The first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Palestine, Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, known for promoting religious Zionism and for writing “Orot” and other religious books, is born in Griva, Latvia. In 1884, he begins studying...
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Board of Peace Representative Updates U.N. on Gaza, March 2026
Nickolay Mladenov, the Trump-led Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, explains the progress made toward Phase 2 of the ceasefire and the necessity for Hamas’ disarmament and immediate housing and increased aid for Gazans.
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“Zionism an Affirmation for Judaism,” 1942
From the end of World War I until the June 1967 war, American Jewish attitudes toward Zionism moved from lukewarm embrace to full-throated support. The debate of American rabbis in the 1940s exemplified by this letter reflects attitudinal differences. The Holocaust, Israeli statehood and Israel’s stunning military success in June 1967 established Israel as a valued element in American Jewish identities.
Michael Eisenstadt: Hamas-Israel War With Comments on U.S.-Israel-Iran War
Washington Institute Senior Fellow Michael Eisenstadt speaks about the regional effects of the 2023-2025 Hamas-Israel war and the ongoing U.S.-Israel-Iran war in March 2026.
President Trump’s Address to Nation on War With Iran, April 2026
President Trump’s speech a month into the war makes the case for Iran as a longtime U.S. enemy and argues that the war has largely succeeded and will soon be over.
#157 Contemporary Readings March 2026
Maya Rezak and Ken Stein, March 31, 2026 Videos and Multimedia Phillip Brown, “Middle East Oil,” Congressional Research Service, March 3, 2026. Yonit Levi, Nadim Koteich, Amer Al Sabaileh and Robert Satloff, “How Middle East…
Strait of Hormuz: A Struggle to Determine Iran’s Strength TomorrowCIE+
Iran’s move to assert sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz has short- and long-term implications for the Islamic regime and the world economy.
Golda Meir’s U.N. Statement on Israeli Withdrawal From Sinai and Gaza, March 1957CIE+
Golda Meir tells the U.N. General Assembly that Israel will comply with demands that it withdraw to the 1949 armistice lines with Egypt, but it expects U.N. support to keep the Straits of Tiran open.
Map of Middle East Oil Production, DistributionCIE+
The Congressional Research Service shows where Middle Eastern oil is produced, refined, and shipped or piped.
