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Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday to give support and address humanitarian concerns
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden will visit Israel during wartime to hear in person about its strategy as its conflict with Hamas intensifies, and to press for humanitarian relief for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In a snap call with reporters on Monday night, John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, outlined Biden’s plan for a one-day visit on Wednesday to Tel Aviv, where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president will also head to Amman, Jordan, where he meet with King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
“The president will reaffirm our solidarity with Israel and he will look forward to getting an update from Israeli officials about about their strategy and the pace of their military operations and certainly expect to hear from Israel what they believe they need to continue to defend their people,” Kirby said.
Since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,300 Israelis, wounding thousands and taking 200 captive, Biden has been unstinting in his support for Israel but has indicated concern that Israel has yet to set parameters for the counterattack, other than destroying Hamas. Israeli airstrikes have killed some 2,750 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry.
“We must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas’s appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them,” Biden said in a post Sunday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He has also said it would be a “big mistake” for Israel to reoccupy Gaza.
It is rare for a president to visit a country at war when U.S. troops are not involved, though this will be Biden’s second such trip this year, after traveling to Ukraine in February. Rockets fired from Gaza, and to a lesser extent from Lebanon, continue to rain down in Israel. Hours before Kirby’s announcement there were sirens warning of potential attacks on Tel Aviv, and Israel is preparing a large-scale ground invasion of Gaza. But Kirby said the U.S. was assured that Biden’s security would be safeguarded.
“We are not dictating military terms and operational mandates to the Israeli military,” Kirby said. “I don’t know how much more clear I can make that. We’re not dictating terms to them. And we wouldn’t make a trip, obviously, if we did not believe that the proper security parameters would be in place.”
A military analyst told The New York Times that Israel would be unlikely to launch a ground invasion while the U.S. president was in the country.
“The ground operation is going to have lots of casualties on both sides,” Miri Eisin, a former senior military officer and the director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University in Israel, told the Times. “You don’t want to do that when the U.S. president is here.”
Kirby emphasized that a key component of Biden’s trip would be dedicated to getting relief to the Palestinians currently trapped within Gaza, whose borders with Israel and Egypt are shut down, and where supplies are largely cut off. The Biden Administration pressured Israel into reopening the water supply to the coastal territory.
“He will certainly reiterate that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination,” Kirby said. “And he’ll discuss again the humanitarian needs of all civilians in Gaza.”
Kirby repeated that Biden believed Israel should, as a fellow democracy, abide by the laws of war, but he said it was not the United States’ place to press Israel on how it should conduct a military operation.
“We are not putting conditions on the military systems that we are providing to Israel,” Kirby said. “They have a right to defend themselves. They have a right to go after this terrorist threat. And we’re going to continue to do everything we can to help them do that. As I said earlier, unlike Hamas the United States and Israel are vibrant democracies believe in respect for the innocent life, we ascribe to the law of armed conflict, and that will continue to be our mutual expectations going forward.”
Separately, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said she would be leading a delegation to Israel on Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Jewish Democrat who is the majority leader, this week led a bipartisan delegation to Israel, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also traveled to the country twice since Hamas’ invasion.
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Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really?
JNS.org – If I asked you to name the most famous line in the Bible, what would you answer? While Shema Yisrael (“Hear O’Israel”) might get many votes, I imagine that the winning line would be “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). Some religions refer to it as the Golden Rule, but all would agree that it is fundamental to any moral lifestyle. And it appears this week in our Torah reading, Kedoshim.
This is quite a tall order. Can we be expected to love other people as much as we love ourselves? Surely, this is an idealistic expectation. And yet, the Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. How can His Torah be so unrealistic?
The biblical commentaries offer a variety of explanations. Some, like Rambam (Maimonides), say that the focus should be on our behavior, rather than our feelings. We are expected to try our best or to treat others “as if” we genuinely love them.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in his classic text called the Tanya, argues that the actual feelings of love are, in fact, achievable provided that we focus on a person’s spirituality rather than how they present themselves physically. If we can put the soul over the body, we can do it.
Allow me to share the interpretation of the Ramban (Nachmanides), a 13th-century Torah scholar from Spain. His interpretation of the verses preceding love thy neighbor is classic and powerful, yet simple and straightforward.
“Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall rebuke him, but do not bear a sin because of him” by embarrassing him in public. “Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge against your people. You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
What is the connection between these verses? Why is revenge and grudge-bearing in the same paragraph as love your fellow as yourself?
A careful reading shows that within these two verses are no less than six biblical commandments. But what is their sequence all about, and what is the connection between them?
The Ramban explains it beautifully, showing how the sequence of verses is deliberate and highlighting the Torah’s profound yet practical advice on how to maintain healthy relationships.
Someone wronged you? Don’t hate him in your heart. Speak to him. Don’t let it fester until it bursts, and makes you bitter and sick.
Instead, talk it out. Confront the person. Of course, do it respectfully. Don’t embarrass anyone in public, so that you don’t bear a sin because of them. But don’t let your hurt eat you up. Communicate!
If you approach the person who wronged you—not with hate in your heart but with respectful reproof—one of two things will happen. Either he or she will apologize and explain their perspective on the matter. Or that it was a misunderstanding and will get sorted out between you. Either way, you will feel happier and healthier.
Then you will not feel the need to take revenge or even to bear a grudge.
Here, says the Ramban, is the connection between these two verses. And if you follow this advice, only then will you be able to observe the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor. If you never tell him why you are upset, another may be completely unaware of his or her wrongdoing, and it will remain as a wound inside you and may never go away.
To sum up: Honest communication is the key to loving people.
Now, tell me the truth. Did you know that not taking revenge is a biblical commandment? In some cultures in Africa, revenge is a mitzvah! I’ve heard radio talk-show hosts invite listeners to share how they took “sweet revenge” on someone, as if it’s some kind of accomplishment.
Furthermore, did you know that bearing a grudge is forbidden by biblical law?
Here in South Africa, people refer to a grudge by its Yiddish name, a faribel. In other countries, people call it a broiges. Whatever the terminology, the Torah states explicitly: “Thou shalt not bear a grudge!” Do not keep a faribel, a broiges or resentment of any kind toward someone you believe wronged you. Talk to that person. Share your feelings honestly. If you do it respectfully and do not demean the other’s dignity, then it can be resolved. Only then will you be able to love your fellow as yourself.
May all our grudges and feelings of resentment toward others be dealt with honestly and respectfully. May all our grudges be resolved as soon as possible. Then we will all be in a much better position to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The post Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday dismissed as nonsensical the report that President Donald Trump would endorse Palestinian statehood during his tour to the Persian Gulf this week.
“This report is nonsense,” Huckabee harrumphed on his X account, blasting the Jerusalem Post as needing better sourced reporting. “Israel doesn’t have a better friend than the president of the United States.”
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The leader’s first trip overseas since he took office comes as Trump seeks the Gulf countries’ support in regional conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and curbing Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
However, reports citing administration insiders claimed that Trump has also set his sights on the ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords. These agreements, initially signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The accords are widely held to be among the most important achievements of the first Trump administration.
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US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Unless significant progress is registered in Sunday’s round of nuclear talks with Iran, the US will consider putting the military option back on the table, sources close to US envoy Steve Witkoff told i24NEWS.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The source has also underscored the significance of the administration’s choice of Michael Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, as the lead representative in the nuclear talks’ technical phases.
Anton is “an Iran expert and someone who knows how to cut a deal with Iran,” the source said, saying that the choice reflected Trump’s desire to secure the deal.
The post US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.