Arlene Kushner | July 21, 2026
Charred remnants of sycamore beams believed to be from the First Temple. Screengrab via Youtube.
I have been working on a “good news” posting that documents the positive elements of Israel’s situation. It is exceedingly important to devote attention to this aspect of our formidable situation.
That posting will be out shortly, but I had second thoughts about putting it up today:
Tomorrow night begins Tisha B’Av, the ninth of the month of Av, which marks the destruction of our Temples and a host of other tragedies. It is a time of mourning and contemplation.
The rabbis connect the sin of the spies – who did not have faith in the ability of the people to take the land that God had promised them – with the destruction of the Temple.
The lesson for us, then, is to rejoice in the land that is meant to be ours, and to protect it and build it.
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A timely and potent reminder:
Archeologists have just discovered charred remnants of sycamore beams believed to have served as the roof of an inner courtyard in a building not far from the Temple that was caught on fire during the Destruction. This discovery was made during an excavation in the Giv’ati parking lot in Jerusalem, conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Tel Aviv University.
“Excavation co-director Efrat Bocher said the beams likely collapsed onto the floor during the Temple’s destruction and were sealed beneath melted plaster from the building’s walls, which preserved them for roughly 2,600 years. ‘We are just before Tisha B’Av,’ Bocher said. ‘This discovery makes you feel that you are witnessing the very moment of destruction, the moment when it all happened. It’s deeply moving.’”
The Givati Parking lot is in the City of David just outside the Old City walls and directly across from the City of David Visitors Center. It previously served as a parking lot but is now the site of numerous archeological digs.
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But even as we move towards contemplation of the ancient destruction and its implications, we find that we are on the cusp of war with Iran. Again. In our present time.
I make what appear to be light-hearted comments about maybe yes-maybe no, with regard to that war. Not truly light-hearted, of course, but a fairly accurate reflection of how we Israelis are coping. Life goes on and from a distance everything appears routine and normal. But everyone is mindful of how tentative plans are: “I’ll meet you at the restaurant tomorrow at noon. (As long as war had not broken out.)”
A good part of that off-again, on-again sentiment is, of course, a reflection of the oft-confusing messages we receive from President Trump.
Trump. Gage Skidmore via Flickr, Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikipedia.
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The man, quite frankly, is in a bind, as he attempts to please the American electorate (and bring about desired mid-term election results) while also doing what must be done.
By my counting three US service men have been killed during Iranian attacks: two in an Iranian attack on an air base in Jordan, and a third in Iraq after “a controlled detonation” of an Iranian drone. I suspect there may well be more deaths that have not be publicized. One soldier is missing, and close to 100 have been wounded. The deaths infuriated Trump, who pledged tougher action in response.
As painful as this reality is, a war cannot be successfully fought without casualties. And yet this is what the president is aiming for as he relies upon aerial attacks.
Aircrafts, attached to Carrier Air Wing 9 (CVW9) fly over the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Daniel Kimmelman) The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.
As I write, it has now been ten consecutive nights during which the US has hit Iran, targeting Iranian military command centers, missile and drone launch sites, maritime capabilities, and air defense systems. The US has not yet fully resolved the issue of the Strait of Hormuz; this requires degrading of Iran’s ability to disrupt commercial shipping in the Strait.
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Israeli Intelligence has provided information to the U.S. regarding the likelihood that following last year’s conflict with Israel, Iran relocated thousands of uranium enrichment centrifuges into tunnels deep inside a mountain, known as Pickaxe Mountain, about two kilometers from Natanz. Trump has been alluding to a possible attack on this site in recent days. The question remains as to whether even the strongest bunker busters would be able to reach into it, or whether this would require boots on the ground.
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Here in Israel we are advised – by Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Katz, and Chief of Staff Zamir – that we are fully prepared to respond to an attack by Iran.
A problem we have had to contend with is the presence of a large number of US re-fueling planes stationed in our international Ben Gurion airport. They were scheduled to be moved, but Trump is not only reluctant to do so, he wants to bring in additional planes – which suggests possible plans to intensify fighting. The Americans were not receptive to suggestion that the planes be brought to the Negev.
But these large planes take up so much space that they interfere with incoming commercial flights. The plan had been for 13 of the planes to leave, but in fact 33 will remain in place for now. This will generate delays in landing of commercial airlines at the height of the tourist season. Fiscally, this is no small matter.
https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/r1oenp2ezx
US refueling planes at Ben Gurion Airport. Screengrab via Social Media.
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At a conference last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered a message to Iran’s leaders:
“Do not count on there being calm if you attack us. Do not expect a repeat of what happened before, because there will be no repeat. The previous response was powerful enough, but any further attempt to harm us will be met with a different response — far more powerful.” (Emphasis added)
PM Netanyahu statement following the signing of a framework between Israel and Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah. Screengrab via Social Media.
To date, Iran is heeding this warning. The Iranians are responding to US attacks in a manner that is far safer for them: They attack the Gulf states, and in one instance Jordan, focusing on American bases and equipment in these states. And they are doing so with impunity, as the Gulf states have opted not to retaliate and join the fight against Iran.
A certain logic might lead us to conclude they should. But there are reasons why they do not: They are not confident that the US is in it for the long haul, and Trump’s vacillating makes them uneasy. If the Iranian regime remains in power, it is assumed that it would hit the Gulf states military with considerable force and there is no certainty that Trump would protect them.
Thus have the Gulf states refused to be engaged in the conflict. They may have US bases in their respective territories but have not permitted American planes to launch from those bases; additionally, they encourage negotiations. Iran, writes Prof. Eyal Zisser, responds with greater force when perceiving weakness.
It is the UAE that has maintained the most solid security cooperation with Israel. Writes Zisser, “Israel could emerge as an increasingly important strategic partner for Gulf states and perhaps others seeking security cooperation.”
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/are-the-gulf-states-more-afraid-of-trump-or-iran/
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It should be noted that while the US is attacking Iran, negotiations, endorsed and promoted by Vice President JD Vance – as well as by Wikoff and Kushner – continue. This is part of what makes the Gulf states uneasy: at any moment Trump might decide to cave and agree to a weak deal.
Citing Zisser once more: “US Vice President JD Vance is viewed across the region not only as someone who abandoned Israel but also the Gulf states. Rather than removing the Iranian threat, Washington is pursuing an agreement that could strengthen Iran and further entrench its regional influence.”
And so, indeed, Vance’s weak conciliatory position re Iran is problematic. But I want to close this posting with a serious look at what Zisser refers to as his abandonment of Israel. It is in fact much worse: Vance is anti-Semitic and an enemy of Israel.
VP J.D. Vance. Screenshot via X
I urge you to read this article: “From silence to script: JD Vance stops tolerating antisemitic tropes, starts using them” by Micha Danzig, attorney, former IDF soldier and former NYPD officer. (Emphasis added)
“In January, I wrote that US Vice President JD Vance’s persistent refusal to confront antisemitism on the populist Right had to be treated as a primary concern, not a side issue.
“I argued that silence is a choice; that by declining to name what Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, and Candace Owens were doing when they rehabilitated Nick Fuentes and shrugged off Kanye West’s threats against Jews, Vance was not staying neutral. He was moving the line.
“In January, I argued that leaders establish boundaries through what they condemn, what they tolerate, and what they ignore – and that refusing to draw a line is itself a way of moving it. I warned that if antisemitism continued metastasizing within the coalition Vance is helping build, he would not simply have failed to stop it. He would eventually bear responsibility for legitimizing it.
“That more charitable reading is no longer available.
“This was not silence. This was not a failure to condemn someone else.
“This was Vance speaking in his own voice – directly – to millions of people.
“…In January, I argued that refusing to confront antisemitic rhetoric would eventually normalize it. Wednesday’s interview marked something more troubling. Vance was no longer declining to police the boundary. He crossed it himself.”
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-902926
What did Vance say?
“On Wednesday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience – recorded for an audience of more than 11 million people – the vice president of the United States said he knows ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’ that people ‘within’ Israel’s government are secretly manipulating American public opinion to keep the United States at war with Iran ‘indefinitely,’ not toward any objective, but just indefinitely.
“…Vance framed his accusation as being about actors within the Israeli government. But allegations that shadowy Israeli or Jewish actors secretly manipulate American policy inevitably echo one of the oldest antisemitic narratives: that Jews exercise hidden control over governments for their own ends.
“…That is how conspiracy theories become normalized – not because everyone agrees with them, but because they begin to sound like ordinary political analysis when repeated by people at the highest levels of government.
“…Every person who has spent the last two years insisting that concern for Israel’s security is just code for dual loyalty now has America’s vice president reinforcing the premise that shadowy Jewish actors secretly steer American decisions.”
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I ask, as I always do, that you please pray. Pray for our leaders, both political and military, for our soldiers, and for all of Am Israel.
©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
It’s funny that Vance gets more TV coverage than Trump!!! It might be related to the opinions he spouts at every opportunity. For instance, that the staunch ally Israel is trying to undermine the efforts of the USA at every possible level. I hope he doesn’t gain too much traction.
Sure, there are lots of issues with Trump and his approach to dealing with Iran.
With regard to the large number of tanker aircraft parked in Ben Gurion Airport, that is a colossal obstacle to all who want to visit Israel, while at the same time presenting a lucrative target for all our neighbors who would like to show off their missiles. There are other suitable parking lots for large aircraft, and to say the least, it would be more friendly to park them there. Anyone who takes a glance with Google Earth can find them.
There may be some reason why Ben Gurion was chosen but they could also be parked on military bases instead. They are military aircraft. Commercial traffic will not be diverted to military airports except in emergencies.