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In times like these, clear, factual, and courageous voices for Israel are more important than ever. The mission of Israpundit has always been to share truth, defend Israel against misinformation, and give readers a place to find clarity and conviction.
Peloni: Once again Pres. Trump offers a blunt and disturbing statement on Israel as it applies to Lebanon. Ignoring the condescending and reproachful manner in which Trump has announced the prohibition of Israel’s freedom of action in Lebanon, this statement contrasts with the ceasefire terms which Trump imposed on Israel yesterday, which states that “Israel shall preserve its right to take all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”
Peloni: Michel Benchimol provides a deeply moving and stirring analysis in reflecting upon the Holocaust the promise of Never Again on Yom HaShoah.
A Personal Reflection on Yom HaShoah
Michel Benchimol
Recently, I attended an evening of remembrance for the Holocaust—Yom HaShoah. I went out of respect for my partner, Ruth.
Her parents were Holocaust survivors, and for her, the evening carries deep, personal meaning. For me, it did not—at least not in the same way.
The Holocaust, in my mind, had always been history: tragic, undeniable, but distant. Something to acknowledge, not something that lived within me.
Peloni: While the contest between the US and China is the underlying theme of Trump’s involvement in Iran, the underlying theme of China’s involvement is complicated by its Gulf allies being at odds with China’s need for Iranian oil.
Peloni: Important insights were covered on this episode of Israel Update which was recorded prior to the Lebanon Ceasefire and the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz. The conversation is nonetheless informative, but I would specifically highlight the interview with Zenib Riboua of the Hudson Institute (16min-32min) as she provides important relevance of the competing interests between the US and China in the Iran war.
Video Loads Below
Francis Kapper | Contributor | Daily Caller |
President Donald Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was officially open.
Peloni: The limit placed on Israel’s freedom of action in the current ceasefire as described below is a serious setback for Israel, which was not hampered by such limitations in the previous ceasefire. Furthermore, American assurances of Hezbollah’s disarmament have consistently failed to materialize, most recently after billions of US dollars were spent in the fool-hearted scam to fund the LAF for such an enterprise when the LAF’s complicity in providing political and logistical cover for Hezbollah has been well known. So, are we looking at the latest rendition of America providing another ruse by which Hezbollah is disarmed on paper alone, while limiting Israel’s freedom of action, so as to further advantage US efforts to end the current wars without removing the terrorist actors who initiated these wars? While looking back at the model proposed in Gaza, there remains a good deal on which to be concerned regarding what might be achieved when relying upon the US to develop peaceful strategies in lieu of allowing decisive victories over Israel’s adversaries on the battlefield. Peace is not the absence of war, but rather what comes from successfully and decisively winning a war. Can Trump shortcut the latter by pursuing the former? This is the real question which arises following Trump’s announcement of this latest ceasefire, and the answer seems somewhat altogether too discouraging at the moment. While placing this re-used and less viable band-aid on the decades old Iranian campaign against Israel from Lebanon, resolution for the Hezbollah debacle unfortunately now lies dependent upon Washington’s efforts in negotiating with Iran after Trump provided Iran with the linkage between the situation in Lebanon and that in Iran, thus highlighting and reinforcing the immaterial nature of any possible negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.
IDF troops stay inside 10km-deep ‘buffer zone’ in southern Lebanon, retain right to strike ‘planned, imminent or ongoing attacks’
| Published: April 17, 2026
Israel Defense Forces, Israel Defense Forces, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
The 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday went into effect at midnight, after Hezbollah wounded at least three Israelis in rocket attacks shortly before the deadline.
Peloni: Highly recommended article. Joan Swirsky once again outdoes herself in a sweeping review of Trump’s successes, his travails, and his failures, including a mention of why such a successful businessman has encountered so many significant setbacks from within his own organization.
By Joan Swirsky | The Post & Email | April 16, 2026 ©2026
https://www.whitehouse.gov/gallery/?query-8-gallery_tag=conferences
Back in 2011, many years before June 16, 2015, when Donald J. Trump took that infamous escalator ride to announce his intention to run as a Republican for President of the United States, I wrote an article entitled Trump Is Already Running the Country.
Peloni: The promise of Never Again was never fulfilled by the international community, as the post WWII pogroms which took place in Poland and elsewhere demonstrated, even as the Nuremberg Trials were ongoing. Additionally, evidence of international complacency in failing to provide succor to the world’s Jewry following WWII was evident as Arabia actively, publicly and unashamedly made itself Judenrein. Indeed, the promise of Never Again was always to be fulfilled by the existence of a Jewish State, and notably, this was the raison d’etre on which the Zionist ethos pursued the re-establishment of the Jewish State of Israel. From the Jews of Eastern Europe to the Jews of Arabia to the Jews of Ethiopia, the world’s complacency was notable as were the actions of the Jewish State to embrace its people returning home. So, as Lenard Grunstein explains so well in this essay below, Never Again is an call to action, one which must keep us ever vigilant and ever motivated to act, particularly as the world remains complacent about the plight of Jews in a world which is notably ever increasingly hostile to Jews simply because they are Jews.
Allies need to join together—and not shirk from the battle against antisemitism and anti-Israel bias in all its forms.
Leonard Grunstein | April 14, 2026
President Isaac Herzog, at the ceremony of laying out foreigners for Holocaust Remembrance and Heroism in the tent, will be remembered at the Yad Vashem Museum. Monday, May 6, 2024. Photo by Haim Zach / Government Press Office of Israel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia
Another Yom Hashoah has come and gone, honoring the memories of 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their cohorts during the years of World War II and the Holocaust. This year, we can name 5 million of these individuals, as documented in the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names and in the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger | “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” | April 17, 2026
Israeli Air Force F-15I Ra’am warplanes. Photo by IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia
*”Epic Fury” has documented an unprecedent military synergy and cooperation (personal, social and operational mutual-respect) between the US and Israel, with the US leveraging Israel’s unique capabilities, especially in the areas of intelligence, the air force and special operations in the face of the war against America, which erupted in 1979. Israel – more than any other ally – has acted as a unique force-multiplier for the US.
Peloni: This notification of the coming ceasefire comes without any vote supporting it from Israel’s Security Cabinet. There is no way to describe this other than what it is. Trump has linked Iran to Lebanon, even as he is presumably demanding Iran give up any such linkage to Lebanon in the coming negotiations. Meanwhile the Lebanese President has refused to even speak with Netanyahu on the phone, further demonstrating his state of capture under Hezbollah, while still seeing his calls for a ceasefire from Israel on Hezbollah satisfied. This is a disgraceful surrender of Israel’s security interests in Lebanon to satisfy the Iranians, and Trump didn’t even allow Israel’s own govt the dignity of making such a concession themselves. This is an utterly shameful point of appeasement on the eve of the latest US negotiations with Iran when peace thru strength, rather than ceasefire by concessions, should have been the strategy which gained Iran’s participation in this US gambit to end the war with Iran.
Peloni: The High Court calls for a compromise, but compromising the authority of the elected govt is exactly what is at stake in this trial. In effect, they are requiring the govt assign themselves a limited authority or face the judges imposing something similar on them. Divesting ministerial authority from the ministers is not deliberating the law, it is setting legal precedent in which the Court would be limiting the power of the elected govt without any established legal basis to do so. Is the authority of the unelected High Court greater than the authority of the elected representative govt? By requesting Ben Gvir and Netanyahu compromise on this point, they are requesting them to agree that the answer to this question is ‘yes’ when they answer should instead be clearly stated as ‘no’.
Justice Minister, coalition members vow to ignore court ruling, says it has no authority to order firing ministers
| Published: April 16, 2026
After a ten-hour-long, stormy debate, Israel’s High Court did not issue a ruling on a petition to dismiss National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over his alleged politicization of the police after a hearing on Wednesday.
Instead, the nine judges called on the government and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to find a compromise that would restrain the controversial minister, instead of taking the unprecedented step of forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir.
Peloni: This is very welcome news.
ASFI | April 16, 2026
Tennessee Capitol. Photo by Ken Lund – Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikipedia
New York — Americans For A Safe Israel, a leading pro-Israel organization, is thankful to the Tennessee General Assembly for passing legislation that directs state agencies to use the historically accurate name “Judea and Samaria” in place of the politically charged “West Bank” in official state materials.
Peloni: Excellent!
By Norma Zager
Now, Iran speaks loudly and clearly that it will destroy Israel, the Jewish people and America. The world’s reaction to this bit of news? #whatakidder
Twitter comments by Iran boasting about victories over the foolish countries of the world got me thinking. What if Adolf Hitler could have tweeted his thoughts after his conference with then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at Munich?
The battle at Deir Yassin was turned into a fabricated “massacre,” helping launch a strategy of demonization that is still used against Israel today. Opinion.
![1 ? 2 More details The village of Deir Yassin in the 1930's. Photo by The original uploader was SlimVirgin at English Wikipedia. - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Kippi70 using CommonsHelper.[1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9045361](https://www.israpundit.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Deir_Yassin_1930s-300x224.jpg)
The village of Deir Yassin in the 1930’s. Photo by The original uploader was SlimVirgin at English Wikipedia. – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Kippi70 using CommonsHelper.[1], Public Domain, Wikipedia
There is an old political instinct: never let a good crisis go to waste. In the Arab-Israeli conflict, a parallel rule has often proved just as useful: never let a military defeat go to waste when it can be repackaged as a Jewish atrocity.
