Commentary

Under pressure from the US president, the IDF has stopped strikes on Hezbollah’s power centers. The terrorist organization, for its part, continues to violate the ceasefire. Israel must stop playing by Hezbollah’s rules in order to disrupt its operations. In Gaza, too, greater sophistication is needed in the face of Hamas’ military buildup, which could begin targeting IDF forces at any moment.

The main front in the battle for consciousness has shifted to the fight over the algorithm. Reality is no longer shaped only by facts, but by the way and format they are distributed in. Unless Israel adopts advanced approaches to shaping public consciousness, it will continue losing to influencers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had instructed the IDF to “respond forcefully to Hezbollah’s attacks,” but in practice, Israel’s response is “a smokescreen,” with no real change in the directives, senior IDF officials said. In the absence of an Israeli response, and given the static deployment of forces, soldiers are exposed to attacks such as the one that led to the death of IDF soldier Sgt. Idan Fox.

The appropriation of Israel's national security by Trump is an impossible and unacceptable reality. It is hard to assume that strikes now will deter Hezbollah, which is demonstrating greater resilience and determination than expected. The terrorist organization understands that Israel is the one under pressure and is exploiting this. So what should Israel do now?

Europe's silence in the face of Iran reflects a profound moral collapse, one that prefers ideological purity to survival. Set against Ben Petura's toxic altruism stands Rabbi Akiva, reminding us to "Love your neighbor as yourself." Without self-love, love of the other cannot endure. Reflections for the Torah portions of Aharei Mot-Kedoshim.

President Donald Trump speaks of a good deal being just around the corner, but the latest developments in the region tell a somewhat different story, one that has managed to confuse even leading experts. An Iranian official said that a US threat to impose a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz “is more of a political bluff than reality.” Hint: Red Sea shipping lanes are also in the crosshairs.

Looking back, especially in light of the extensive military actions recentlyu undertaken by the United States and Israel against Iran and its nuclear infrastructure, it is difficult not to wonder how close this reality came to becoming irreversible. A combination of factors, foremost among them - changes in leadership in the United States, appears to have prevented the crossing of the point of no return.

A source familiar with the Trump administration’s moves told Israel Hayom that the next stages have already been set. After the ceasefire ends, an overwhelming military strike is expected to go ahead, with even greater force than the one the US has inflicted on Iran so far.

Those who live in Israel sacrifice daily for the dream of Jewish peoplehood. We, who do not yet live there, have a greater obligation to demonstrate that nothing, not ideology or geographical distance, can hold us apart.

The eternity of our people entered a particle accelerator over the past 100 years, and it has known how to rise from the ashes and don garments of glory. But in recent years, our national days have turned into oppositional days. For one week, we unite in remembrance and set our rifts aside, and the day after Independence Day, division once again becomes everything. We must not give up the argument, but we must leave room for the home in which it takes place. Our very soul depends on it.