Will It Be A Silent Ten Day Cease Fire?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                

                                          Israeli soldiers in cease fire 

A 10 day cease fire is a long time.  Can they do it?  

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon went into effect on April 16, 2026, aimed at halting intense fighting in Lebanon and supporting US-led negotiations with Iran (of the remaining government of Ayatollah. While officials confirmed the truce, its future remains uncertain as Hezbollah warned its fighters are still on high alert and the truce faces potential disruptions. 

Key Aspects of the Ceasefire

• Lebanon-Israel Status: A 10-day truce began on April 16, 2026, aiming to halt the violent escalation in southern Lebanon, where over 2,100 people were reported killed.
• Terms and Compliance: The agreement requires Lebanon's official security forces to be the sole armed entity in southern Lebanon. Israel is prohibited from offensive operations but retains the right to act in self-defense.
• Hezbollah Response: Hezbollah acknowledged the ceasefire but did not formally accept it, stating its actions depend on developments and that their fighters "remain on the trigger".
• Broader Context: This truce is intended to facilitate broader, separate negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to stabilize the region and secure the Strait of Hormuz, with reports indicating a separate two-week ceasefire between the US/Israel and Iran.
• Risks: Israeli opposition has labeled the truce a "betrayal," and previous ceasefire attempts have failed, leaving the potential for fighting to resume if the deal does not lead to a lasting peace. 
• It looks like all he work of the former Shah's son of guiding the other half of the population in protest and wanting a new government of their own choosing is for naught with Trump. 
  
• Reza Pahlavi (born October 31, 1960) is the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, and Empress Farah. As the former Crown Prince of Iran, he lives in exile in the United States and is a prominent opposition leader calling for a secular democracy in Iran. 

Rumor of A Draft Wrong

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

         When National  Guard patrolled Washington DC

The rumor in Portland, Oregon regarding the call-up of young men to service, the draft,  is inaccurate; the order was focused on mobilizing about 200 members of the Oregon National Guard, not a general draft.

The National Guard is composed of U.S. citizens and permanent residents aged 17–35 (up to 42 for some roles) who serve part-time while maintaining civilian careers, often described as serving "one weekend a month, two weeks a year". Members include high school juniors/seniors, college students, and working professionals seeking additional income, benefits, and training close to home.

They join the National Guard to serve part-time while keeping their civilian jobs. Key motivators include comprehensive educational benefits (tuition coverage), health insurance, specialized training, extra income, and the dual purpose of serving both their local community during disasters and the country during federal deployments.  I would add that I think the biggest motivator back then in 73 was the extra money the guys could make.  

In September 2025, President Trump announced the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, to protect federal facilities, a move that prompted a lawsuit from the state and a federal court blocking of the order. 

Our young men and women in their 20's don't have to worry.  The United States last drafted people into military service in 1973. Active conscription for the Vietnam War ended on January 27, 1973, with the final draftees inducted into the Army on June 30, 1973. Following this, the U.S. military transitioned to an all-volunteer force.

During the Vietnam War, an estimated 20,000 to over 60,000 American men, known as "draft dodgers" or war resisters, fled to Canada to avoid compulsory military service. This exodus, largely driven by moral opposition to the war and fear of conscription, represented the largest politically motivated migration from the U.S. since the American Revolution.

In case you forgot your history, The American Revolution typically refers to the period between 1765 and 1783. It began with colonial resistance to British taxes like the Stamp Act (1765) and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which formally recognized the United States' independence. The military conflict (Revolutionary War) took place from 1775 to 1783.

Resource:

https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/28/oregon-portland-sue-trump-deployment/#:~:text=State%20leaders%20say%20they've,had%20overreached%20and%20acted%20unlawfully.

https://www.quora.com/During-the-Vietnam-War-many-draft-dodgers-fled-to-Canada-Why-werent-they-extradited

https://www.asvabprogram.com/media-center-article/172

How the Two Wars Affect Each Other's Leaders, Trump and Netanyahu

 Nadene Goldfoot                                            

   September 19, 2025,  Hezbollah supporters listen to Naim Qassem, born in 1953, 73 years old

Naim Qassem is a Lebanese Shia cleric and politician who became Hezbollah’s secretary-general on 29 October 2024, the fourth person to hold the position. He participated in the founding of Hezbollah in 1982, and previously served as the first deputy secretary-general from 1991 to 2024.

He offered the listeners Financial and Rebuilding Support: Qassem promised that the group would fund the reconstruction of homes, promising to build them "more beautifully than they were".

• Continued Resistance: He has consistently pledged that the group will not lay down its weapons or surrender, despite pressure from the U.S. and Israel, emphasizing that the "resistance" will continue to fight.

There have been two major wars going on at the same time. One is Trump's war in the Strait of Hormuz  with Iran's present Ayatollah government.  The other is the one involving Lebanon and Israel with Hezbollah terrorists turned militaristic.   They are affecting each other.

Trump's war opponent says that they will keep on fighting as long as  Lebanon  keeps on fighting.  They will stop only if Lebanon's war has a cease fire.                    

So if Netanyahu sees fit to return gunfire against Hezbollah, the war in Hormus will commence. Israel will be blamed.  What a way for Iran to blackmail Israel !  

Netanyahu: Long ‘road to peace’ begins, as Trump says Israel ‘PROHIBITED’ from bombing Lebanon.

10-day ceasefire largely appears to hold even as Lebanese media report Israeli strike on motorcycle; Hezbollah says its ‘finger on the trigger’; wartime restrictions lifted on public.

• Context of Truce Violations: Despite the ceasefire aiming to end six weeks of fighting, Israel has maintained the right to target Hezbollah for "planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks" and has continued to operate in a 10-kilometer security zone along the border.

• "U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open to commercial vessels. Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said the strategic waterway “is declared completely open,” in line with the new ceasefire in Lebanon, and Trump said the strait is “ready for full passage.”
• However, the impression that this was a truce imposed upon Israel was reinforced by US President Donald Trump, who declared in a Truth Social post that Israel “will not be bombing Lebanon any longer.”
• In Addition,  Trump added that the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ships and ports “will remain in full force” until Iran reaches a deal with Washington to end the war. Trump later suggested a second round of direct US-Iran talks could happen this weekend."
• (To continue with talks seems to be futile.  Iran cannot be trusted in what they promise.)  (They lie.)  (Look at the regime they are making a deal with.)"
• Resource:
• https://apnews.com/live/iran-war-israel-trump-04-17-2026
• https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=24215523788131729
• https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/18/hezbollah-chief-rejects-us-proposals-on-group-giving-up-weapons#:~:text=Knockback%20deals%20potential%20blow%20to,'%20for%20Israel-Lebanon%20peace.&text=Hezbollah%20leader%2
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naim_Qassem
• https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-long-road-to-peace-begins-as-trump-says-israel-prohibited-from-bombing-lebanon/

Cease Fire Started For Ten Days

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

                                                             Stock Market 

Israel and Lebanon have entered into a 10 day ceasefire agreement, which Hezbollah says that it will respect. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “We have an opportunity to make a historic peace agreement with Lebanon. President.  (He is not a Hezbollah member.)   

(Netanyahu continued)Trump intends to invite me and the president of Lebanon to try to advance this agreement.” (they must mean to extend the 10 days into a longer period)

According to Netanyahu, Israeli forces are maintaining a buffer zone about 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep inside southern Lebanon, to prevent anti-tank fire and incursions into northern Israel. 

Many residents of the north are unhappy with the ceasefire, which leaves Hezbollah in tact and capable of attacking in the future.                                                   

                         Getting Their Last Licks  In

The ceasefire, which came into force at midnight, followed hours of rocket fire from Lebanon into northern Israel. The IDF responded with attacks against Hezbollah targets.

One of the main impetuses for the agreement is to help move the U.S.-Iran negotiations forward, which at its core demands that Iran give up its nuclear ambitions and its stock of enriched uranium. Iran was demanding that a ceasefire in Lebanon be included in an agreement. Notably, Iran did not include the status of Hamas in their demands, despite pleas from Hamas to do so. If a new Iran does emerge from this current conflict, then the days of Hamas and Hezbollah could be numbered. Let's hope that's the case. 

Oil prices plunged sharply on April 17, 2026, with Brent crude 

falling 9.5% to below $90 a barrel and WTI dropping over 9% to 

$82.60. According to CNN Business, this drop follows Iran 

announcing the Strait of Hormuz will be completely open for 

commercial transit during a 10-day ceasefire agreed upon in 

the region.

So what happens if Hezbollah shoots and starts shooting 

more at IDF before the 10 days are over?  If IDF shoots back, 

the cease fire is broken.  Then Israel will be blamed.  Well, 

tough !  

Resource:

israelAM

CNN-TV --https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/07/markets/us-stocks-oil-trump-iran-ceasefire#:~:text=Oil%20prices%20plummeted%20and%20stocks,world's%20oil%20supply%20normally%20passes.

Cease Fire in Lebanon ?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                            

     June 12, 2024 One of the largest missile attacks on Israel by Lebanon:  On June 12, 2024, Hezbollah launched over 200 rockets and multiple drones into northern Israel, marking one of the largest attacks in the 8-month conflict. This massive barrage, which caused widespread fires and targeted military sites like the Meron air traffic control base, was retaliation for an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon that killed:

Abdullah on right side of picture:

         Senior Hezbollah commander Taleb Abdullah. “The most important Hezbollah official to have been killed” since the October war, according to a source quoted by AFP, Hajj Abou Taleb “has disappointed no front since his early youth,” said Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah MP.

Al Jazeerq and most all other countries are reporting that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, United States President Donald Trump says.  I haven't heard such a story Trump is announcing agreed upon by Israel, though.  Just because Trump says something is not inclusive always to what Netanyahu thinks best for Israel and Netanyahu does not go along with all Trump says.  

The truce will take effect at 5pm US East Coast time (21:00 GMT) on Thursday, Trump wrote on social media after speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Now several hours later, Israel has not confirmed a cease fire as yet.  Netanyahu said that Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon within an “extensive” security zone and that he wanted Hezbollah “dismantled” as part of a future agreement with Lebanon.  Trump later said the Lebanese government would begin working with Hezbollah to achieve that goal.

Pictures like this are hard to swallow but make a point of why Israel had not signed this peace agreement making Trump's comment a truth, and why.  Israel will be hit over and over again if restraints aren't on the peace agreement.  

About an hour ago, says CBC, Israel agrees to 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon, but says its troops will stay on the ground.  U.S. State Department says truce meant to provide opportunity for long-term peace talks.  

The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said strikes killed nine people across the southern district of Tyre over the past two days, including a paramedic.  At least eight people were killed and 33 others wounded in an Israeli strike on the town of Ghaziyeh in the Zahrani area of southern Lebanon on Thursday, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported.

“These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.  He says things like this of what he wants to happen but are not really verified when he says them.  It's a habit of his.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the announcement in a post on X, describing the ceasefire as “a central Lebanese demand we have pursued since the first day of the war” and the primary goal of Tuesday’s meeting between Lebanese and Israeli officials in the US.

Lebanon was drawn into the US-Israeli war on Iran on March 2 when Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned Lebanese armed group, fired rockets at Israel in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in an Israeli strike on the opening day of the war on Iran.  

Lebanon has been taken over by Hezbollah.  Hezbollah does not formally rule Lebanon as a single party, but it acts as a powerful "state within a state," exerting dominant influence over the Lebanese government, security, and infrastructure. As a major political party with parliamentary seats and cabinet positions since 1992 and 2005 respectively, it operates as a, if not the, key power broker.

Hezbollah has stated it will continue attacking Israel until Israel halts its operations in Gaza.  Hezbollah has established strong military presence in southern Lebanon, storing rockets in civilian sites, building tunnels into Israel, and obstructing United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon's (UNIFIL) access.

Israeli forces responded with a ferocious campaign that has since killed more than 2,196 people in Lebanon and wounded thousands more. Israel has also issued forced evacuation orders covering roughly 15 percent of Lebanese territory.

Resource:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/12/hezbollah-rains-rockets-on-israel-after-senior-commander-killed

https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1417115/who-is-taleb-abdallah-the-hezbollah-commander-assassinated-in-jwaya.html

Pharasees (Jewish) Criticized By Hegseth of Trump's Governing Body

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

                    Pete Hegseth b: June 6, 1980, 45 years old.  He's a former television personality who has served since 2025 as the 29th United States secretary of defense.   Hegseth studied politics at Princeton University, where he was the publisher of The Princeton Tory, a conservative student newspaper.^[3] In 2003, he was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Minnesota Army National Guard, serving at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.^[4] Hegseth worked for several organizations after leaving Iraq, including as an executive director at Vets For Freedom^[5] and Concerned Veterans for America. He became a contributor to Fox News in 2014. Hegseth served as an advisor to President Donald Trump after supporting his campaign in 2016. From 2017 to 2024,  I don't see any background in Biblical studies other than him being:   Religious Affiliation: Christian:  Hegseth is aligned with the CREC, a denomination known for its, and, according to, a "strong hierarchy" and rigid, patriarchal, and socially conservative beliefs.

Ah yes, Hethseth now criticizing Pharasees (Jews) through the New Testament of Jesus.  The commentator on CNN had it wrong; he wasn't criticizing Jesus;  he was referring to the Pharasees who were the Jews.  The Sadducees in the Temple followed a strict, literal interpretation of the written Law of Moses (the Torah or Pentateuch). They focused on the first five books of the Bible, rejecting the oral traditions, interpretations, and added doctrines held by the Pharisees, such as the resurrection of the dead. 

That's what I took it as, anyway.

Even the HILL's headline reads "Hegseth compares media to Jewish biblical group that clashed with Jesus. He was talking about the Pharasees, probably having no idea who they were other than Jews that Jesus was against.  

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday complained about an “endless stream of garbage” from the media in its coverage of the Iran war, comparing the Pentagon press corps to the Pharisees, the biblical Jewish group that often clashed with Jesus as told in the New Testament only. He is not mentioned in our Jewish Torah at all.  “As I just can’t help but notice the endless stream of garbage, the relentlessly negative coverage you cannot resist peddling, despite the historic and important success of this effort and the success of our troops,” Hegseth said during a briefing at the Pentagon. “Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on.”

Well, thank you very much, I say bitterly.  You just called our origin of today's Judaism an endless stream of garbage-as you say Jesus must have thought, who was also a Jew, as you should know.  Let me tell you a few things:  

"King Solomon lived from 961 to 920 BCE, almost 1,000 years before Jesus and he is the one who had the Temple completed as Moses had wanted.  

Going back further than Jesus, to the 2nd Temple period, in Jewish history, it lasted approximately 600 years, from 516 BCE to 70 CE. It began with the completion and dedication of the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile and ended with its destruction by the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War.  It had Jews in 2 political groups called the Pharisees and the Saducees.  The Pharisees were interested in how the masses needed learning more of the traditional religious teaching.  The Pharisees used to eat in groups and observe all the rules of purity in the same manner as the priests consuming consecrated food in the Temple.  They incorporated into the cult, as some called it, folk-customs not mentioned in the Bible, such as the Water-Drawing Festival, to the dismay of the Saducees.  Pharisees admitted the principle of evolution in their legal decisions.  The Pharisees were thus generally lenient in their interpretatioins.  Pharisaism  was responsible for strengthening morality and  introducing the elasticity which enabled Judaism to withstand its subsequent tribulations;  the movement was continued in the stream of historic Judaism.   So, this is the line of our Judaism today, which has evolved into 3 groups as such;  Orthodox, Conservative, and then Reform Judaism.   

The Sadducees had had absolute control.  It is thought that the origin could have come from the high priest, Zadok whose descendants served in the same office until 162  BCE. It was the well-connected priests and prominent aristocrats who belonged to the Sadducees.  They were the influential in political and economic life.  For them, religion was primarily the Temple cult without a basis of abstracted faith. According to their viewpoint, individuals and groups must aspire to well-being in this world without expecting recompense in the world to come.  they had no belief in a future world, resurrections, or the immortality of the soul and also rejected the existence of angels and spirits.  They sounded very much like our scientists of today,   a very scientific outlook.   The Sadducees were incapable of adaption to a changing environment.  They clung to the letter of the text.  

Resource: 

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5834226-hegseth-media-iran-war-criticism/

CNN