Thursday, July 2, 2026

Will Trump Attend NATO July Meeting?

Nadene Goldfoot                                        


Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - was formed in Washington DC in 1949 by 12 countries. The founding members were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the UK and the US.

On July 7–8, leaders from all 32 member states are expected convene in the Turkish capital, including U.S. President Donald Trump, whose threats to withdraw from NATO and reduce U.S. troop levels have cast uncertainty over the alliance’s future.  Turkey has also unveiled a new VIP airport, converted from a former military airfield, specifically to host NATO leaders.


Nato's main purpose was to block expansion in Europe by the Soviet Union - a group of communist republics dominated by Russia which was dissolved in 1991. It also aimed to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe and encourage European political integration. It has grown and now has 32 nations belonging.  

 It is the organization that Donald Trump has complained about because he said the USA paid their dues and kept it going but the others weren't.  Well, who were those countries, anyway?    NATO’s main political and administrative headquarters are permanently located in Brussels, Belgium. Daily committee consultations and weekly ambassadorial meetings take place there . 

Twenty additional European nations have joined since 1952, with the most recent expansions including Finland (April 2023) and Sweden (March 2024). Notable countries added in previous waves include:  Germany, Greece, Poland, Spain and Turkey!  Turkey officially joined NATO on February 18, 1952, when the Instrument of Accession was signed in Ankara . The country was formally welcomed alongside Greece during the alliance's first expansion.

" President Trump views the NATO alliance as heavily imbalanced, frequently stating that the U.S. bears a disproportionate financial burden while allies fail to reciprocate militarily. Frustrated by a lack of allied support—most notably during U.S. actions involving Iran—he has increasingly embraced the idea of operating independently."

Major, high-level summit meetings involving heads of state take place in different rotating member countries depending on the year. 

The Ankara Summit is said to have had their mood changed.  What had happened to do that?  European allies are less focused on appeasing Trump and more focused on smoothing the transition to a Europe-led alliance.                     

İsmail Alper Coşkun, Turkish Ambassador: Turkey’s stake in NATO membership and in keeping the alliance afloat is high, given NATO’s enduring centrality to Ankara’s security, defense, and deterrence interests and the way it anchors Turkey in the transatlantic security debate. Turkey’s contributions to NATO and its long-standing desire to host a summit reflect this calculus.

Yet Ankara is also adapting to a changing U.S. posture and evolving security landscape, including a reordering in the Middle East. As Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan noted, no one, including Turkey, can operate on autopilot any longer with a single alliance, namely NATO, as its sole organizing principle. Similarly, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler recently argued that the era of absolute reliance on a single alliance is over. So for Turkey, this is increasingly an era of supplementing NATO with other security mechanisms.

Israel is having problems with Turkey.  Relations between Israel and Turkey have plunged to historic lows as the Gaza war and overlapping regional ambitions in Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Horn of Africa fuel military and diplomatic standoffs. Syria: Following Israeli airstrikes near Turkish deployment sites in Syria, the two nations established deconfliction communication, though Ankara warns that Israeli military operations increasingly threaten Turkish security. 

The diplomatic schism reached a boiling point in late June 2026 when Israel's Cabinet voted to officially recognize the WWI-era Armenian genocide. This was just announced to many American Jews.   Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sharply condemned the move, labeling Israel a "murder network" committing genocide in Gaza, while Israeli officials cited Turkey’s hostile rhetoric and  and regional aggression as the catalyst for the historic pivot in policy. 

NATO Summits: These are major meetings of Heads of State and Government . They are held irregularly at important junctures in the alliance and rotate locations . For example, the summit was held in The Hague, Netherlands, while the subsequent summit was hosted in Ankara, Türkiye (Turkey).  The last official NATO Summit meeting was held in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 24–25, 2025 . 

Key focuses of this meeting included increasing defense spending, boosting industrial capacity, and supporting Ukraine.

NATO summits for the 32 member nations do not follow a fixed schedule but are instead held on an ad-hoc basis whenever required by the evolving security and political landscape . While they were previously infrequent, the heads of state have gathered more frequently in recent years, including an annual rhythm. The alliance is currently debating moving away from annual summits, considering a shift to biennial (every two years) or event-driven summits to prioritize longer-term planning and reduce political tensions.
Resource:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/794151476677269
https://apnews.com/article/turkey-nato-summit-tight-security-c2423abfaa605dbfb8228972047c1dbf
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-898999
https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/introduction-to-nato/nato-summits
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Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Today's Israel and Egypt Neighborliness and Any Problems Developing

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

Kerem Shalom is a vital border crossing located at the junction of the Gaza Strip, Israel, and Egypt. It serves as a primary commercial access point and a critical lifeline for the delivery of humanitarian aid, food, medical supplies, and fuel into Gaza.
   My living room in Safed on main floor with bars to keep out terrorist: I made a temporary sofa out of a single bed waiting for my lift:   

It takes me back to the time from September 1980 when I made Aliyah to Israel and was studying for my final test in Hebrew and had a chance to go to Egypt as a tourist.  I couldn't go with my new friends because my husband and I were cramming and going over our text.  Others hopped on a bus and went to Egypt.  Being here in an Assisted living today and who do I meet but a male resident who had traveled there 3 times with ease.  He read my book, "Letters From Israel" and it brought back a lot of memories of his trips. Now, the situation has changed, sadly:   

Israel and Egypt are currently navigating a complex period marked by heightened border security, significant Egyptian military expansion, and ongoing diplomatic friction regarding Gaza. 
Border and Security Dynamics
  • Checkpoint Relocation: Israel relocated its screening facility for Palestinians returning to Gaza from Egypt to the Kerem Shalom Crossing, moving away from the previous Rafah military checkpoint.
                                                     

  • Sinai Tensions: Israel is expressing mounting strategic concern over Egypt's growing military presence and infrastructure upgrades in the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli security sources claim Egypt has exceeded troop levels permitted under the 1979 peace treaty. (The 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty demilitarized the Sinai Peninsula by dividing it into specific security zones, placing strict limits on the type and number of Egyptian troops allowed in each region . In recent years, these restrictions have been frequently adapted by mutual agreement to allow heavier Egyptian deployments for counterterrorism).  With Israeli acquiescence to de facto alterations of the 1979 peace treaty, Egypt has deployed substantial military forces into the Sinai to combat terrorists. But Israel remains hesitant about Cairo's inclination to increase pressure on Hamas in Gaza.
  • Gaza Mediation: Egypt continues to serve as a key mediator in ceasefire negotiations and has actively hosted factions discussing the release of hostages.
Diplomatic Friction
  • Geopolitical Pushback: Egyptian leadership is urging Israel to abandon plans to expand control over Gaza and is demanding a comprehensive withdrawal of Israeli forces. 
  • Broader Concerns: The shifting regional balance of power has prompted ongoing debate within Israeli defense circles regarding Egypt's rapidly modernizing armed forces. 
  • Egypt's government has an uneasy and pragmatic relationship with Hamas rather than a warm alliance, driven by mutual necessity rather than ideological alignment . While the Egyptian public generally sympathizes with Palestinians, the state's leadership treats the militant group with deep suspicion due to severe security and political concerns.
    • Energy and Trade
    • Gas Agreements: Despite geopolitical differences, the two nations remain deeply connected by energy ties, with Israel previously signing a massive $35 billion gas export agreement to supply Egypt .
    Resource:
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Anti-Semitism in the United States During the Twenties

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

This is the first time I've seen my father so dapper.  He immediately started wearing jeans and plaid shirts and boots forever more.!!!  Only a few times, Mom got him dressed up for a picture for some reason or other, but it wasn't common.  They were a couple, Morris (from Moshe-Moses)  and Milly (Mildred).  Mom/s birthday was June 29, 1914 and Dad's was July 1, 1908.  Dad had 3 years of high school, pitcher on their baseball team, and Mom had less.  Both were very bright.                             
         Me and my father, Maurice Goldfoot;  he smoked cigars

Seven years before I was born was a time that shaped my parents.  It was their era of culture; music, politics, work and fun. Neither one finished  high school.  They met on the streets of Portland being from extremely different cultures, my father being Jewish and a kosher butcher taking a break,  and my mother from a Swedish Lutheran taking a walk with her charges as she was a nanny.   Both of their parents were immigrants, though.  

Antisemitism in the 1920s United States peaked during a period of intense xenophobia, nativism, and racialized anxiety. It manifested systematically through restrictive university admission quotas, exclusionary social and housing policies, and mass-media conspiracy theories championed by prominent industrialist Henry Ford.

  • The Dearborn Independent: Automotive pioneer Henry Ford purchased a local newspaper and used it to publish antisemitic articles that circulated to hundreds of thousands of readers across the country. 
  • The International Jew: Ford compiled these articles into a four-volume series titled "The International Jew," which heavily relied on the fabricated Russian text "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" to legitimize false claims of an international Jewish conspiracy. 
  • Impact of the Media Campaign: Ford's immense celebrity and financial backing brought deeply fringe, foreign conspiracy theories into the mainstream American consciousness, heavily influencing later international antisemitic movements. 
  • University Quotas: Elite institutions of higher education, most notably in the Ivy League, implemented strict, unofficial quota systems that drastically reduced Jewish enrollment. 
  • Societal Segregation: Jewish Americans were systematically barred from joining private social clubs, professional networks, and country clubs. 
  • Housing Restrictions: Real estate covenants were widely used to explicitly prevent Jewish families from purchasing properties in certain neighborhoods. 
  • Strict Immigration Laws: The pervasive xenophobia of the 1920s influenced federal legislation, resulting in the Immigration Act of 1924, which established rigid national-origin quotas designed specifically to limit Jewish and Eastern European immigration. 
  • Rise of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan experienced a massive resurgence in the 1920s, boasting an estimated four million members . The organization amplified its hatred to target not only Black Americans but also Jewish and Catholic populations under the banner of white Protestant supremacy 
  • Doesn't all this look terribly familiar, like we're experiencing the same attitudes and outcomes right now in 2026?  
  • Bryson's book below has this on page 257:
    Charles Lindbergh (born February 4, 1902, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.—died August 26, 1974, Maui, Hawaii) . Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, and military officer who became famous for his 1927 nonstop flight from New York to Paris. He flew alone for over 33 hours, covering 3,600 miles. Lindbergh's feat helped advance aviation and made him an international celebrity. Yet he was an anti-Semite.  
  •   A few Jews add strength and character to a country.  Too many create chaos.  And we are getting too many. Charles Lindbergh
  • Charles Lindbergh’s antisemitism is primarily remembered through his 1941 Des Moines speech, in which he controversially accused the "Jewish race" of conspiring with the British and the Roosevelt administration to manipulate America into entering World War II.
  • The Des Moines Speech (1941)  On September 11, 1941, when I had just turned 7;  while acting as the leading public spokesman for the isolationist America First Committee, Lindbergh delivered a national radio address titled "Who Are the War Agitators?" In it, he stated that "the three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt Administration". He characterized Jewish people as outsiders who controlled the press, cinema, and radio, and claimed their primary motivations for war were not aligned with American interests.  


  • Resource:
  • AI
  • PBS, 
  • Wikipedia
  • Holocaust Encyclopedia
  • Museum of Jewish Heritage
  • Book:  One Summer America, 1927 by Bill Bryson, given to me by Portland Librarian Sandra Viah, my friend, that inspired me to write this blog article.  (look at the index under anti-semitism. )



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    Today's Situation In Syria And Israel's Golan

     Nadene Goldfoot                                        

          . Maintained by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the narrow, 80-kilometer-long demilitarized strip extends along two separation lines."

    "Syria is currently governed by a transitional authority under acting president Ahmed al-Sharaa, AKA Jolani, terrorist . The country is undergoing a delicate post-conflict recovery and economic reintegration, while navigating rising tensions along its southern and northeastern borders". We Americans thought this area was the least of Israel's problems;  that they had their hands full on the border with Lebanon.
     Israel occupied the Golan Heights in 1967, a very necessary move as they were being attacked from there,  and unilaterally annexed the territory in 1981, imposing Israeli civil law. It is heavily integrated into Israel, with dozens of established settlements and a population composed of both Jewish Israelis and Druze residents.  This was important to do because Syrians bombed Israel from  up high in Golan, dropping bombs down below on Israel.  Only the USA recognize Israel in this as the UN is useless, constantly siding with the Muslims.  

    "The Syrian civil war that began in 2011 increased the threat to Israel making Israel’s unwillingness to give up the Golan look prescient. Iran, Hezbollah, and ISIS have fought a war that is so destructive Syria may never be reconstituted as a single nation with its previous borders. Each of those parties pose a risk to Israel, especially Iran, which seeks to build bases in Syria from which it could launch attacks against Israel. Hezbollah has also attempted to establish a beachhead near the Golan to add to the threat they already present from Lebanon. Syria under Assad or a future leader will also be a threat in the absence of a peace agreement.

    On March 21, 2019, President Donald Trump announced in a tweet: “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!” He made it official on March 25 following a meeting with Netanyahu. 

    Trump’s announcement was welcomed by Israelis across the political spectrum and the Wall Street Journal noted, “Recognizing the Golan sends a message to Russia, Syria’s patron, that the U.S. recognizes that the civil war has changed Syrian reality. There is no returning to a nonexistent status quo ante.”

    Southern Border Incursions
    Israel seized control of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria in December 2024, following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in an insurgent offensive. Israeli officials initially described the move as temporary to protect their borders from militant groups, but more recently top Israeli officials have said they plan to occupy the buffer zone in Syria indefinitely.
    • Daraa & Quneitra: Tensions have flared near the UNDOF-patrolled buffer zone as Israeli forces carried out military incursions and shelling in villages such as Abdin.  Abdin is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located west of Daraa. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Abdin had a population of 1,454 in the 2004 census. The village was listed in 16th-century Ottoman tax records.
    • The UN-patrolled buffer zone refers to "the Area of Separation (AOS) between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights, established following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. Maintained by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the narrow, 80-kilometer-long demilitarized strip extends along two separation lines."
    •  Residents and local youth have actively resisted these patrols with roadblocks and stone-throwing , leading to artillery fire and retaliatory engagements .  The Syrian Foreign Ministry alongside governments in Jordan, Qatar, and the Gulf Cooperation Council have formally condemned the operations as a violation of sovereignty .Fighting has escalated between the central government's army and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast. The renewed combat operations have occasionally impacted nearby detention facilities, drawing international concern as global partners work to repatriate citizens previously held in refugee camps. 
    Economy & Recovery

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