Wartime Again Over Strait of Hormuz By November 3rd

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

President Donald Trump shared a modified map on his Truth Social account that renamed the Strait of Hormuz to the "Strait of Trump". The post featured commercial ships traversing the waterway but did not include a caption. The graphic was originally created by the pro-Trump account "IStandWithTrump47."

Are we all at war now or is war on the immediate horizen?

Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei issued the threat, warning: "Come — we are waiting for you — and we promise that not a single American soldier will return alive." This statement was a direct response to US President Donald Trump who threatened to seize Kharg Island—Iran's major oil export hub—following US airstrikes on Iranian targets."  Kharg Island, also spelled Khark Island and often referred to as the "Forbidden Island", is a continental island of Iran in the Persian Gulf. The island is 25 kilometres off the coast of Iran and 660 kilometres northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. This all is in response to Iran's refusal to obey Trump's wishes about the peace treaty they disagree with. 

Hmm, no wonder Iran thinks they own the Strait;  it's on; their border 

“To me, I think it’s over," Trump told reporters when asked about the state of the truce. The latest multi-day pause in fighting had been loosely observed during the funeral period for Iran’s late Supreme Leader, but unravelled rapidly following a fresh chain of maritime attacks.

A move came after a night of strikes in the Persian Gulf and "sharper rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he viewed the ceasefire with Iran as effectively over. The meeting had been scheduled to focus on Israel’s memorandum of understanding with the United States, but was also expected to address Iran.

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran has officially collapsed. Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump warned of immediate escalation, stating that the U.S. could launch deeper military strikes, reinstate a strict naval blockade, and potentially seize Kharg Island—the primary backbone of Iran’s petroleum export empire.

Seems like it's taken Trump a long time to understand how Israel feels about Iran not being a country one can trust or count on in wanting peace between themselves and others.  He's been most naive.  

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz canceled their participation in a military ceremony Wednesday evening and were set to hold a security discussion as Israel closely monitored the renewed confrontation between the United States and Iran.  President Isaac Herzog and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir were expected to attend the graduation ceremony at the National Security College, scheduled for 7 p.m. In Jerusalem, officials said Israel was on high alert and preparing for the possibility that fighting could quickly resume. Still, the prevailing assessment was that the current U.S.-Iran clash would not escalate into a full-scale war, at least not before the U.S. midterm elections" happening November 3, 2026."

Update:  10:12am 8th July 2026 : The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is over, at least for the time being. Trump announced the end after Iran fired at several cargo ships and the U.S. responded with airstrikes hitting over 80 Iranian military targets.Iran responded with strikes of its own, launching drones and ballistic missiles at Bahrain and Kuwait. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth cancelled his planned visit to Israel today. How this all will play out and how it will effect Israel is unclear. The ceasefire might be back on by the time you read this, or there might be all out war...or something in between. Stay tuned, and pray.

israelAM

Israeli New Italian-Jewish State Comptroller Causing Uproar

 Nadene Goldfoot

TOP WORLD NEWS TODAY:

July 6-8, 2026

"Michael Rabello, a lawyer born in 1966, age 60, was elected State Comptroller of Israel following a turbulent triggering further legal disputes. For years, he has stood alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in some of the most sensitive constitutional battles before Israel’s Supreme Court.

Michael Sierra loves this choice, BUT:  For Italian-Israeli jurist Michael Sierra, the affair presents a paradox. On the one hand, there is the professional he describes as “a very decent, upright person and an excellent lawyer.” On the other hand, the appointment risks being remembered for the controversy surrounding it. “I have known him practically since I was born. I don’t know if he will accept the position,” Sierra told Pagine Ebraiche. “Our families are friends. His father, Alfredo Rabello, was very close to my grandfather, who was the rabbi of Bologna at the time. They are kind, generous, and honorable people.”

In recent years, Rabello has become one of Netanyahu’s closest legal advisers. “Above all, Rabello is the lawyer handling institutional and constitutional matters,” Sierra explained. “He has been involved in many of the most sensitive cases concerning Netanyahu and the government.” Rabello’s role alongside the prime minister was one of the most debated aspects of the vote for State Comptroller. This position is an independent oversight authority elected by secret ballot in the Knesset and directly accountable to it for monitoring the government’s conduct. Rabello secured victory in the second round of voting, but the process was marred by controversy. Several Likud lawmakers photographed or filmed their ballots to prove that they had supported Netanyahu’s preferred candidate. “The problem is that the Basic Law on the State Comptroller expressly provides that the vote must be secret,” Sierra emphasized. “It is possible that the judges will annul the procedure and order a new vote. At the moment, that remains a plausible scenario.”  SO....

There is also ongoing litigation concerning the new law introducing the death penalty for certain terrorism-related offenses, as well as disputes surrounding the Judicial Appointments Committee. The Supreme Court recently ordered Justice Minister Yariv Levin to convene the committee after months of institutional deadlock. “Levin argues that the decision is illegitimate and continues to oppose it,” Sierra said. “If the government were to openly refuse to comply with a Supreme Court ruling, we would be facing a genuine constitutional crisis. It would be an unprecedented moment in Israel’s history.”

1. Israel Defies their own Supreme Court Ruling

The Israeli government has refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling concerning the country's media regulatory authority. Experts warn that the move could trigger a constitutional crisis. The legal adviser to the Knesset has concluded that lawmakers must comply with a High Court of Justice ruling invalidating the election of the state comptroller and hold a new vote "as soon as possible," even if parliament is dissolved for elections, according to a legal opinion obtained by ynet. Israel is embroiled in a severe constitutional clash following the High Court of Justice’s unanimous decision to invalidate the Knesset's election of Michael Rabello, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's personal attorney, as State Comptroller. The court ordered a rerun of the election due to substantive breaches of ballot secrecy during the second voting round,

Resource:

OPB radio broadcast

https://moked.it/international/israel-italian-israeli-lawyer-michael-rabello-appointed-state-comptroller/

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/syxfmas7zg?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=editorial-push#google_vignette

CNN's Emphatic News About Judea-Samaria Fighting We Don't Need

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

 

The Oslo Accords (specifically the 1995 Oslo II Accord) divided the West Bank, historically known as Judea and Samaria, into three administrative areas, A, B, and C.   This system was originally intended as a temporary, five-year arrangement to facilitate the transition of governance to the Palestinian Authority. 

CNN's news has been about Jewish teens attacking Palestinians, a switch if I ever heard one.  No doubt it's true, but why during the NATO goings on in Ankara, Turkey?  So let's see:  
                                                                             

Under the Oslo Accords, the West Bank was divided into three temporary zones to outline administrative and security control between Israel and the Palestinian Authority: 

According to Jewish records:

Area A: for majority of Palestinian population

Area B:  Both Arabs and Jewish population

Area C:  which is most vacant of any Palestinians up to now, all for the Jews.  Area C comprises about 60% of Judea and Samaria. It is under full Israeli administrative and security control and is home to the vast majority of the Jewish population in the region.  Wikipedia has this:  In 2023, Area C was home to 491,548 Israeli settlers and 354,000 Palestinians. The Jewish population in Area C is administered by the Israeli Judea and Samaria. I'd say this has been negotiated, at least through October 7, 2023.   

Settlements are Israeli civilian communities, overwhelmingly inhabited by Jews1, in territories acquired by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War that are not under Israeli sovereignty.

While Israeli settlements previously existed in Sinai and the Gaza Strip prior to Israel’s withdrawal from those territories (in 1982 and 2005, respectively), today the term is largely used to refer to Israeli communities in the West Bank (also known as Judea and Samaria).2

---

1 There are 33 settlements with registered Arab residents. Ariel has the largest Arab population out of the settlements, with 573 Arab residents (mostly Ariel University students.) Several others, including Maale Adumim, Kfar Etzion, and Giv’at Ze’ev, have a few dozen (Shaul Arieli, Deceptive Appearances, 99). 

2 Some also refer to Israeli communities in the Golan and neighborhoods in East Jerusalem as settlements, but given that Israel has annexed these areas, such communities do not function as settlements under Israeli law.

I notice that CNN is not helping any in the USA's problem of anti-Semitism.  They have been using the news about Judea and Samaria's youth rising up against the Palestinians there.  

One thing before you turn the dial;  ask yourself this:  Why are Palestinians so near Jewish teens that they are attacking them or is it each other- like a Los Angeles fight between gangs?  

The West Bank received that name over the heads of the Jewish people because it was Jordan who named it.  Soon after receiving Palestine in WWI  as the future home of the Jewish People and given the mandates to Great Britain and to France to care for it, Jordan gave about 80% of it to Prince Abdullah of Arabia so he could rule a piece of land.  Jordan got it and called it Trans-Jordan, and Palestine what was left of it, went to the Jewish committee who had verbally fought for it with the Balfour Doctrine and other important documents.  

This is just to let readers know why Judea and Samaria are important;  it was the original site of Judah, one of the 12 tribes of Jacob's sons who were given their piece of land according to Joshua's authority.  After King Solomon died in 920 BCE, Judah was the only state left fighting the Romans who destroyed their lives and Jerusalem in 70 CE.  Since then, it's been a long story of hoping and praying to be able to return and re-establish their designated Land that G-d had spoken of, a place of refuge for them.  

I feel that a long long time has gone by since then, and perhaps, just perhaps prophets knew what they were talking about when rabbis have mentioned that we are in special times;  already we see the RETURN OF JEWS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD RETURNING TO ISRAEL, like the Ethiopians.  Christians and Muslims also speak of the End of Times with amazing forecasts for each of them.  Everyone is searching for the moshiach to return.  Jews, coming for the first time, and Christians for the 2nd time as they see Jesus as their messiah.  

And talk about the end of the world, here we are with the whole world except maybe a few, have hatred only for Israel.  Only the United States with Trump at the helm has liked us;  and now is angry with us for standing up and not cow-towing to him over the Straits.  Israel is not parasite or a state within the USA but a state of their own creation, blood and tears, fought for from 1947-1949. 

June 2014, when three Israeli teenagers were abducted and murdered. The three students—Gilad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel, and Eyal Yifrah—were kidnapped by Hamas operatives while hitchhiking near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. Their disappearance sparked a massive Israeli search effort known as Operation Brother's Keeper. Their bodies were discovered over two weeks later in a field near the Palestinian city of Halhoul.The kidnappers and masterminds of the attack, Marwan Kawasme, Amer Abu Aysha, and Hussam Kawasme, were identified and subsequently killed or captured by Israeli security forces.  

 Trump is angry so is now threatening to see the best fighter jet they have to Turkey, Israel's enemy;  an enemy actually from way back to the Ottoman Empire when they took over Palestine.  During World War I, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) lost Palestine to the British Empire (and its Allied forces), culminating in the Sinai and Palestine campaign that effectively ended Ottoman control over the region.  Netanyahu is making a choice trying to hold onto his government where many religious factions sit.  If he makes them angry, they will pull out and destroy his government right now.  Oy vey, yes, an oy vey day.  I know this.  CNN knows this.  Time and again, I've written about Jews in Judea-Samaria being attacked by adults and killed there.  

During new clips on CNN, I saw nothing but how our boys were attacking-first time this has turned out to happen, attack the Palestinians.  That's all viewers have to see to join in with the hatred for Israel.  There was so much other stuff about NATO they could have gotten into, as I did in a few articles previously.  So, CNN, I'm onto you.  Netanyahu was trying to tell the commentator lady how Israel tries all the time not to injure or kill Palestinian civilians, but what he said was interrupted in every other word he said with her butting in;  and Netanyahu just kept going on anyway with what he was saying.  What he didn't mention, though, is that it's almost impossible to tell terrorists apart from civilians.  They are all wearing the same clothing.  Basically, it's the men as terrorists and women as civilians-maybe, with civilians being held by terrorists as someone to hide behind.  They are not honorable fighters.  

Resource:

Wikipedia

French President Meeting With Syrian President in Damascus Before NATO Summit in Ankara

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Syria to formalize a new diplomatic and economic partnership with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. The landmark trip—the first by a Western EU head of state since the regime change—focused on reconstruction, reopening embassies, and securing business investments. 

The landmark visit was overshadowed by a security scare. Two explosive devices blew up near the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus, where Macron's delegation had stayed and held earlier meetings. The blasts wounded at least 18 people. Macron was unharmed, and his meetings at the presidential palace proceeded as scheduled.

The reason this should be newsworthy to Israel is that French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have clashed severely over Israel's military campaign in Gaza. While Macron showed early solidarity after October 7, his stance has since hardened into sharp criticism, with France pushing to recognize a Palestinian state and demanding an arms embargo. My opinion is that a Palestinian State has been tabled for forever since October 7th.  There is no hope for pushing Palestinians to be friendly neighbors like Canada and the USA, or Mexico and USA.  It's impossible.  Palestinians and many followers of the Islam of Iran, the Shi'as, teach an extreme Islam which means to hate Jews and wipe them into the Sea.  This conclusion was come to even before October 7th happened.  For 45 years Israel has been tortured by attacks from PLO, Hamas, with all the others joining in.  No one helped Israel.  There was no NATO to step in and assist people already decimated by the Holocaust by 6 million or has everyone forgotten that?  

Now, Israel's neighbor is Syria.  Look into that, today;  run by a terrorist al Qaeda member and leader !  Trump thinks Jolani could take Hezbollah in a minute, better than slower Israel.  Yikes!  Sure, watch out -al Qaeda morals and tactics can show the world what real attacks are like, thinks Trump.  

Israel has expanded its military operations and established a continuous security footprint in southern Syria since the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) regularly conduct ground incursions and airstrikes in the Quneitra and Daraa regions, actions that the Syrian government condemns as a violation of sovereignty and the 1974 disengagement agreement. The reason is chasing terrorists who hide in Syria while shooting missiles into Israel.  Duh!  

Regional Dynamics: In addition to military engagements, the region has seen intensified competition involving Turkey, which has criticized Israel’s military expansion, and the broader fallout from regional conflicts. No doubt Turkey, Syria and France will get together at the NATO Conference to talk about Israel at great depth, more than even  in a NATO 32 member shpeil with the USA.  

Key or Other Objectives of the Meeting of Macron and Jolani

• Economic Rebuilding: Macron was accompanied by executives from major French corporations (including TotalEnergies and CMA CGM) to map out recovery efforts and restructure Syria's banking sector. 
• Diplomatic Normalization: The two leaders agreed to reappoint ambassadors after a decade-long freeze, effectively bringing Syria out of Western isolation. France also agreed to return more than $50 million in confiscated assets belonging to the former Assad family. 
• Security & Geopolitics: Discussions covered ongoing counterterrorism efforts against ISIS and the push for minority protection under Syria’s new transitional government. 

Resource:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/29/new-israeli-assault-in-southern-syria-forces-families-to-flee-their-homes

https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-syria-trump-israel-hezbollah-war-1de06c560491e9e74d7f4febe195fd31

https://www.stimson.org/2026/parallel-talks-with-israel-are-reshaping-syria-lebanon-relations/

Two NATO Summit Meetings of 2004 and 2026 Worth Reading

 Nadene Goldfoot                                     

The French President, Macron, stopped off in Syria on Monday before going onto the Summit Meeting of NATO on Monday our time of July 6, 2026. The Summit meeting of NATO is from July 7-8, 2026.

He wanted to visit with al-Sharaa (formerly Jolani, a well-known terrorist) and help him set up their country again.

At least 18 people, including four police officers, were injured after two explosions near the hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron had stayed in Damascus. The blasts occurred ahead of Macron's meetings with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during the first visit by a French leader to Syria since 2009.

Interestingly enough, The June 24, 2004 parcel bomb at the Ankara Hilton Hotel left two police officers wounded. It was part of a coordinated pair of attacks; the second and deadlier bombing occurred hours later on an Istanbul bus, which killed four people and injured 15 others.

Both attacks were executed just ahead of the NATO Istanbul Summit, which world leaders—including U.S. President George W. Bush—were scheduled to attend. Trump already arrived there.

Resource:

NPR: https://www.npr.org/2026/07/07/nx-s1-5884579/damascus-explosions-macron

OPB radio listening to PBS broadcast from BBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6hFNTHacSk

NATO Summit Meeting 2026 In Ankara, Turkey With Trump May Be Lively

 Nadene Goldfoot                                            

It's 5:30 AM here on the Pacific Coast and here's the latest happening 10 hours ahead of us in Ankara, Turkey at the NATO Summit meeting where the 32 states belonging are sure to arrive.  

• Global stakes: US President Donald Trump has landed in Turkey ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, as his growing criticism continues to strain the 77-year-old alliance. NATO’s chief says US allies have made “remarkable progress” with defense spending — a salient issue for Trump, who has called on them to “step up.”

             The world's most advanced fighter jet, the F-35.  The F-35 strengthens national security, enhances global partnerships and powers economic growth. It is the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world, giving pilots an advantage against any adversary and enabling them to execute their mission and come home safe.  As adversaries advance and legacy aircraft age, the F-35 is critical to maintaining air dominance for decades to come.

                 Trump and Erdogen

• Turkey jet sales: Trump received a ceremonial welcome and was greeted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The US president is expected to signal at the summit that he is willing to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, according to two US officials. This is very bad news since Turkey and Israel are on the outs.  Turkey is again seeing through Erdogan's eyes of being the Ottoman Empire and owning Israel and all the states around.  It's digusting!  The F-35 strengthens national security, enhances global partnerships and powers economic growth. It is the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world, giving pilots an advantage against any adversary and enabling them to execute their mission and come home safe.

As adversaries advance and legacy aircraft age, the F-35 is critical to maintaining air dominance for decades to come.

The F-35 team is delivering integrated sustainment capabilities to ensure the F-35 is mission-ready, anytime and anywhere. Because minutes matter, Lockheed Martin’s 24/7 operations centers and sustainment engineers partner closely with our customers to solve new challenges and meet the needs of the flight line.

• Strait of Hormuz: The Trump administration anticipates security in the strait to be among the key topics discussed by NATO leaders, according to a senior US official.

• Ukraine in focus: The president is also expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara. Trump vowed to end Russia’s war within 24 hours of taking office — but his administration has yet to find a path to peace.