Uncategorized
Ron DeSantis is heading to Jerusalem to talk about ‘unnecessarily strained relations’ between the US and Israel
(JTA) — Even though he hasn’t officially declared his Republican presidential campaign (yet), Ron DeSantis has been pitching his governance of Florida as a model for running the United States — telling Fox News last week, for example, that “we can get America back on track and back on our foundations” by following Florida’s example.
This week, he repeated the pitch with a twist: His close relations with Israel are a template for the U.S.-Israel relationship, he said — and he’s ready to make that case next month in Jerusalem.
“At a time of unnecessarily strained relations between Jerusalem and Washington, Florida serves as a bridge between the American and Israeli people,” DeSantis said, announcing his participation in a conference on April 27 cosponsored by The Jerusalem Post and the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance. The event is called “Celebrate the faces of Israel.“
The “unnecessary strain” DeSantis mentioned is likely a reference to increasingly fraught relations between the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Biden administration over Netanyahu’s planned overhaul of the Israeli judiciary, which would sap the Supreme Court of much of its power and independence.
“They cannot continue down this road,” Biden said Tuesday regarding Netanyahu’s judicial reform, which the prime minister recently paused in the face of massive protests. Netanyahu responded to Biden on Twitter, praising the U.S.-Israel alliance but adding, “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”
In his statement to the Post, DeSantis noted how Israel-adjacent his administration has been: He held one of his first Cabinet meetings, in 2019, in Jerusalem, and has toughened laws restricting the state’s dealings with companies that boycott Israel. He also alluded to the influx of Orthodox Jews to his state during the pandemic, a period when Florida’s restrictions on schools were less strict than in the northeast.
“A few months after my inauguration for my first term as governor of Florida, I traveled to Israel for a state visit with the largest ever trade delegation from the sunshine state to the Jewish state,” DeSantis said in the statement. “Since that time, we have strengthened the relationship between Florida and Israel through increased investment by Israeli companies in our state, fighting the scourge of BDS, and being home to the fastest growing Jewish population in the United States.”
DeSantis has also been popular with organizations representing the interests of Orthodox Jews, who tend to vote Republican. This week he signed into law a bill that transfers roughly $8,000 per year to any parent who wants to send their child to private schools, a decision that was effusively welcomed by Orthodox Jewish groups and will impact parents who pay tuition at Jewish day schools.
Maury Litwack, managing director of public affairs at the Orthodox Union, which has pressed to enact a similar voucher program nationwide, said the Florida law could act as a template. “The historic achievement of universal scholarships in Florida is just the beginning,” Litwack said in a release.
The announcement of the trip comes as DeSantis has, for the first time, begun to parry attacks by former President Donald Trump — who has made clear that he sees DeSantis as his chief rival for the 2024 Republican nomination. Trump officially declared his candidacy last year. Last week, DeSantis mocked Trump for potentially facing legal trouble over an alleged payoff to an adult film actress.
That was seen as a signal that DeSantis is closer to making a decision about running in 2024. And this week, an independent political action committee backing DeSantis hired a roster of Republican power players. DeSantis has already banked $80 million in his state political committee, a stunning amount for a governor who, due to term limits, cannot run for reelection.
The Jerusalem Post noted that at next month’s conference, DeSantis will speak to “a crowd of 400 participants, including around 120 U.S. Jewish philanthropists,” at least some of whom will likely be major political donors.
—
The post Ron DeSantis is heading to Jerusalem to talk about ‘unnecessarily strained relations’ between the US and Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Trump Curious Why Iran Has Not ‘Capitulated’ Amid US Military Buildup, Says Witkoff
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing’ summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Jan. 6, 2026. Photo: Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS
US President Donald Trump is curious as to why Iran has not yet “capitulated” and agreed to curb its nuclear program, as Washington builds up its military capability in the Middle East, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said.
“I don’t want to use the word ‘frustrated,’ because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he’s curious as to why they haven’t… I don’t want to use the word ‘capitulated,’ but why they haven’t capitulated,” Witkoff said during an interview on Saturday with Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump,” hosted by the president’s daughter-in-law.
“Why, under this pressure, with the amount of seapower and naval power over there, why haven’t they come to us and said, ‘We profess we don’t want a weapon, so here’s what we’re prepared to do’? And yet it’s sort of hard to get them to that place.”
Trump has ordered a huge buildup of forces in the Middle East and preparations for a potential multi-week air attack on Iran. Iran has threatened to strike US bases if it is attacked.
IRAN DENIES SEEKING NUCLEAR WEAPONS
The United States wants Iran to give up enriched uranium which Washington says can potentially be used to make a bomb, as well as stop supporting terrorists in the Middle East and accept limits to its missile program.
Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful but it is willing to accept some curbs on it in return for the lifting of financial sanctions. It rejects tying this to other issues such as missiles and support for armed groups.
“They’ve been enriching well beyond the number that you need for civil nuclear. It’s up to 60 percent [fissile purity],” Witkoff said. “They’re probably a week away from having industrial, industrial-grade bomb-making material, and that’s really dangerous.”
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that Iran and the United States still have differing views over sanctions relief in talks.
Witkoff also said he has met at Trump’s direction with Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, son of the shah ousted in Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. He did not provide further details of the meeting.
Pahlavi, who lives in exile, served as a rallying figure for some of Iran’s opposition during anti-government demonstrations last month in which thousands of people are believed to have been killed, the worst domestic unrest since the revolution era.
Earlier in February, Pahlavi said US military intervention in Iran could save lives, and urged Washington not to spend too long negotiating with Tehran’s clerical rulers on a nuclear deal.
Uncategorized
US-Iran Talks Expected Friday if Iran Sends Nuclear Proposal Soon, Axios Reports
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
United States negotiators are ready to hold another round of talks with Iran on Friday in Geneva if they receive a detailed Iranian proposal for a nuclear deal in the next 48 hours, Axios reported on Sunday, citing a senior US official.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Uncategorized
Khamenei Designates Larijani to Lead Iran’s Affairs During Protests, Military Threats
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani speaks after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher
i24 News – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has reportedly assigned significant authority to former Revolutionary Guards commander and longtime political figure Ali Larijani in response to rising US and Israeli military threats, as well as nationwide unrest, according to a report by The New York Times.
The newspaper cites Iranian officials, members of the Revolutionary Guards, and former diplomats, noting that Khamenei has issued detailed instructions on succession and emergency decision-making should he be targeted in a potential strike.
Larijani, currently a top national security official, has been tasked with managing state affairs, overseeing the crackdown on protests, coordinating sensitive nuclear discussions with Washington, and liaising with allied nations including Russia, Qatar, and Oman.
“Larijani has been entrusted with responsibilities that cover both domestic security and international relations, effectively acting as Khamenei’s right-hand man during this period of heightened tension,” the report states.
Officials say Khamenei has prepared multiple layers of succession for key political and military positions and delegated powers to a close circle of confidants. While Larijani is not considered a likely successor to the Supreme Leader due to insufficient religious credentials, he is described as one of the regime’s most trusted crisis managers.
Iran has reportedly placed its armed forces on high alert, deployed missile systems near Iraq and in the Persian Gulf, and intensified military exercises. Special forces, intelligence units, and Basij militia battalions are prepared to deploy to major cities to suppress unrest and monitor suspected foreign operatives if conflict escalates.
The move comes amid continued diplomatic engagement over Tehran’s nuclear program. Despite ongoing negotiations, officials say Iran is operating under the assumption that a U.S. military strike is “inevitable and imminent.”
According to the report, Larijani tops the list of emergency successors, followed by Parliament Speaker General Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, with former president Hassan Rouhani also named as a potential fallback in extraordinary circumstances.