…even those who think Biden has exhibited sterling leadership during this crisis should admit that the president’s remarks were an unforced error.

… the critique of Biden’s comments seems to ignore the reality of the war in Ukraine. Russia is the aggressor.

That was a bold declaration, one that essentially wrote off any direct relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though Biden did not call for the United States to bring about regime change, leaving that to the Russian people.

The meeting in Negev desert town of Sde Boker on Sunday and Monday will almost certainly be heavy on spectacle and symbolism. But it is also unquestionably the substance Israel that has been hoping for.

Israel is not assuming an unprecedented role. To some extent, it is transforming into a link between the US and some Arab counties. This is especially true with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, whose leaders do not answer President Joe Biden’s phone calls requesting assistance in the Ukraine war.

A meeting in Israel that includes top diplomats from four Arab countries would have been unimaginable just a couple of years ago. Israel is firmly on the diplomatic map. Against the backdrop of the Iranian threat and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which brought about the parley, the Negev Summit itself provides welcome room for optimism.

The proximity of the two attacks that managed to sneak under the radar of Israel’s intelligence and security apparatuses, especially now before Ramadan and Passover are set to overlap, should serve as a rude awakening to all of us for fear they may inspire more copycats.

…while the organization has largely been defeated, its ideology has not, not even in Israel, home to one of the world’s most experienced and effective counter-terrorism mechanisms. Nonetheless, the number of IS supporters in Israel is proportionally small, and was considered to consist of several insignificant “sleeper” cells — until one of their members awakened.

[America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan] was perceived by Islamists as a victory that would inspire supporters all around the world. Israeli security officials say that what happened in Be’er Sheva is part of a wider, worldwide phenomenon.

Mrs. Thomas’s text messages are embarrassing but amount to an outsider kibitzing and commiserating with the White House chief of staff. They are no reason for Justice Thomas to recuse himself from cases involving the Trump Administration.

…even if we are to believe that he and his wife don’t discuss work at home, Justice Thomas should stop hearing January 6 cases. Without those steps, neither he, the Chief Justice, nor anyone else should be shocked that America has lost faith in its highest court.

…it is implausible that Clarence Thomas has been unaware of his wife’s plotting. His failure to recuse himself in two cases related to the 2020 election and its aftermath strongly appears to violate a federal law requiring the justices to abstain from certain cases.

Madeleine Albright was the quintessential late 20th-century Jewish diplomat, haunted by the Holocaust and determined to use what tools her adopted country had to crush inhumanity when it arose.

Except she didn’t know she was Jewish until she was in her 50s, or so she claimed, a revelation that led some Jews to embrace her and others to question whether, like so many others, she had been driven by persecution into denial.

Many critics were scathing, dismissing Albright’s assertions that she hadn’t realized her family was Jewish. How could a sophisticated, knowledgeable woman who’d studied International Relations and traveled extensively throughout Europe not possibly realize that her parents had been Jews? How could she never have questioned her family’s deadly fate during the Holocaust?

My instant advice was to tell the truth, which was that she never knew about her parents’ conversion; to embrace her newly discovered Jewish past with pride… I also explained that [.] the Jewish community understood that during World War II all sorts of methods were used to protect Jewish children, including placing them in Catholic convents or in Christian households where they were raised by righteous gentiles.

A public insult, in your presence, about your spouse’s medical condition does, in fact, merit a slap to the face.

Just read an article about how Chris Rock’s joke was “unforgivable” and I can’t get over how ridiculous it is to use the word “unforgivable” when talking about a joke. It was a joke. You either liked it or you didn’t. Maybe you thought it was in poor taste. But unforgivable? No.

I like the idea that the Oscars are a lawless space where one is permitted to publicly assault a nemesis without consequence. The Purge, but for celebs.