Feed aggregator

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri has issued an unequivocal commitment that his party will neither join nor enable the formation of any future government unless legislation regulating the draft status of yeshiva bochurim is passed first.

Deri said the position was adopted on the instructions of Shas’s Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah and former Rishon LeTzion Rav Yitzchak Yosef, making passage of the legislation a prerequisite to any coalition negotiations following the election.

“As we have said, in the sense of ‘know what to answer’ — there is also a clear answer,” Deri said. “The Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah instructed us, and we announced it explicitly. Maran the Rishon LeTzion Rav Yitzchak Yosef also announced at the opening conference of Shas’s election campaign: Shas will not enter a government and will not allow a government to be formed without first passing the law regulating the status of those who learn Torah.”

Deri’s declaration means that, according to the party’s stated position, Shas will demand that the draft issue be resolved legislatively before discussing cabinet positions, budgets or other elements of a coalition agreement.

Shas officials said there would be no flexibility on the sequence of events.

“Deri left no room for maneuver,” party officials said. “We have made it clear to all potential partners — anyone who wants Shas in the government will have to understand that the issue at the heart of the chareidi community is not something to be bargained over. First they will pass the law and regulate the status of the yeshiva students, and only afterward will we talk about positions and budgets.”

The pledge comes as the confrontation over the draft has intensified, with the absence of legislation regulating the status of bnei yeshivos leaving thousands exposed to enforcement action for failing to report for military service.

The tensions erupted again earlier this week in Modi’in, where an attempt to arrest a yeshiva bochur led to a large protest and ultimately ended with his release. Police subsequently conducted a review of the incident that placed responsibility for what occurred on the Military Police.

At the same time, the attorney general has been pressing for the urgent resumption of arrests of draft evaders, while the IDF has announced that proactive enforcement operations will resume during October.

Two additional bnei yeshivos were arrested in Eilat in recent days — a student at Yeshivas Chevron and a married Yerushalmi kollel yungerman who wed approximately three months ago.

{Matzav.com}

Elkana Federman, who served as the security chief of the Nova music festival and was wounded while fighting terrorists during the Oct. 7 massacre, has filed a 2.5 million shekel lawsuit against former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, accusing him of negligence in the hours before the Hamas invasion and alleging that intelligence in Bar’s possession could have led authorities to evacuate the festival hours before the attack.

The damages lawsuit, filed in Yerushalayim Magistrate’s Court, alleges that Bar failed to fully relay intelligence to officials who could have taken action before the Hamas assault began.

According to the lawsuit, the Shin Bet received several unusual indications during the night before the massacre. Among them was the activation of dozens or possibly hundreds of Israeli SIM cards that had allegedly been prepared for use by Hamas terrorists, unusual movements involving senior Hamas figures, and changes in the terror organization’s communications patterns.

The suit further alleges that a human intelligence source reported Hamas operatives gathering at mosques and other meeting points, and that this information ultimately reached Bar.

Federman claims that this particular piece of intelligence was not presented during a situation assessment held at Southern Command at approximately 3 a.m. The lawsuit describes the information as a potential “game changer” that could have caused officials to interpret the other warning signs very differently.

Federman also points to Bar’s decision to dispatch the Shin Bet’s elite Tequila unit to southern Israel during the night, arguing that the move itself demonstrates that the Shin Bet chief was preparing for the possibility of terrorists infiltrating Israeli territory.

According to the lawsuit, Bar “did not provide a complete report to Southern Command,” and Federman argues that had the full intelligence picture been conveyed, the IDF would have prepared differently and the Nova festival would have received different treatment from security officials.

The lawsuit further alleges that Bar should have directly warned the police responsible for securing the festival about the possibility of an infiltration or kidnapping attempt, but that “through his negligence, he did not lift a finger to protect the festival participants, including the plaintiff.”

The filing also recounts Federman’s actions as the Hamas attack unfolded on the morning of Oct. 7.

When the rocket barrage began, Federman and the security personnel under his command began helping thousands of festivalgoers evacuate the site. According to the lawsuit, the security team operated according to the principle that “we do not leave the event until the last participant has left.”

When Hamas terrorists reached the area near the festival exit and began shooting fleeing participants, Federman and several other security personnel drove ATVs toward the gunfire and began bringing wounded victims back toward the festival grounds.

At one point, a damaged tank arrived carrying two soldiers, including Ofir Testa, who was critically wounded and later died. According to the lawsuit, after Testa climbed out of the tank, Federman asked him for his weapon and then joined police officer Andrey Pushibay, who was later killed, in fighting the terrorists.

Federman continued firing at the attackers until his magazine was empty. After Pushibay was shot and killed, Federman took the officer’s handgun, which had six bullets remaining, and continued advancing toward the terrorists.

It was during that confrontation that Federman was shot.

Despite being wounded and still under fire, Federman managed to run several hundred meters toward the Gerar Stream area, where he concealed himself inside a bush for hours.

The lawsuit describes him lying there with “one hand pointing the handgun in his possession upward in case the murderers reached him, and the other hand on the wound trying to stop the bleeding.”

Federman was eventually discovered by other people who had escaped the festival together with soldiers. He was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center and later transferred to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where he underwent two surgeries.

At the heart of Federman’s lawsuit is his contention that none of this would have happened to him had the intelligence warnings been properly communicated before the attack.

He argues that with an appropriate warning, “the party would have been stopped and the compound would have been evacuated hours before the rocket fire and the infiltration began,” thereby preventing him from being wounded.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump says the troubled renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is finally nearing completion, predicting that the iconic Washington landmark will be refilled with water this week following months of repairs, repeated drainage and controversy over what caused its new lining to fail.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, Trump said work on the pool itself was essentially finished and that crews had also replaced aging pipes as part of the project.

“I think they’re going to fill it up this week,” Trump said.

“The Reflecting Pool is totally complete, and we changed the old pipes we wanted to get open for July 4,” he said, later adding that “I think it’s almost complete, from what I understand.”

Trump also said restoration work was nearly finished on the grounds between the Reflecting Pool and the National World War II Memorial, where new grass had previously been installed as part of his broader effort to renovate and beautify Washington’s monumental core.

That lawn was damaged in June when enormous numbers reading “86 47” appeared in the grass. The numbers were widely interpreted as an anti-Trump message — “47” referring to Trump as the 47th president — while the White House argued that “86 47” amounted to a threat of political violence against him.

Trump referred to that episode Tuesday while discussing the restoration work.

The new grass, he said, had been “destroyed with the letters, the famous letters.”

“And that’s been just about completed,” Trump added.

The president also continued to attribute at least some of the problems at the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, despite court filings and evidence that have raised serious questions about whether the most significant damage was instead caused by faulty installation during the rushed renovation.

“Well, we had vandalism there and we have it about as vandal-proof as you can get. But only sick people do that, and we have their pictures.”

The Reflecting Pool has become an unexpectedly contentious issue in Washington since Trump ordered a major renovation of the landmark earlier this year ahead of celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary.

The more than 2,000-foot-long pool, which stretches between the Lincoln Memorial and World War II Memorial, underwent an extensive makeover that included coating its bottom in a dark shade Trump called “American flag blue.” The work was performed under no-bid contracting arrangements that later became a focus of scrutiny.

The project was intended to dramatically improve the appearance of a landmark that had long suffered from algae, leaks and maintenance problems. The pool had previously undergone a major reconstruction costing approximately $34 million between 2010 and 2012.

But trouble emerged almost immediately after the newly renovated pool was filled. Algae proliferated in the water, turning portions of the pool green, while pieces of the newly installed coating began separating from the bottom and floating to the surface.

Trump and Interior Department officials initially blamed vandals for deliberately damaging the pool. The president said people had cut or pulled up sections of the new surface, and several individuals were investigated or arrested.

Trump continued making that allegation as recently as late August, when he predicted that the landmark would soon reopen.

The pool would “be opening in a few weeks. Will be a beauty. NO VANDALS PLEASE.”

At other points, however, Trump acknowledged that construction problems contributed to the damage. Earlier in August, he referred to “some contractor error” and described the resulting damage as “relatively inconsequential.”

The government’s own criminal case against former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn ultimately produced evidence sharply undermining the original vandalism explanation.

Hearn, who represented the United States in canoe slalom at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, was arrested after being accused of pulling at a detached section of the Reflecting Pool liner. He was subsequently indicted on a felony charge of destruction of government property, exposing him to the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence.

But documents obtained after the indictment showed that problems with the pool’s surface existed before Hearn’s encounter with it. Investigators ultimately found widespread defects, including damage in areas of the pool where prosecutors concluded a vandal would have been unlikely to reach or attempt to peel away the lining.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office eventually moved to dismiss the case after receiving additional information from the Interior Department showing that the damage resulted from problems with the installation and the rush to finish the project before the July 4 celebrations.

In the government’s own filing, prosecutors said the damage was caused by the contractor’s “botched” installation “and not vandalism as initially represented” by the Interior Department.

Pirro’s filing also stated that the Interior Department had provided “less than fulsome information at the outset of the case.”

“Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” Pirro wrote.

The filing further said that had “DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment.”

The reversal was particularly notable because Pirro had previously described the prosecution as supported by “tremendous evidence.”

Last week, D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman went further, permanently dismissing the case with prejudice. The ruling prevents prosecutors from bringing the same charge against Hearn again.

“The Court respects the authority of the Office of the United States Attorney to decide which cases to prosecute and which to dismiss,” Edelman wrote. “However, in the exceptional circumstances posed by this case, the government has no right to retain the ability to compound the errors it has already made, or even to threaten to do so, at Mr. Hearn’s expense.”

The controversy is continuing even as repairs to the pool near completion. Hearn’s attorneys on Tuesday called on the inspectors general of both the Justice and Interior departments to investigate the renovation and the criminal case brought against him.

His lawyers contend that government officials rushed a defective renovation, failed to disclose evidence showing that the pool was already deteriorating, wrongly portrayed Hearn as a vandal and pursued a criminal prosecution despite evidence pointing toward construction problems.

They are asking for separate investigations into both the Interior Department’s management of the renovation and the Justice Department’s handling of Hearn’s prosecution.

The Interior Department has continued to maintain that Hearn interfered with the pool’s lining, while his attorneys dispute the government’s characterization of what he did.

The controversy surrounding Hearn is separate from the “86 47” markings cut into the nearby National Mall lawn. Those markings were real and were documented in photographs in June, although authorities did not initially identify who created them or precisely how they were made.

Trump has repeatedly linked both episodes to what he describes as vandalism targeting his effort to restore Washington’s monuments and public spaces. The evidence that emerged in Hearn’s case, however, indicates that the widespread failure of the Reflecting Pool’s new surface cannot be attributed to vandalism.

{Matzav.com}

Russia is offering to send specialists, laboratory equipment and medical resources to help the United States battle infectious diseases, an unusual proposal that comes as Moscow faces intense scrutiny over the mysterious death of a young scientist at a Siberian anti-plague laboratory and persistent, though still unconfirmed, reports that she contracted pneumonic plague.

Russia’s consumer health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, announced the offer Tuesday, pointing to measles outbreaks in several American states as well as recent U.S. cases of other infectious diseases.

“The Russian Federation is ready to assist the United States in combating outbreaks of infectious diseases,” Rospotrebnadzor said.

The agency cited outbreaks of measles, typhoid fever and legionellosis in the United States. It also made a pointed reference to an unrelated American plague death, saying, “The first fatal case of plague in 2026 was reported in New Mexico.”

That New Mexico case has no established connection to the unfolding situation in Siberia. Plague occurs naturally in parts of the western United States, including New Mexico, where the bacterium can circulate among rodents and fleas. More importantly, Russian authorities have yet to establish publicly that plague caused the death now at the center of the Irkutsk controversy.

The Russian offer comes as international attention remains focused on the death of Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory employee at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. Shipilova died Oct. 2 after developing severe pneumonia of unexplained origin.

The institute where Shipilova worked specializes in plague and other highly dangerous infectious diseases. Her employment there, coupled with the unusual precautions taken after she became ill, rapidly fueled fears that her death could have resulted from occupational exposure to a dangerous pathogen.

Russian officials maintain that there is no confirmed plague outbreak and say investigators have found no evidence tying Shipilova’s illness to the organisms she handled professionally. The World Health Organization has likewise said that, based on the information currently available, there are no confirmed plague cases in Irkutsk and that the risk to the broader population appears very low.

Rumors surrounding Shipilova’s death, however, have been widespread. One unverified account alleges that she accidentally dropped and shattered a test tube containing plague bacteria while working at the institute. Another suggests she may have been exposed during field work or travel in Buryatia, an area where plague can occur naturally among wild animals.

Neither scenario has been substantiated by Russian authorities, and there is currently no verified evidence supporting more dramatic speculation that Shipilova was exposed to an artificially enhanced or weaponized strain of plague.

What is confirmed is that Russian authorities mounted an extensive epidemiological response after Shipilova became ill. Nearly 200 people who had contact with her were initially placed under medical observation, and the hospital where she was treated imposed infection-control measures while officials conducted testing and contact tracing.

Rospotrebnadzor says testing of those contacts has produced no additional plague cases. Several people developed illnesses, but the agency said those infections were attributable to common respiratory viruses rather than plague.

“Laboratory tests have confirmed two Covid-19 and two rhinovirus infection cases,” the agency said.

Russian authorities have continued to describe Shipilova’s fatal illness as a “pneumonia of unknown etiology,” while rejecting reports that a dangerous pathogen escaped from the institute. Rospotrebnadzor insists that “no emergency or security breach occurred” at the laboratory.

The lack of a definitive public explanation for the 28-year-old scientist’s death has nevertheless fueled skepticism inside and outside Russia. Conflicting statements from regional officials and the disappearance or revision of some early reports about a possible plague infection have contributed to suspicions that Moscow has not disclosed the complete picture.

The precautions being taken elsewhere in Irkutsk have added to those questions. The Irkutsk City Perinatal Center began screening pregnant patients for possible plague exposure and instituted strict visitor restrictions following Shipilova’s death.

Patients arriving at the maternity facility were reportedly given a “Checklist for Suspected Plague” asking about symptoms, contact with ill people and recent travel. Staff also conducted temperature checks and required masks.

The center temporarily barred virtually everyone other than pregnant patients from entering, meaning husbands and other partners were unable to attend births. Staff reportedly attributed the measures to concerns surrounding an unidentified infection.

Russian officials have emphasized that such precautions do not establish that plague is circulating in the city. Health authorities say the measures were preventative and that the epidemiological situation remains stable.

The World Health Organization said Russian authorities had traced and tested Shipilova’s contacts and reported no confirmed additional plague infections. The WHO has requested further information concerning her death while assessing the international public-health risk as very low.

Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which naturally circulates among certain rodents and their fleas. Bubonic plague generally infects the lymphatic system, while pneumonic plague affects the lungs and can spread between people through respiratory droplets during close contact. Modern antibiotics are highly effective when treatment begins promptly.

Rospotrebnadzor, meanwhile, used its offer to Washington to emphasize Russia’s own expertise in dealing with dangerous infectious diseases.

“Russia has extensive practical and scientific experience in ensuring epidemiological well-being both at home and abroad,” the Rospotrebnadzor statement on Tuesday insisted.

“To help prevent and control outbreaks of infections, Russia is ready to provide the US side with specialists, laboratory equipment, and highly effective diagnostic and preventive tools,” the statement said, “which can help resume joint work between Russia and the United States in protecting public health from infectious threats.”

The offer followed comments from President Trump a day earlier saying that the United States was prepared to assist Russia if necessary as American officials monitor the Irkutsk situation.

“We are looking at it very strongly. We just heard about it,” Trump said.

Trump said the United States would be prepared to provide assistance to any country confronting a dangerous infectious-disease problem.

“Anybody that has that kind of a problem, we’re always willing to help,” the president said.

“It’s a disease we used to be able to control,” Trump said. “Even with great advancement, the germs have really become relatively stronger than they were, and things that used to work on pneumonia don’t work anymore … anyone that has that kind of problem, we will help.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also urged vigilance without suggesting that Americans should panic over the reports emerging from Siberia.

“I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it,” Rubio said.

American officials have called on Moscow to provide timely and accurate information about the case, while several countries neighboring Russia have increased health precautions in response to the reports.

President Trump said Tuesday that he expects to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation, as U.S. intelligence and health officials continue trying to determine exactly what occurred in Irkutsk.

{Matzav.com}

THREE YEARS OF WAR: IDF Says 100,000 Targets Struck Across Middle East, 970 Soldiers Fallen Since Oct. 7
Three years after the Oct. 7 massacre triggered a multi-front war that transformed Israel’s security landscape, the IDF has released an extensive accounting of the fighting, reporting approximately 100,000 targets struck across the region, the elimination of much of Hamas’s senior command structure, tens of thousands of enemy projectiles fired at Israel, and 970 Israeli soldiers killed under operational circumstances.

The military also detailed sweeping changes implemented as a result of the failures exposed on Oct. 7, including a massive rebuilding of the Gaza border defenses and a dramatic increase in the number of Israeli Air Force personnel and aircraft maintained at immediate readiness for a surprise attack.

According to the IDF, the campaign against Hamas has eliminated four commanders who headed major branches of the terror organization, 17 brigade commanders, approximately 60 battalion commanders and roughly 300 company commanders. The operations were conducted through combined efforts by the Air Force, Military Intelligence Directorate and Operations Directorate.

Many of the Hamas terrorists who personally participated in the Oct. 7 massacre have also been located and eliminated during the three years of fighting.

One of the IDF’s most significant lessons from Oct. 7 has involved the defense of Israeli communities near Gaza. The military says it has fundamentally redesigned the security system protecting those communities following the catastrophic failure that allowed thousands of terrorists to penetrate the border and overrun communities and military positions.

Security infrastructure throughout the Gaza border region has been upgraded, including fences, security roads, fortified positions, gates, lighting, radar systems and surveillance equipment. Local civilian security teams and community security coordinators have also received additional weapons, protective equipment, communications systems and drones.

The IDF has additionally introduced the “Netz” application, designed to allow information to be shared and communications maintained among the different forces and security elements responsible for protecting the communities.

The border barrier itself has undergone a major reconstruction. After investigating how Hamas breached the previous system on Oct. 7, the IDF built a far more substantial physical obstacle incorporating advanced technological capabilities both above and below ground, intended to make another mass infiltration significantly more difficult.

Inside Gaza, improved intelligence and a far more detailed understanding of the terrain have enabled Israeli forces to locate and destroy hundreds of terrorist positions, rocket-launching sites, weapons depots and other Hamas infrastructure.

The military has also refined its systematic drilling method for locating underground terrorist infrastructure. Since the ceasefire last October, more than 4,000 such drillings have been carried out in the search for tunnels and subterranean facilities.

Extensive underground infrastructure has been destroyed along the Yellow Line, including tunnel systems in the Beit Hanoun area and other major subterranean routes discovered and mapped by Israeli forces.

The Air Force has likewise undergone significant changes following its examination of the failures of Oct. 7. The military says it has substantially increased its readiness for a large-scale surprise war on any front, with particular attention given to scenarios involving sudden attacks on Israel’s borders.

New operational orders have been drawn up, greater authority has been delegated to commanders in the field, intelligence-collection procedures have been modified, and the Air Force has changed the way it positions its defensive and offensive capabilities during routine periods.

The number of forces kept at a high level of readiness has increased by as much as four times compared with the eve of the war, according to the IDF. In certain Air Force units, the increase has reached sixfold.

The Air Force has also expanded its command-and-control posture and strengthened systems used to build a real-time operational picture, with the goal of allowing an immediate defensive and offensive response to an unexpected attack. Surprise-war readiness is now tested regularly through exercises involving both operational headquarters and forces in the field.

The scale of Israeli offensive operations over the past three years has been enormous. The IDF says approximately 100,000 targets have been attacked across the various theaters since the war began.

Gaza accounted for the overwhelming majority, with approximately 65,000 targets struck in the Strip. Another 28,000 targets were attacked in Lebanon and Syria, approximately 4,500 in Iran and roughly 80 in Yemen.

At the same time, Israel has faced an extraordinary volume of incoming fire from multiple fronts.

Approximately 10,200 projectiles have been launched toward Israel from Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the IDF. Around 20,000 were fired from Lebanon, making the northern front the source of the largest number of launches.

Iran has launched approximately 1,200 projectiles toward Israel, while around 90 have been fired from Yemen and approximately 50 from Syria.

The human toll on the IDF has been severe. The military says 970 soldiers have been killed under operational circumstances during the three years of war.

Thousands more have been wounded, although the IDF highlighted what it described as a significant rehabilitation achievement: more than 70% of soldiers wounded during the war have subsequently returned to military service.

The military also released extensive figures from its counterterrorism operations in Judea and Samaria. Israeli forces have located and confiscated more than 3,800 weapons during the war.

Approximately 45,000 wanted individuals have been arrested or detained for questioning. They include weapons dealers and illegal weapons holders, suspects believed to have been planning imminent terrorist attacks, operatives involved in terrorism, stone and firebomb throwers and individuals accused of assisting terrorist organizations.

Israeli forces have also seized more than 46 million shekels that authorities say had been designated to finance terrorism.

The release of the IDF figures coincided with commemorations across southern Israel marking three years since the Oct. 7 massacre. In the Eshkol Regional Council, residents gathered for the council’s central memorial ceremony honoring 259 people from the region who were murdered.

Residents from communities throughout Eshkol attended the ceremony, including people from communities whose residents have still not fully returned home. Bereaved families and former hostages were also among those present.

Three years after the devastation, reconstruction across the region remains unfinished. At the same time, the council pointed to one striking indication of renewed life: more than 750 babies have been born in Eshkol since Oct. 7.

Eshkol Regional Council head Michal Uziyahu said the region remains deeply scarred by the massacre even as its communities rebuild and grow.

“Three years later, all of our hostages have returned home and our communities continue on the road back, but there are no shortcuts. It seems that sometimes, דווקא now, the pain is greater, and only now are we beginning to process another layer of what happened to us. Two hundred fifty-nine of our loved ones were murdered, 119 were kidnapped, and young people from across the country were murdered while dancing here. But look at us three years later. The communities have returned and are undergoing significant growth — new homes are being built in Mivtahim, a neighborhood for young people was inaugurated in Nirim, Be’eri residents will return next year and, in the meantime, seventh-grade students have begun studying here. There isn’t an available home in Nir Oz, and even the first wedding since Oct. 7 was held there. There are 800 young people in Eshkol participating in service-year programs and pre-military academies, and families from across the country are joining our communities. The Eshkol Regional Council is a community. We will continue this journey together, demanding accountability and the establishment of a commission of inquiry, ensuring that we create a different reality with meaningful security and not merely a feeling of security. In memory of, and inspired by, those who were murdered and those who fell, we will do everything to be worthy of them.”

פעילות חיל היםצילום: דובר צה”ל

פעילות חיל היםצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות חיל היםצילום: דובר צה”ל

פעילות חיל היםצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות חיל האווירצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות חיל האווירצילום: דובר צה”ל

“לא התאים לי לגדל את הילדים בצפיפות כמו שאני גדלתי”

תוכן מקודם

06:03

טרגדיה בפתח תקווה: הרב יצחק לוי ז”ל נפטר, והוא רק בגיל 53

בשיתוף קופת העיר

02:13

כשהמלון הוא רק תירוץ, אבל אתם לוקחים ממנו את המהדרין

תוכן מקודם

16:03

פעילות חיל האווירצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”ל בסוריהצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”ל בסוריהצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”ל בסוריהצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”לצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”לצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”לצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”לצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”לצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”לצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”לצילום: דובר צה”ל פעילות כוחות צה”לצילום: דובר צה”ל

The White House is pushing back forcefully against claims that President Trump suggested Iran should attack Los Angeles or San Diego, saying his controversial remarks at a Nebraska campaign rally were being stripped of their broader context and that Trump was actually arguing that the war had prevented a nuclear-armed Iran from gaining the ability to destroy an American city.

The controversy erupted after Trump addressed supporters Monday in Grand Island, Nebraska, while defending the ongoing war with Iran and acknowledging the economic pain Americans have experienced, particularly from higher fuel prices. The president argued that those costs were comparatively minor if the conflict prevents Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and threatening the United States.

“We want to see a tremendous victory. You want to see a tremendous victory because it verifies all the things we did. And again, remember, with the war, it’s just artificial. It’s a little bit high. It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe.”

Trump then delivered the comments that quickly ignited a political firestorm.

“They can take out a city. Let them take — let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over with very soon. It’s essentially almost over with, and they might keep going a little long,” he continued.

“You know, they always say they have a big threshold for pain. They need it. Let me tell you, they need it. But it’s going to end very soon, and it’ll end one way or the other,” Trump added.

The wording immediately drew condemnation from California officials, who interpreted the remarks literally as Trump saying the destruction of Los Angeles or San Diego would constitute an acceptable price for the war.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Trump of effectively inviting an enemy nation to attack two major American cities.

“After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego,” Newsom claimed. “He is deranged and dangerous.”

Newsom subsequently announced that he was “directing the State Threat Assessment Center to actively monitor the situation in the event that foreign actors interpret the President’s remarks as an invitation to target California,” while suggesting that Trump’s comments could potentially be “treasonous.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass similarly condemned the president, arguing that his language could have real-world security consequences.

“The President of the United States suggested that a foreign government attack Los Angeles. His statements against our city are dangerous and could potentially compromise our safety.”

“The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives,” she added. “In the face of irresponsible threats, as Angelenos, we know how to stand together and protect our city.”

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria also joined the criticism, declaring that his city could never be treated as expendable in a military conflict.

“San Diego is not collateral damage,” Gloria said. “We are not expendable. And we are never a ‘small price to pay.’ Keep our city out of your reckless war talk.”

The White House, however, says that interpretation badly misrepresents Trump’s point. Administration officials said the president was discussing the potential consequences of allowing Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and was arguing that the temporary economic costs associated with preventing that outcome are a small price compared with the destruction that a nuclear Iran could eventually inflict.

The White House’s Rapid Response account issued an unusually blunt response after a Los Angeles Times headline characterized Trump as suggesting that Iran be allowed to attack the California cities.

“No, he didn’t, you buffoons,” Rapid Response said.

“He was saying the U.S. is fighting to STOP Iran from having the ability to take out LA and San Diego with a nuclear weapon — which they would if they had the chance,” it continued.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung offered the same explanation, saying the uproar surrounding the remarks is “not rooted in reality”.

“He was clearly stating US cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” Cheung said. “America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money”.

A review of Trump’s broader comments during the Nebraska appearance shows that the remarks came during an extended discussion of the economic consequences of the Iran war, particularly gasoline prices, and his contention that Americans were paying a relatively modest price to eliminate a far greater potential threat.

Trump had made that argument more explicitly earlier, telling a Nebraska news outlet that the higher cost of fuel would subside once the conflict ended and directly linking the economic sacrifice to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“We’re going to get [the cost of fuel] down,” Trump said. “But it’s all going to come pouring down as soon as the war’s over, which will be very soon. And we will not have Iran having a nuclear weapon. And that’s going to be — and I say it and I say it proudly — a relatively small price to pay for keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of a lunatic nation.”

Trump has repeatedly argued that Iran’s nuclear ambitions ultimately posed a threat beyond Israel and the Middle East. In his February State of the Union address, shortly before the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran began, Trump warned that Tehran was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”

Iran, however, is not currently known to possess a nuclear weapon or an operational ballistic missile capable of striking the continental United States directly from Iranian territory. Its longest-range operational ballistic missiles fall far short of the distance required to reach California, although U.S. officials have long warned that technologies developed through Iran’s space-launch program could contribute to a future intercontinental ballistic missile capability.

That distinction has become part of the broader argument over Trump’s remarks. Critics contend that regardless of his intended point, a president should not use language that can be heard as suggesting an enemy could be permitted to destroy American cities. The White House counters that Trump’s meaning becomes apparent when the comments are viewed alongside his repeated warnings about what Iran could eventually do if permitted to acquire nuclear weapons and long-range delivery systems.

{Matzav.com}