Monday 20 Av – Trump says talks with Iran will start Monday on deal to reopen Hormuz – Israel found out Trump canceled major Iran attack through his Truth Social post, which said Jerusalem was on board & more…

US President Donald Trump says negotiations with Iran will begin on Monday to finalize a deal that reopens the Strait of Hormuz after he again called off a major attack on the Islamic Republic over the weekend.

“We’re talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon, and we’ll see if it’s [good]. I’d love to do that. We’d save a lot of lives, save a lot of unnecessary power,” Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One.

When he announced the latest walk-back of a threat to conduct a massive bombing campaign against Iran on Saturday, Trump claimed a deal with Iran to reopen Hormuz and “end” its nuclear threat.

Now, he declines to even give a timeline for when such a deal will be reached and says negotiations will only start tomorrow, even though mediators have been discussing such a deal for weeks.

He didn’t specify on Saturday which countries, besides Iran, had asked him not to launch the major bombing campaign, but he now identifies them as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. That contradicts reporting from the Wall Street Journal, which said the UAE actually wanted Trump to escalate against Iran.

Almost every time Trump has walked back threats to bomb Iran, he has claimed it was countries in the region that asked him not to go ahead, rather than suggest his own advisers didn’t think it would be a good idea.

“We were all set to go at this time right now, and it would have been a massive attack… but [then] the allies asked to call it off… The reason they ask is they think there’s a deal. There’s a deal on Hormuz, and then there will be a deal on the denuclearization of Iran,” Trump says, appearing to walk back his claim on Saturday that the deal on the table would address both Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program.

His latest comments suggest that the nuclear file won’t be addressed until a subsequent deal, and that this first deal regarding Hormuz is only being made in order to restore the memorandum of understanding that was inked in June. That MOU gave the sides 60 days to reach a deal on Iran’s nuclear program, but now there are less than 30 days left in that window.

Defense Minister Israel Katz denounces IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and announces a replacement for him on live television. He says Bluth contravened his policy by seeking to renew a restraining order against a violent settler, and that this is unacceptable.

Speaking with the right-wing Channel 14 news, Katz also asserts that he has “absolute” control over the IDF.

Bluth has been Central Command chief for over two years, since July 2024. The role is normally two to three years, although it is unclear if Bluth intended to continue serving for three years.

Haaretz reports that the IDF is outraged by Katz’s decision, and that both Bluth and Bar Kalifa were unaware of the move before the defense minister announced it.

Katz says Bluth acted contrary to his stated policy over an administrative restraining order against a violent settler.

The order against Tal Yinon Dardik was repealed on a technicality, and Katz instructed Bluth not to renew it.

He says Bluth and the Military Advocate General’s Corps filed an appeal to the court against the release of Dardik, “contrary to my policy.”

“They did it against my position; it was the wrong step. [The IDF’s West Bank commander] must take my policy into account, and I will insist on this,” Katz says.

Katz declares that he has decided to appoint IDF Personnel Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa as the next Central Command chief, live on TV. “Because I also want, in the Central Command, an IDF that strives for decisive victory, strikes its enemies, and protects the settlers,” he says.

Katz also boasts that his “control over the [military] system is absolute.”

Board of Peace Gaza envoy Nickolay Mladenov laments the past two days of Israeli strikes in Gaza that “have killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies that people depend on.”

“This comes after intense efforts by the Board of Peace and the mediators (Egypt, Turkiye, Qatar and the US) to bring the Palestinian factions in Gaza to agree to a Roadmap on the full implementation of President Trump’s plan, to hand over civilian governance and to decommission their weapons,” Mladenov tweets.

“Both parties carry obligations under (US President Donald Trump’s 20-point) Comprehensive Plan (for ending the Gaza war and the (October 2025) Sharm El Sheikh (ceasefire) deal that secured the release of all hostages,” he adds.

“My team and I are working around the clock with the parties, the mediators, and regional partners to de-escalate and create the space for the full implementation of the president’s plan,” Mladenov insists.

“Achieving a lasting peace is hard, but achievable if everyone makes their best efforts,” he says.

The post appears carefully worded to avoid criticizing either side. His remark about the Gaza strikes does not even note that Israel is the one behind them.

The Board of Peace hoped that Hamas’s approval of its disarmament plan on Thursday after months of negotiations would immediately trigger its implementation.

However, Israel has indicated that it does not approve the plan and will not cooperate with it, leaving its implementation in question.

Israeli officials found out that US President Donald Trump had decided to call off a major planned attack on Iran through his Truth Social post.

Trump said late Saturday that he had called off a major attack on Iran after being assured by Tehran and other Middle East countries that a framework for a deal to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and “end the Iran nuclear threat” had been reached. He added that Israel was also on board.

The US military’s Central Command also was not told ahead of time.

For the UK Jewish Orthodox Community
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Erev Shabbos

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