Talk of annexing Gaza is “a distraction” and the emphasis of the moment ought to be on Hamas’s use of human shields and the “general chaos that that causes,” the U.S. State Department said on Friday.

Tammy Bruce, the Foggy Bottom spokeswoman, was pressed several times on talk of annexation, after Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said on Friday that he instructed the Israel Defense Forces to “seize additional territories” and to expand the security zone around the Israel-Gaza border “through permanent Israeli control of the territory” if Hamas keeps refusing to release the hostages whom it holds in Gaza.

Bruce issued a lengthy response to a question during the department’s Friday press briefing and asked a reporter to hold on, as she explained the State Department’s thinking on what ought to be the current emphasis.

“For those of you who care about these issues, it is a distraction to move past the nature of what’s going on now, via—with one cause, which is Hamas’s attitude and actions and while you then—we have to deal with what is continuing and not happening, because of their choices,” she said.

“We are continuing to try to stop that. So it’s interesting that we can continue to keep—sir, just a minute—keep in our minds the nature of what’s in front of us, which is still to stop the wholesale slaughter of people, the use of other individuals as human shields, that the general chaos that that causes, and the fact that there are ways to stop it,” Bruce said. 

“And that’s what we’re working on now. But others perhaps—they want us to always talk about something else to get people distracted about that thing, so you stop looking at what is—the thing that we need to deal with immediately,” Bruce added. “I look to the Trump administration and to Secretary Rubio as examples of keeping their eyes on the prize and working methodically in this moment to get us to where we need to go.”

Bruce added that diplomatic conversations on the reimplementation of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire are taking place. “We’re still working to implement ceasefires and dealing with issues and questions regarding what can happen on the ground when there’s still hostilities and still conflict,” she said. 

The State Department spokeswoman detailed, for the first time, the Trump administration’s posture toward Syria in response to a question from JNS. 

The administration is “monitoring the Syrian internal authorities and actions in general, across a number of issues, as we determine and think about the future U.S. policy for Syria,” she told JNS.

Many countries have embraced new Syrian leadership or approached with cautious optimism, while Israel has insisted the interim government, led by those with a jihadi past, represents a direct threat to the Jewish state. 

“We also continue to call for an inclusive, civilian-led government that can ensure national institutions are effective, responsive and representative,” Bruce said. “Local ownership and broad societal support is necessary for stability in Syria and the region, as recent deadly violence on the coast demonstrated, long term stability and prosperity for the people of Syria requires a government that protects all Syrians equally.”

Bruce indicated there are no immediate plans to unwind many long-standing sanctions on Syria, particularly on investment.

Following the expulsion of South Africa’s ambassador to the United States over criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump and racism in U.S. society, the South African presidency is reportedly pressuring the Johannesburg City Council not to move forward with remaining the street upon which the U.S. consulate resides in honor of Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled.

Asked by JNS whether the State Department inserted itself in the controversy, Bruce declined to comment and referred reporters to South African national and local authorities.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he had struck a deal with one of the nation’s top law firms that will include pro bono support to the federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, the president said he was lifting an executive order stripping Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison of contracts and its security clearances in exchange for concessions from the firm.

“Paul Weiss will dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services over the course of President Trump’s term to support the administration’s initiatives, including: assisting our nation’s veterans, fairness in the justice system, the president’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and other mutually agreed projects,” Trump wrote.

The white-shoe partnership also agreed to take on pro bono work that will “represent the full spectrum of political viewpoints of our society, whether ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal,’” and to audit its hiring practices to ensure that they are based on merit and not so-called diversity, equity and inclusion principles, per the president’s message.

On March 14, Trump signed an executive order suspending the firm’s security clearances and instructing agency heads to begin terminating contracts with the firm. 

The order cited the work of a current and a former Paul Weiss partner for their roles in suing participants in the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol and for participating in the New York prosecution of Trump for falsifying business records, respectively, as reason for deeming the firm a risk.

According to Trump’s statement, the firm’s chairman, Brad Karp, said he was “gratified” and that the order had been withdrawn and that Paul Weiss looked forward to “an engaged and constructive relationship with the president and his administration.”

It’s not clear what portion of the $40 million in pro bono services will be devoted to supporting the multi-departmental Task Force to Combat Antisemitism. (JNS sought comment from Paul Weiss.)

In February, Paul Weiss teamed up with the Anti-Defamation League to sue a group of neo-Nazis on behalf of the city of Springfield, Ohio.

A group of people were recently charged with trespassing after breaking into a vacant historic synagogue in Indianapolis, Ind., to allegedly shoot a music video, The Kansas City Star reported.

Local police responded to what was reported as a burglary at Beth-El Zedeck Temple, a vacant building on the National Register of Historic Places, on March 15. Upon arrival, they saw multiple people in the driveway, with four more inside. Five individuals were arrested, reported WTHR, the local NBC affiliate.

The building is the oldest surviving synagogue in Indianapolis and has been out of use since 1958, according to NRHP documents. Authorities have not identified the incident as an act of antisemitism. 

Inside the building, police recovered a camera propped up on the glass door the group broke to get in, as well as several pieces of camera equipment, a firearm, a magazine and live rounds. 

Court documents state that one of the individuals arrested was a videographer hired to record a “rap music video.”

“I wish that everyone would treat historic places and historic properties with the same reverence that I do,” said Mark Dollase, vice president of preservation services for the Indiana Landmarks Foundation, which owns the synagogue. He added that while the door has been repaired, the interior needs to be examined for damages.

According to the NRHP, the synagogue is “one of the most well-preserved places associated with the history of the Jewish community in Indianapolis.” Former Indiana Gov. Edward Jackson attended its opening ceremony in 1925.

Right now, X is full of stories about an Israeli strike on the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza, with people wailing about the absence of cancer facilities for Palestinian children. In fact, this particular hospital closed in November 2023, citing a lack of fuel. But do watch the video. The size, pattern and color of the explosion make it clear that something was going on in, or under, that building that was not related to providing cancer treatments to children.

So, when they tell you about all the civilians that Israel has killed (for which they are taking Hamas’s word) ask yourself, what were those guys doing in the middle of a cancer hospital? And then ask yourself, who, exactly, “restarted” the war?

It was not Israel.

The Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee had assessed that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had rebuilt a serious percentage of their military strength. True, frontline terrorists, engineers and rocket specialists were replaced in some measure by newer recruits lacking in experience. But, at the same time, intelligence information showed that Hamas was organizing to mount a large-scale ground attack on Israel.

The bombings prompted renewed “outrage” over Jerusalem’s unwillingness to absorb another “first strike.” Israel does not have to wait to be attacked, and, after Oct. 7, it will likely never again fail to act on the threat of invasion.

The first targets Israel went after were members of the Hamas hierarchy. Among those eliminated in Gaza were Hamas’s “prime minister,” the director-general of its interior ministry, the head of its internal security services and the director-general of the Hamas-run justice ministry. This is what the Israeli government meant when it said Hamas would have neither military nor governing power.

Hundreds of civilians were reported killed in the first few minutes, this allegation is similar to the phony casualty figures that emerged in the early hours and days during the battle of Jenin in 2002 amid Operation Defensive Shield. Initially, reports were that more than 1,000 people were killed, but that was later reduced to just 50; 36 of whom were Palestinian militants. And more recently, in early 2024, there was a rather dramatic change in U.N. casualty figures in Gaza during the Swords of Iron War. 

By the way, Israeli assessments were correct. Hamas was regrouping, and even fired rockets at Tel Aviv this week from the southern Gaza Strip—you know, the place that former U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken told them not to go? 

As Israel returns to fight on the ground in Gaza—not a happy thought at any level—it will, at least, find its path easier as the Trump administration expedited delivery of bulldozers and heavy bombs to the Israel Defense Forces, tools that are essential for destroying tunnels.

Israel will do what the government of Israel determines is necessary to secure its borders and its people, eliminate Hamas’s power in Gaza, and force the terrorist entity to return the remaining hostages. [Just an aside, but not really, it needs to be said that “bring them home” is the wrong mantra. There is no way to “bring” them. Hamas must “send them home,” with the onus on them.]

But there’s another war currently being waged as the United States responds to Houthi forces in the Red Sea.

The Houthis are Iran’s proxy force. In violent rebellion against the recognized government of Yemen and, according to Genocide Watch, having killed “an estimated 233,000 people by 2023, decimated the country’s economy, infrastructure and basic services, creating the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis.” Despite that crisis, the United Nations has suspended food aid to Yemen more than once after its personnel were kidnapped by Houthi terrorists. Note the hypocrisy as this is the same United Nations that has spent more than a year moaning about phony famine in Gaza.

The Houthis have also announced they are in charge of who can access the Red Sea. 

Set Israel aside for a moment. Through their actions, the Houthis have reduced traffic through the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, by more than half, costing Egypt money it can ill afford to lose. It has also had a direct impact on Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Somalia, Sudan and Djibouti. That last is home to the only permanent U.S. military base in Africa, Camp Lemonnier.

And, of course, the Houthis have been firing their Iranian-supplied rockets and missiles at American ships. The U.S. Navy reported this month that since the end of 2023, there have been “174 attempted engagements against U.S. Navy surface assets and 145 attempted engagements against commercial shipping. No attempt against a U.S. Navy target has been successful to date … .”

Now, put Israel back in.

The United States and Israel are fighting both a single war and multiple wars as they work toward the freedom of navigation for themselves and the world, and the security of their people and their borders. In the middle of both wars—and the ongoing wars in Syria and Lebanon—is Iran.

It is, and it isn’t one war. But the bottom line is that Iran’s ability to control events and threaten regional and international partners must be taken out of the equation. This starts by stopping Hamas and Houthis.

A federal jury convicted two men, who plotted to kill a prominent Iranian-American dissident on behalf of Iran, on Thursday. 

Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, both high-ranking members of an Eastern European crime group called “The Organization,” conspired to kill the women’s rights activist and journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in Brooklyn.

“For years, the government of Iran has attempted to silence an outspoken Iranian journalist, author, activist and critic of their regime through any means necessary, including harassment, violence, intimidation and even attempted murder,” stated Matthew Podolsky, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. 

“Chillingly, the plot to murder this Iranian dissident culminated over 6,000 miles from Iran, on U.S. soil, right here in New York, when a hitman with an AK-47 camped outside her home to kill her,” Podolsky said.

In 2022, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent instructions to Amirov to kill Alinejad after Iranian plans to kidnap her in the previous two years had failed. Amirov, in turn, sent targeting information to Omarov, who asked a third member of the Organization, Khalid Mehdiyev, to be the hitman.

Police arrested Mehdiyev after a traffic stop near Alinejad’s home and found an AK-47, 66 rounds of ammunition, $1,100 in cash and a black ski mask.

Mehdiyev had stalked Alinejad at her home for days before Omarov told Amirov that they were ready to kill her.

“This matter will be over today,” Omarov wrote. “I told them to make a birthday present for me. I pressured them. They will sleep there this night.”

Mehdiyev testified at Amirov and Omarov’s trial as a government witness and had previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other offenses.

Alinejad celebrated the conviction of her would-be hitmen on Friday, holding up a copy of the New York Post with the frontpage reading “Mullah moolah for murder” and a photo of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“I love America,” she said. “The government from my own birth country is trying to kill me, but the government of my adopted country is trying to protect me” from this “ugly man.”

Amirov and Omarov were convicted on five counts: murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit money laundering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering and possession and use of a firearm in connection with the attempted murder.

The convictions include a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and the two face up to life in prison. The pair is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 17.

A bipartisan group of members of Congress announced on March 21 that it is reintroducing legislation aiming to extend a central U.S.-Israel energy partnership through 2034.

Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) submitted the BIRD Energy and U.S.-Israel Energy Center Reauthorization Act, “ensuring continued collaboration on clean energy innovation, energy security and economic growth in both nations.”

BIRD is an acronym for Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development. BIRD Energy refers to the implementation of an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Israeli Ministry of Energy and the Israel Innovation Authority and the BIRD Foundation. 

“Since its inception, the BIRD Energy program has provided funding for projects driving advancements in cutting-edge clean energy technologies, such as energy storage, renewable energy and cybersecurity for energy infrastructure,” the congressmen stated.

“The program has facilitated groundbreaking collaborations between U.S. and Israeli companies, resulting in innovations like flexible solar panels for wireless electronics and solar energy production systems that operate over water reservoirs,” the lawmakers added.

By reauthorizing the program, the legislation would strengthen U.S.-Israel cooperation in clean energy technology and research, expand investments in hydrogen, fusion energy and modernized energy infrastructure and enhance energy security through advancements in smart grid systems and efficiency programs, per the lawmakers. 

It would also support economic innovation and job creation in both countries, they said.

The bill will support the development of “cutting-edge technologies like hydrogen and fusion energy while strengthening our shared energy infrastructure,” Wasserman Schultz stated.

The U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation program has assisted in advancing the commercialization of clean energy technologies, which Wilson said “brings together the best of both nations’ capabilities to advance our joint energy goals.”

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which passed in 2016 when the Obama administration abstained in the waning days of the presidency and which calls Israeli settlement activity a “flagrant violation” with “no legal validity,” was “a mistake,” Dorothy Shea, the interim U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the global body on Friday.

“The stated purpose of this meeting is to report on the implementation of Resolution 2334, the passage of which was a mistake and whose ongoing discussion is a distraction from the real threats to international peace and security,” Shea said during the Security Council’s monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian file. “Indeed, it is an impediment to this council’s work to address them.”

The U.S. envoy noted that Washington “has consistently said” that “the future of the Middle East must look different.”

“Fresh thinking is needed, for a better tomorrow for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” she said.

Shea appeared, however, to give credence to a debunked story that the Palestinian Authority agreed to end its “pay-for-slay” program, which gives salaries to Palestinian terrorists and their families based on the severity of their crimes. (JNS sought comment from the U.S. mission to the United Nations.)

“We welcome the announcement by the Palestinian Authority that it will end the practice of offering cash payments to the families of those who carry out terrorist attacks, which for far too long has incentivized violence against Israeli civilians and set back the prospects of peace,” Shea said.

While Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said last month that the program would end, he later said at a Fatah party meeting that the authority would continue paying terrorists “even if we have only one cent left.”

Abbas added that those who carry out terror attacks against Israelis “are more precious than all of us combined,” and “I will never allow and you will never allow the reduction of any obligation, interest or cent that is given to them.” (Fatah removed video footage of the speech after uploading it.)

In her remarks, Shea gave backing to the Israel Defense Forces counterterrorism operations in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, saying that the U.S. “supports the efforts” of both the IDF and Palestinian Authority security forces “to root out violent extremists in Jenin and Tulkarem.”  

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, blasted the Palestinian Authority for failing to curb terror activities in its own areas, leaving it to Israel to do the job and get blamed for doing so.

Speaking during the Security Council meeting, Danon focused on Iran’s provision of weapons and other support to terror groups, such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operating in Judea and Samaria.

“The PA has attempted many counterterrorism operations to dismantle the terror networks entrenched in their backyard, but it has failed,” Danon said. “It has been unable to remove the terror groups controlling cities like Jenin and Tulkarem.”

Addressing Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority’s U.N. “permanent observer,” Danon said that Palestinians see the governing administration as “weak, corrupt and incapable of governance,” and “little more than a figurehead as your authority crumbles.”

Danon accused the authority of drawing resentment and distrust from its own people and being “unable to contain the threat that now faces Israeli civilians.” He added that “the PA quietly steps aside and leaves the job to us.”

The Israeli envoy also took unnamed Security Council members to task for comparing hostages held in Gaza to Palestinian security prisoners, who have been exchanged in release deals. Danon said that comparison is “outrageous” and “morally obscene.” 

“The Israeli hostages are innocent men, women and children, abducted for no reason other than being Israeli or being in Israel,” Danon said. “In contrast, Palestinians who have been arrested by Israel are terrorists, many with blood on their hands. They have committed the most heinous acts of terror, from cold-blooded murder to producing suicide bombs to planning mass casualty attacks.”

He accused council members of equating the two groups of “intentionally promoting Hamas propaganda.”

The United Kingdom’s representative, who harshly criticized Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier this week for a statement on Gaza, said on Friday that “violent settlers must be held to account,” accusing Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria of fomenting unrest.

James Kariuki, London’s deputy U.N. ambassador, noted that the United Kingdom has introduced three rounds of sanctions on settlers and their supporters already.

“In the absence of sufficient Israeli action, we will consider all further options,” Kariuki threatened.

Eloy Alfaro de Alba, Panama’s U.N. envoy, countered that the “complexities” of the current situation in the region mean that the implementation of Resolution 2334 must take into account “legitimate security interests.”

Ahead of planned pro-Palestinian protests in Bogota, Colombia, on March 21, the U.S. embassy announced they are “monitoring” the situation and that “visitors to the embassy should take this into account.”

The embassy stated that demonstrators are expected to gather around 4:00 p.m. local time in front of the Palestinian Embassy before moving to the Ministry of Defense at 5:00 p.m. They are then expected to head to the U.S. embassy.

“Street access to the U.S. embassy may be impacted,” the statement read, adding that officials “will continue to monitor protest activity and provide updates if necessary.”

The embassy then provided a list of eight actions for citizens and visitors to take for protection, which includes avoiding crowds, keeping a low profile, not using cell phones in public and locking car doors.

In May 2024, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that the South American country would be cutting diplomatic ties with Israel over its war against the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.

In July 2024, thousands of Colombians attended a concert organized by the government in support of Palestinians. A large Palestinian flag was draped over the Columbian Parliament building in Bogota with text stating, “Stop genocide.”

I always look forward to Passover, and I know I’m not alone. According to conclusions from a 2013 Pew survey, you and I are more likely to attend a Passover seder than to fulfill the solemn mitzvah of fasting on Yom Kippur. The epicurean delights that frequent the seder table (and the mitzvah to drink copious cups of wine, I’m sure), are part of what draws us to the holiday. That, and the sense of renewal we feel from connecting with family and friends.

Still, I don’t think that’s the reason the “Festival of Freedom,” as this week-long celebration is often called, ranks so high on our preferred list of Jewish holidays, especially not when it also means swapping out many of our favorite snacks, candies and meals for a week of matzah and restraint. Passover’s enduring message, as I see it, isn’t to extol the Israelites’ long trek in the wilderness. And it’s certainly not about the labor-intensive sacrifices we make to celebrate. It’s about hope. It’s about the assurance that even in the worst of times, even after experiencing heart-wrenching loss, things can still turn out OK.

I’ve often been troubled by the dispassionate way that the Torah tells the story of the Exodus. We’re told of the troubles and danger the Israelites face as a community, but we’re kept aloof from understanding the real human story of the individuals and families experiencing that traumatic escape. It doesn’t take much to imagine the paralyzing fear that parents must have felt as they tried to ensure that their children didn’t fall behind. We can visualize what it must have been like for elderly members trying to keep their footing as they fled across the desert.

And we rejoice, like the Israelites do, when the community miraculously makes it across the Red Sea. But we aren’t told how many individuals may have been lost in the process—whether there were injuries or lasting emotional trauma from the experience. Those are the human, granular details we expect to hear in today’s news accounts.

But the individual stories don’t matter here, we’re told. It’s the collective experience that will shape their strength as a people and their future as a nation. It still seems like an odd way to value human life.

An individual’s story matters. It’s what shapes our humanity and triggers our compassion for another person’s misfortune. And it is at the individual level that we each are able to see the commonality we share with others. Right or wrong though, it’s a community’s collective efforts and successes that often define the importance of such history.

That’s why the story of the Exodus is such a powerful parable for the post-Oct. 7 world. It reminds us that individual grief can be temporary and that we can find healing, particularly when we join together as a community. The plight of the hostages still in Gaza, the antisemitic attacks that have monopolized our attention in North America and abroad, and the horrific loss of life from the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel and ongoing war can’t help but test our belief in humanity.

Yet as the Israelites eventually find, healing is possible. Although it took many decades, the Israelites made it to the Promised Land and became a productive, resilient nation. Their success is what sets the foundations for the global community we now call the People of Israel.

The Passover story reconnects us with our history, but it also serves to teach us how to draw hope and faith from our Jewish identity—hope from the lessons others teach us and faith in our potential to build on that remarkable legacy.