Jonathan

[Jonathan Greenblatt @JGreenblattADL]

No matter what spin he puts on it, Mayor Mamdani has chosen to double down on his vilification and demonization of those who support Israel and a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

In his mind, does that make 85%+ of the Jewish community “monsters”?

https://t.co/h8gq5c4EFd

[Ted Deutch, CEO of American Jewish Committee @AJCCEO]

After watching @NYCMayor's recent speech at a political rally, I wanted to offer these thoughts to him.

Mayor Mamdani, referring to fellow New Yorkers as “monsters” is outrageous and dangerous, and the impact of your words extends far beyond politics.

It’s not only about your repeated attacks on Israel and those who support it, now rooted in the oldest antisemitic conspiracy theories of secret control and nefarious agendas. It’s about politics and division. You are doing exactly what you falsely accuse others of doing.

Your accusation, Mr. Mayor? Efforts “to turn us against one another instead of our leaders turning toward the moral change we all know to be necessary.”

But when you use your position to label people you disagree with as monsters - people who live and work and pay taxes in the city you lead, people who loved the Knicks championship parade as much as you did, people who spent yesterday celebrating their fathers and grandfathers - you are turning people against one another.

Your speech wasn’t just about preserving your power. By every measure, it was about growing that power by dividing New Yorkers.

You want to debate ideas? Fine. But when you call people monsters, you’re not debating ideas, you’re dehumanizing the people you disagree with. And when that comes from a mayor, it creates an environment where people hear clearly who is being cast as outside the community, one where they wonder whether they can safely live and speak as themselves.

You say we deserve leaders who lead with hope and not fear. We all agree. But what you did here is the opposite.

No one should have to wonder whether they are safe expressing who they are or what they believe, whether they worship at shul, at a mosque, in a church, a gurudwara, or at a temple.

Contributing to an environment in which people feel that fear is not leadership. It is exactly the kind of division you claim to oppose.

[Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו @netanyahu]

Thank you Col. Spencer, no military takes more measures to minimize civilian casulaties than the IDF and no nation is attacked by more propoganda than Israel. Truth and Israel will prevail.

[John Spencer @SpencerGuard]

To be very clear: reality is very different from the rhetoric. The IDF takes extraordinary measures to mitigate civilian harm in Lebanon. In fact, as in Gaza, it employs more civilian harm mitigation measures than any military in past or current operations.

The IDF issues evacuation warnings through multiple channels including text messages, phone calls, voicemails, flyers, radio, television, and social media. It operates dedicated civilian harm mitigation cells, tracks civilian presence through drones, cell phone data, and other ISR capabilities, and uses rigorous targeting processes that include legal reviews and proportionality assessments for any planned strikes. Legal reviews at lowest tactical level, and with the ability (which happens often as well as command decisions not to strike based on all context) to override commander decisions, unlike any other military.

In southern Lebanon, these measures are particularly effective because civilians can move away from military objectives and active combat areas.

Even in Beirut, the IDF has repeatedly provided warnings identifying specific buildings that will be struck and when. The warnings have proven so reliable that Lebanese citizens and journalists have set up cameras in advance to record the strikes. When targeting Hezbollah senior leaders, command meetings, or other military objectives in densely populated areas such as Dahiyeh (the Hezbollah controlled neighborhood of Beirut), the IDF relies on precision-guided munitions, small diameter munition (warheads with less explosives), and other low collateral damage munitions, detailed intelligence, and other methods designed to limit collateral damage while achieving the legitimate military objective.

There is also no equivalency. Israel does not intentionally target civilians. Hezbollah is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization whose strategy includes deliberately attacking civilians. Hezbollah launches rockets, missiles, and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel (daily, despite any cease fires), targeting homes, schools, businesses, and civilian infrastructure.

One side conducts legal reviews, proportionality assessments, civilian warnings, and precision strikes against military objectives. The other is a international designated terrorist group that intentionally places military assets among civilians while deliberately targeting civilians.

[אביטל דירקטור 🇮🇱❤️ @avitalmt]

@netanyahu שני אחים האחים נתניהו עם גורל אחד והוא להגן על מדינת ישראל בכל מחיר
אחד שילם בחיו
השני מקריב את חיו ושל משפחתו למען מדינת ישראל וזה רק מראה את ניחשותה של מדינת ישראל ששלחה כוחות
לקצה השני של העולם על מנת לשחרר חטופים ישראלים וזה עד היום
יהי זיכרו של יונתן נתניהו ברוך🕯️

[Prime Minister of Israel @IsraeliPM]

🇮🇱 Happy Indendence day! 🇮🇱
Israel celebrates 78 years of independence!
🤍💙🤍7⃣8⃣💙🤍💙

[daniel hanuka📟 🇮🇱 @LionsOfZion_ORG]

Major Bar Palach z”l — The First Human Lion I Ever Knew.

At age 7, I survived a terror attack in the Netanya market. A suicide bomber blew himself up, and with him, my childhood. Suffering from severe nightmares and anxiety, my therapist told my mother to take me back to the scene.
There, I met a soldier who gave me a profound sense of security. That moment was etched into me. Years later, approaching my enlistment, that encounter fueled my motivation. I wanted to be that figure—the person who appears in dark moments to silently restore strength. I wanted to be that man.
And that’s where Bar Palach comes in.
Bar, a childhood friend and neighbor a year older, was someone I'd known my whole life. He was our undisputed leader—the glue holding us together. He organized hangouts, lifted our spirits, and watched our backs. Through every chapter of youth—school, foolishness, laughter, and hard times—Bar was always there.
When army talks began, Bar was deep into training. Hearing I wanted to be a combat soldier, he made me his project. Looking me in the eye, he said, “You’re coming with me.” He took me under his wing as a mentor. He was serious and tough, but possessed a heart of pure gold.
One memory is burned into my mind. He scheduled a prep run and asked me to bring a backpack. When I arrived, he had filled both our bags with stones. Not long into the run, exhaustion hit and I couldn't take another step. Without a word of disappointment, he transferred my stones into his own bag and simply said, “Come on, let’s keep going.”
That was Bar—carrying the burdens of others through quiet action. He became a living legend in Oketz, the elite canine unit. He wasn't just a revered warrior; he was a born commander. On the direct path to commanding the unit, his soldiers spoke of him with mythic admiration. He instilled deep values while making them laugh mid-drill. His motto was:
"Live like princes, fight like lions, and always remember—in the end, we return to our roots."

He never led from behind or sent others in his place. Even as a senior officer, he was always first to rise, first to breach, first to enter.
Beyond the uniform, Bar was highly principled, generous, and humble. He spent his salary on his soldiers—buying gear, meals, and caring for their well-being. He also secretly supported Holocaust survivors from his own pocket without seeking recognition. His family couldn’t figure out where his money went; only after his death did the immense scale of his quiet charity come to light.
He traveled to study in the U.S. with the intention of returning to command his beloved unit. But when IDF manpower shortages hit, he dropped everything and flew back. It wasn't a career move; it was a profound sense of mission.
In the incident where he lost his life—on the 18th of Elul, a few months before the war—Bar was serving as deputy commander of Sayeret Nahal. When a fence breach was identified in Samaria, he didn't issue orders from afar. He led his force directly to the line of contact. When the firefight erupted, he stood at the front, shielded his soldiers with his body, and returned fire until he fell. He died exactly as he lived: a true warrior and a commander who led from the front, to the very end.
But Bar didn’t just fall bravely—he lived bravely. He taught me the true meaning of values, quiet leadership, and what it truly takes to be a fighter.
He was my first mentor—and my heart still runs beside him.
May his memory be a blessing.

[Israel Defense Forces @IDF]

This year, we remember the 25,648 soldiers who fell defending our country. May their memories be a blessing 🥀 🕯️

[Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו @netanyahu]

ביום הזיכרון לחללי מערכות ישראל, כמו בשנים קודמות, אני מניח תפילין לזכרו של אחד מגיבורינו שנפלו למען תקומתנו וחירותנו.

גם השנה נפגשתי עם שליח הרבי, הרב אור זיו, שהביא עימו את התפילין. בכל פעם של לוחם אחר, של בן אהוב, של גיבור ישראל. בכל שנה, סיפור אחר. לב אחר. עולם ומלואו.

השנה זכיתי להניח את התפילין של גיבורינו שון כרמלי ז״ל.

שון, לוחם בודד שהגיע מארצות הברית כדי להגן על מדינת ישראל, בחר לקשור את גורלו בגורל עמנו. מתוך אמונה עמוקה, מתוך שליחות. הוא נפל בקרב בעזה – אך רוחו ממשיכה לחיות בנו, בלב האומה.

כשאני מניח את התפילין שלו, אני חש את הקשר העמוק בין הדורות. בין מסורת של אלפי שנים לבין הגבורה של ימינו. בין תפילה חרישית לבין מעשה של מסירות נפש שאין למעלה ממנו.

ברגע הזה, עם הרצועות הנכרכות על היד והלב, אני נושא תפילה שקטה לזכרו, לזכר כל חללינו, ולמען עתיד עמנו בארץ הזו.

״וְרָאוּ כָּל־עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ כִּי שֵׁם השם נִקְרָא עָלֶיךָ וְיָרְאוּ מִמֶּךָּ״
**
יהי זכר חללינו ברוך ונצור בליבנו לעד.

צילום: מעיין טואף, לע״מ

[Reid Wiseman @astro_reid]

Only one chance in this lifetime…

Like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos, I couldn’t resist a cell phone video of Earthset. You can hear the shutter on the Nikon as @Astro_Christina is hammering away on 3-shot brackets and capturing those exceptional Earthset photos through the 400mm lens. @AstroVicGlover was in window 3 watching with @Astro_Jeremy next to him.

I could barely see the Moon through the docking hatch window but the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view…this is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eye. Enjoy.

[Jonathan @matkowsky]

Opinion | Alan Dershowitz: Why I’m Becoming a Republican - The Wall Street Journal https://t.co/Yal5Roonr4

[Jonathan @matkowsky]

@arifuld Thinking of you

[Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו @netanyahu]

יוני היה אחי המופלא. 

כוכב הצפון שלי שעזר לי לנתב את דרכי בנפתולי החיים.

הוא שימש לי ולאחי עדו דוגמה ומופת והעניק לנו תמיכה ועצה בצמתים רבים. 

כבר מגיל צעיר היה בו שילוב נדיר של שקט פנימי, נחישות ותחושת ייעוד ברורה.

הוא ידע תמיד לאן הוא הולך, ומה נדרש ממנו.

כל חייה נאבקת מדינת ישראל על עצם קיומה.

כל עוד יוני היה בחיים, הייתי משוכנע שהוא יהיה שם בחזית, בהנהגה, במקום שיסייע להבטיח את עתידה.

כשנודע לי שיוני נפל ב׳מבצע יונתן׳ לשחרור חטופינו, הרגשתי שחיי הגיעו לקיצם. 

זה לא היה רק אובדן של אח אהוב. 

זה היה אובדן של עוגן. 

הייתי בטוח שלעולם לא אתאושש.

אבל עם הזמן הבנתי שהמורשת של יוני לא הסתיימה עם נפילתו. 

להפך. 

דורות של צעירים קראו את ספר מכתביו, דורות של לוחמים שאבו השראה מערכיו. 

יוני לא השאיר אחריו רק זיכרון של גבורה.

הוא השאיר לנו דרך. 

מתוך עומק היגון צמחה בי תחושת שליחות עמוקה. 

ההקרבה של יוני דחפה אותי קדימה אל העשייה הציבורית.

כראש ממשלת ישראל בימים אלה של מלחמה קיומית, כשאני שולח את חיילינו אל הקרבות ואת טייסנו אל איראן, אני רואה כל אחד ואחת מהם כאילו היה אחי.

אני זוכר את ההורים שלי, ואני חושב על ההורים שלהם. 

אני יודע מה מונח על הכף. 

אני יודע מה המשמעות של כל החלטה. 

אני שומר על לוחמינו, והם שומרים עלינו.

אני מתגעגע אליך יוני, אחי האהוב. 

אתה חסר לי עד מאוד.

[Jonathan @matkowsky]

@VividProwess Sorry to hear that

[Michael C @Michaeach3]

https://t.co/dzXOdAJqNr
Holocaust survivor Yechiel Hershtik from Romania got the warmest hug from Israel’s elite undercover Border Police.

He said with tears in his eyes:
"My biggest dream in the camps was that one day soldiers would stand behind me and protect us.

"This is the real meaning of having our own country and our own army.

After 2,000 years of being defenseless, we finally protect our people.

Never again means never again alone.

Please Share and Follow.

[Mark R. Levin @marklevinshow]

The media continue to promote this lunatic Carlson because they can pretend they’re reporting news when they’re trashing POTUS.

[U.S. Central Command @CENTCOM]

https://t.co/YAFhMBm7hA