of distraction, I am writing about a person. This Yalta was a distinguished lady from a noble and wealthy family who lived in Babylon between the end of the Second and the Third centuries. She had a strong sense of self-worth, and self-confidence in an era of almost total male dominance. She was, according to Rashi, the daughter of the Exilarch, the head of the Jewish community in Babylon. She was familiar with Jewish law. But she had a temper. When she thought she was being slighted, she smashed four hundred barrels of wine after a guest offended her and women in general (TB Brachot 51b.)

Yalta showed her expertise in kashrut matters. In a debate that hinted at current questions of what constitutes meat if it is produced artificially, she asked her husband about kosher food that would taste like meat cooked in milk. She argued the halachic case expertly. And he accepted the argument (TB Chullin 109b). She also argued the law in other matters such as purity.

Yalta was a doctor too. She personally took Rav Amram to the bathhouse to soak in hot water for a cure when he was stricken with an unknown disease (TB Gittin 67b). And she offered her husband counsel on how to deal with someone who was arguing with him disrespectfully (TB Kidushin 70b). Perhaps these were not in themselves major issues — but they were indicative of her importance in that society, where the only chance women had beyond the home depended either on independent wealth or a compliant husband.

The more famous Talmudic woman however, was Bruria, the daughter of the saintly Chaninah Ben Teradion (an outstanding scholar, from a very wealthy family and martyred by the Romans). She was the wife of Rebbi Meir, who lived in Israel during the second century CE. He is the third most frequently mentioned rabbi in the Mishnah.

She was admired for her breadth of knowledge. She was said to have learned 300 laws from the rabbis on a single cloudy day (TB Pesachim 62b) and was happy to challenge rabbis she thought less knowledgeable than she was. She was also renowned for her sharp wit and often caustic jibes, attacking males for underestimating women. Rebbi Meir was sorely troubled by local louts and prayed that they should die. Bruria argued that he should rather pray that evil disappear. Not people.

The third important woman is Rav Chisda’s daughter. Her actual name is never mentioned. She was gifted with the power of prophecy. She predicted her marriage to her father’s two students (consecutively). First, she was the wife of the Rami Bar Chama, and after his death she married Rava (both were Amoraim of the third generation). She is mentioned many times in the Talmud and commentaries in the Talmud and its commentaries only as “the daughter of Rav Chisda.” The Talmud (TB Bava Batra 12b) says she sat on her father’s lap as he taught Torah in the academy and taught her and her sisters Torah and laws, personally. There were rabbis in those days and later who recognized the value of female scholarship and empowerment — even in times when the rest of the world resolutely refused to encourage it.

Right now, we need people who demonstrate leadership through creativity and flexibility. Most are being silenced by the plague of conformity and the fear of stepping out of line. But the reality is that more and more women within the Orthodox world are studying to the highest levels and making their mark. There are signs of their campaigning to achieve political power too. More power to their elbows (so long as they are covered of course)! You can’t keep a good woman down forever. And more young men are volunteering to serve in the army.

Trump seems to have learnt the lesson of Yalta. But will his natural desire for a long-term deal end up with his being suckered by Iran’s ideology of deceit to achieve victory? Time will tell. Meanwhile, I pray Israel will take a long hard look at its divisive politics.

The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.

The post Examining Three Remarkable Women From Jewish History in These Turbulent Times first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Battling to Survive, Hamas Faces Defiant Clans and Doubts Over Iran

Hamas terrorists carry grenade launchers at the funeral of Marwan Issa, a senior Hamas deputy military commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the conflict between Israel and Hamas, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip, Feb. 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Short of commanders, deprived of much of its tunnel network, and unsure of support from its ally Iran, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is battling to survive in Gaza in the face of rebellious local clans and relentless Israeli military pressure.

Hamas fighters are operating autonomously under orders to hold out as long as possible, but the Islamist group is struggling to maintain its grip as Israel openly backs tribes opposing it, three sources close to Hamas said.

With a humanitarian crisis in Gaza intensifying international pressure for a ceasefire, Hamas badly needs a pause in the fighting, one of the people said.

Not only would a ceasefire offer respite to weary Gazans, who are growing increasingly critical of Hamas, but it would also allow the Islamist group to crush rogue elements, including some clans and looters who have been stealing aid, the person said.

To counter the immediate threat, Hamas has sent some of its top fighters to kill one rebellious leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, but so far he has remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area held by Israeli troops, according to two Hamas sources and two other sources familiar with the situation.

Reuters spoke to 16 sources including people close to Hamas, Israeli security sources, and diplomats who painted a picture of a severely weakened group, retaining some sway and operational capacity in Gaza despite its setbacks, but facing stiff challenges.

Hamas is still capable of landing blows: it killed seven Israeli soldiers in an attack in southern Gaza on Tuesday. But three diplomats in the Middle East said intelligence assessments showed it had lost its centralized command and control and was reduced to limited, surprise attacks.

An Israeli military official estimated Israel had killed 20,000 or more Hamas fighters and destroyed or rendered unusable hundreds of miles of tunnels under the coastal strip. Much of Gaza has been turned to rubble in 20 months of conflict.

One Israeli security source said the average age of Hamas fighters was “getting lower by the day.” Israeli security sources say Hamas is recruiting from hundreds of thousands of impoverished, unemployed, displaced young men.

Hamas does not disclose how many of its fighters have died.

“They’re hiding because they are being instantly hit by planes, but they appear here and there, organizing queues in front of bakeries, protecting aid trucks, or punishing criminals,” said Essam, 57 a construction worker in Gaza City.

“They’re not like before the war, but they exist.”

Asked for comment for this story, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the group was working for an agreement to end the war with Israel but “surrender is not an option.”

Hamas remained committed to negotiations and was “ready to release all prisoners at once,” he said, referring to Israeli hostages, but it wanted the killing to stop and Israel to withdraw.

‘IT DOESN’T LOOK GOOD’

Hamas is a shadow of the group that attacked Israel in 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostages. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas.

The damage inflicted by Israel is unlike anything Hamas has suffered since its creation, with most of its top military commanders in Gaza killed. Founded in 1987, Hamas had gradually established itself as the main rival of the Fatah faction led by President Mahmoud Abbas and finally seized Gaza from his control in 2007.

With a US-brokered truce in the Iran-Israel war holding, attention has switched back to the possibility of a Gaza deal that might end the conflict and release the remaining hostages.

One of the people close to Hamas told Reuters it would welcome a truce, even for a couple of months, to confront the local clans that are gaining influence.

But he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s terms for ending the war – including Hamas leaders leaving Gaza – would amount to total defeat, and Hamas would never surrender.

“We keep the faith, but in reality it doesn’t look good,” the source said.

Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said he believed Hamas was simply trying to survive. That was not just a physical challenge of holding out militarily, he said, but above all a political one.

“They face being eliminated on the ground in Gaza if the war doesn’t stop, but they also face being erased from any governing formula that ends the war in Gaza (if such a thing can be found),” he wrote in response to Reuters’ questions.

Palestinian tribes have emerged as part of Israel’s strategy to counter Hamas. Netanyahu has said publicly that Israel has been arming clans that oppose Hamas, but has not said which.

One of the most prominent challenges has come from Abu Shabab, a Palestinian Bedouin based in the Rafah area, which is under Israeli control.

Hamas wants Abu Shabab captured, dead or alive, accusing him of collaboration with Israel and planning attacks on the terrorist group, three Hamas sources told Reuters.

Abu Shabab controls eastern Rafah and his group is believed to have freedom of movement in the wider Rafah area. Images on their Facebook page show their armed men organizing the entry of aid trucks from the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Announcements by his group indicate that it is trying to build an independent administration in the area, though they deny trying to become a governing authority. The group has called on people from Rafah now in other areas of Gaza to return home, promising food and shelter.

In response to Reuters’ questions, Abu Shabab’s group denied getting support from Israel or contacts with the Israeli army, describing itself as a popular force protecting humanitarian aid from looting by escorting aid trucks.

It accused Hamas of violence and muzzling dissent.

A Hamas security official said the Palestinian security services would “strike with an iron fist to uproot the gangs of the collaborator Yasser Abu Shabab,” saying they would show no mercy or hesitation and accusing him of being part of “an effort to create chaos and lawlessness.”

Not all of Gaza’s clans are at odds with Hamas, however.

On Thursday, a tribal alliance said its men had protected aid trucks from looters in northern Gaza. Sources close to Hamas said the group had approved of the alliance’s involvement.

Israel said Hamas fighters had in fact commandeered the trucks, which both the clans and Hamas denied.

IRAN UNCERTAINTY

Palestinian analyst Akram Attallah said the emergence of Abu Shabab was a result of the weakness of Hamas, though he expected him to fail ultimately because Palestinians broadly reject any hint of collaboration with Israel.

Nevertheless, regardless of how small Abu Shabab’s group is, the fact Hamas has an enemy from the same culture was dangerous, he said. “It remains a threat until it is dealt with.”

Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran has added to the uncertainties facing Hamas. Tehran’s backing for Hamas played a big part in developing its armed wing into a force capable of shooting missiles deep into Israel.

While both Iran and Israel have claimed victory, Netanyahu on Sunday indicated the Israeli campaign against Tehran had further strengthened his hand in Gaza, saying it would “help us expedite our victory and the release of all our hostages.”

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that great progress was being made on Gaza, adding that the strike on Iran would help get the hostages released.

A Palestinian official close to Hamas said the group was weighing the risk of diminished Iranian backing, anticipating “the impact will be on the shape of funding and the expertise Iran used to give to the resistance and Hamas.”

One target of Israel’s campaign in Iran was a Revolutionary Guards officer who oversaw coordination with Hamas. Israel said Saeed Izadi, whose death it announced on Saturday, was the driving force behind the IranHamas axis.

Hamas extended condolences to Iran on Thursday, calling Izadi a friend who was directly responsible for ties with “the leadership of the Palestinian resistance.”

A source from an Iran-backed group in the region said Izadi helped develop Hamas capabilities, including how to carry out complex attacks, including rocket launches, infiltration operations, and drones.

Asked about how the Israeli campaign against Iran might affect its support for Hamas, Abu Zuhri said Iran was a large and powerful country that would not be defeated.

The post Battling to Survive, Hamas Faces Defiant Clans and Doubts Over Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Strikes Targeting Hezbollah Pummel South Lebanon Hilltops

Smoke billows from the Nabatieh district, following Israeli strikes, as seen from Marjayoun, in southern Lebanon, June 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Karamallah Daher

More than a dozen Israeli air strikes battered a row of hilltops in southern Lebanon on Friday, security sources said, with the Israeli military saying it had attacked a damaged military site that terrorist group Hezbollah was seeking to restore.

The simultaneous strikes hit a mountainous strip near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, according to the Lebanese security sources, who said Iran-backed Hezbollah likely still had arms depots there. There was no immediate comment from the Islamist group.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets had attacked a site used to manage Hezbollah’s “fire and defense system.” It said the site was destroyed in last year’s war but that Hezbollah was attempting to resume activities there in breach of the November truce that ended the conflict.

Lebanon‘s President Joseph Aoun on Friday fired the same accusation back at Israel, saying it was continually violating the US-brokered ceasefire deal by keeping up strikes on Lebanon.

The ceasefire deal stipulates that southern Lebanon must be free of any non-state arms or fighters, Israeli troops must leave southern Lebanon as Lebanese troops deploy there. and all fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border must stop.

Israeli troops remain in at least five posts within Lebanese territory and its air force regularly kills rank-and-file Hezbollah members or people affiliated with the group.

The post Israeli Strikes Targeting Hezbollah Pummel South Lebanon Hilltops first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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