The Weekly Update with Nachum Segal and Malcolm Hoenlein on JM in the AM

And Malcolm Hoenlein is with us. We call it the weekly update, Conference of Presidents of major American Jewish organizations. Mr. Hoenlein, welcome back to JM in the AM. Thank you. Good to be with you. And mazel tov again. It was amazing simcha. And you should only have a lot of nachas and good health. Appreciate that very much. And it was wonderful having you there. And those of you who are curious, yes, Mr. Hoenlein was in fact honored with one of the blessings under the chuppah. That is, thank God, how close our families have become over all these decades. Malcolm, I got to start with this, and I know that you're very sensitive to this, so it's not like I'm preaching to you. And I don't want to preach to anybody, because it's not anybody's fault that we're 6,000 miles away and don't understand what our brothers and sisters are going through. But I have a relative in Israel who asked if I wanted to be informed every time that her family has to go into shelters because of sirens. And I said, yeah. Um you know, they thought they were bothering me, and I'm like, yeah, I want to know. I want to know every time, because you know, I need to build up a sensitivity to this. And just yesterday, just Thursday, Malcolm, just Thursday, okay? Just there It's 25 days with this war already. Just yesterday, just Thursday. These timestamps are Eastern time, our time over here. 1:30 a.m. Sirens. 4:30 a.m. Sirens. 4:59 a.m. Sirens again. Uh 7:23 a.m. Sirens. 11:08 a.m. Sirens. 11:51 a.m. Sirens. 7:57 p.m. Sirens. And then today, Friday, 7:18 a.m., which would be 2:18 in the afternoon, erev Shabbos in Israel, sirens. And again, I know you're sensitive to this, but we need to remind remind ourselves of what our brothers and sisters are going through every single day during this war. Your reaction? It is true that people read about it. I know that people who have the uh alarm uh or alert system on their phones and listen whenever the red alerts, right? And and I was sitting with somebody in a meeting yesterday and all of a sudden their phone went off again and uh and again it's it's the numbers are astonishingly I spoke to somebody yesterday in the city of She told me that they had 10 alerts, 10 missiles in the region of her home. She lives near Tel Aviv. Uh I have a grandson as you know made aliyah. And I hear from him how many times they have to take all the all the children sleep in the uh federation in the safe room. But it's it's so disruptive of life that people can't go out without thinking about how close they are to a a uh safe room or public safe room uh or private one. And that the their life it gets dominated by the the alarms and there's no indication that it's going to stop. How Iran can continue to do it mystifies people. But the fact is that it's it shows you how great the infrastructure is, how much there is uh inherent in the system that is redundant that they can take out every day launchers and and underground facilities and and storage facilities and still they are able to mount this campaign and should they God forbid emerge from this they will they will be able to say that they won, that they survived you know, the coalition that is arising against them in the region. I think the domestic thing we will see after the after the fighting starts stops is when you usually start uh revolution. But even the fact that you haven't had manifestations in the streets in the way that people thought that they would be. And there are reports that that people in the administration have told this to to people in Israel that the expectations have not been lived up to. Well, you have you saw that 50,000 people were killed in January. That's a big deterrent incentive and a 700,000 besiege were given rifles and told to go to streets to shoot to kill. And and people it's just a suicide mission for them to go and and demonstrate. Yet, they still do. They even projected this week a huge star a flag of Israel with the Magen David. I mean, huge on an apartment building in the middle of Tehran. They So, there are still remarkable things happening. And we hope that the you know, that this is a a temporary lull and that they we won't see this end in a stalemate where they can emerge and see how Hamas is now rebuilding and claiming that they have 60,000 guys and and planning another, you know, attack in another October 7th uh at against Israel. >> On the first point though, we have a president of the United States who if you're going to take him for his word and if you're not going to listen to other opinions, uh you would think that all capabilities of Iran have been obliterated. And yet, as you said, they keep bouncing back and they keep, you know, rearming and uh and and thinking of ways to keep Israel engaged and Israel citizens engaged in these bombings and rocket attacks. So, So, which is it? Is it Is Is the president I mean, I know it's hard. This is a really tough question. I ask you this every single week and it's impossible to answer. But is he exaggerating? Is he giving us any uh accurate information? Are Are the majority of the systems obliterated and therefore he's really telling us the truth yet there are certain things they weren't able to get to. What's the truth? No, it's certainly true that the vast majority of the infrastructure, 18,000 sites have been hit, I think collectively by the US and Israel. And the there has been a lot of destruction. They tried to not to kill civilians. They tried not to hit infrastructure. That's why I mean knocked out the electricity. You know, you don't want to turn the population against you. And while they and the vast majority of the people, maybe 80 90% are against the regime, you don't want want to to ignite the nationalistic fervor which Iranians have. They feel very loyal to to their Iranian heritage and Iranian state, but not to the Iranian regime. That that the the damage that has been done is not exaggerated. What how they are able yet to continue to to launch, and it's not comparable to what they did, but they launched 2100 times against the UAE. And people don't read that the way that that we see the alarm the attacks against Israel. Uh we you think about it. It was many more times against UAE than against Israel. The So that the amount of of weapons they have the all of those stories that we we read we heard spoke about and the capacity that we talked about which will try to be denied now and people will try to diminish it and say that Israel misled them and others misled them. Ask anybody in any of the Gulf states whether they were misled when they see the damage that has really been done in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and in countries that like Qatar that were allied in many ways with with Iran. So they I I know people tend to be skeptical and they ask a lot of questions and President Trump has a tendency to you know, to to feign sometimes and to to put forward uh motions that we don't understand and necessarily that they don't end up being the way that sometimes he intends, but he's put the markers down for Iran. And and are talks going on with Agrachi and with others we believe Uh even though nobody will say that they're talking to them. But there seems like you know that last summer there always seemed like there was an exit strategy during those 12 days and then of course after 12 days it was over but there always seemed to be an exit strategy maybe maybe he managed expectations better that he did this time because all he kept focusing on was regime change and I wonder if he's feeling he'll be embarrassed or the US will be embarrassed if there isn't regime change and this thing comes to some type of peace agreement. So I'm just hoping and I know there's negotiations we'll talk about that in a second. And and and some type of ceasefire discussion is happening but but but I think it would only be bad and therefore I'll use the expression God forbid he gets mired into a campaign that's impossible to extricate from that's impossible to end and I don't know I again I know you don't like making predictions but to a degree don't you think that he's sort of heading in that direction? Very well could be I mean there there are a lot of mixed messages that come out and you have people in the administration that we know maybe even including the vice president who have their own views of the war and and the you know he he's now supposedly going to be involved in some of the negotiations and Marco Rubio so we will have to see actually how it plays out and people should not get depressed or get too excited about about individual statements we have to see this in in the longer run I I would say in the next few days we will see he gave an extension for 10 days but that doesn't mean you know where he said that they would stop bombing the power structure infrastructure. That didn't say it would stop everything. And the you know they will I believe in the media and the woke media especially the hostile media which is increasing against Israel that they will more and more try to shift the onus on exaggerating the capacity to to deal with the Iranian threat. The so people calm down, wait and see. We're not We're in a fight we have right now. The first obligation is to support the people of Israel. Make sure everybody has a Pesach. There are a lot of families that whose whose husbands are being called up. They authorized 400,000 more call-ups. I I think that a lot of the statements that we see coming out of Israel from some Israeli leaders are are damaging and irresponsible at times. And always using hyperbole and exaggerated terms. The The fact is that this is this could be a long slog just if you see any in Lebanon. We hardly read about it. You don't read about in Syria that Shara is using this opportunity to crack down and to reintroduce a lot of the Islamist and practices and and demands on people on on women on others restricting them. And then he gets blowback as he did from the Christians this week cuz they tried to ban alcohol. So they they they made it a more limited ban. But he's taking advantage of it and so is Hamas and so are others. We have a lot of fronts to to be concerned about and to to look at. So don't rush to judgment. Yeah. Try to read what you can but but know that that the president looks at the price of oil and he looks at at the commitments that have to be made and and with the other eyes looking at a November election. And the hostile media which I'm sure gets to him. It's It's human nature. Yeah, but he but he expresses it. He doesn't have the ability to suppress it. It completely. It's unbelievable and the price of oil boy. Not to complain when our brothers and sisters in Israel are going through what they're going through, but the gallon per gas right now is pretty outrageous. I'm sure in certain parts of this country it's even worse than here. And honestly, you know, we have some frustration obviously. We have 1% of the frustration that our brothers and sisters in Israel have because, you know, the whole issue of traveling to Israel is a big one. And we've discussed and I pointed out that there have been other wars where Israel's been able to keep the corridor between North America and Israel very, very active and obviously this time around it's very, very different. Something we can't understand, we're not military people or security people, but it is very, very different. It's frustrating, but but even what I think is even more frustrating and we feel it more is what everyone's going through in Israel and the reason we feel it more is I think I think we're in an era in the diaspora where we have the most relatives, including immediate relatives, living in Israel. You know, you go back 20 years there's not as many children and grandchildren collectively of diaspora Jewry who are living in Israel. Now that number, thank God, just continues to increase more and more and more. So the frustration there and really around the world just continues to build. I think that's absolutely true. Also, you know, we have such instant communication and and pictures of every on every front because of drones, because of other things that even the media have some drones that they use for pictures. And they're reporting that everybody sometimes one of the reason why Israel doesn't want the reporting is because it helps the enemy target more effectively when they know exactly where the rockets are hitting. Otherwise, they don't know. They don't have satellites that are monitoring it that we know of. Right. So it's you're right. It's a whole different system and also we have a different climate in the United States. Right. >> that you would think after October 7th, you know, the temporary sympathy. But the the fact that you can have such blatant open hostility not bordering on anti-Semitism, actual anti-Semitism. Um it's it's real and I think, you know, we have to think about what the next state step will be, what what will happen in the region. It could end up being remarkably positive for Israel. I think the Abraham Accords, you know, a lot of the Gulf states now see that there's only one reliable aircraft carrier that's permanently there that the um that will stand up and fight the battle that all of them want. They want Israel to finish the job. They don't want this to stop. You see the UAE, Saudi Arabia, others, even Qatar and others have issued condemnations throughout the Iranian ambassador from Lebanon. A lot of stuff that is happening. But it's I understand people are confused and there are a lot of uh potential outcomes that we have to to to look at. Right. Be very careful with conclusions you draw. Understood. I think it's even more frustration than um than confusion, but I hear you. It's America's one and only Jewish Moments in the Morning Radio Program heard on listener-sponsored digital radio around the world at web.alancolmes.com and at alancolmes.com and of course the beloved NSN app weekly update. Malcolm Honlein with us. Erev Shabbos I Gut Shabbos. Next weekly update, please God, on the 17th of April. Do your best to stay tuned in to the news of the day and of the week, folks, even during the holiday break. What do you make of the uh the the threats that the president makes toward European leaders who don't want to participate NATO in general and their pretty lukewarm approach to all this? Does it basically tell us that the European leadership uh gets the feeling or knows definitively that the street in their countries, the people, the citizens are just not interested in them participating in any way in this military effort with the US? In most cases, they don't control their own streets. In most cases, they they already have succumbed and and have thrown up the put up the white flag and putting their own future in danger because of it and not standing up to the to their own domestic threats, let alone the foreign threats. You know, the the war in Ukraine continues, etc. And we see that without the US, they know that they they would be nowhere in defending themselves against the threat with the You know, the Iranians said all along they didn't have the ability to shoot a ballistic missile and and a long-range missile. And here they fire one 4,000 km to Diego Garcia, which is a British-American base. And so the lie was completely exposed. But most of all, said it can hit the capitals of Europe. So they they have always been under a microscope. Ultimately, the goal is to hit the United States. But the leaders hardly reacted to the to the revelation in the the demonstration public demonstration of the capacity that the Iranians had to hit in a long-distance target and fire two missiles actually at the at Diego Garcia. So the Europeans are feckless. The Europeans have have always are again demonstrating a spineless approach. Look, Iran is not a small country. Iran is not is not, you know, Gaza. Iran is the size of Italy, England, and France put together or Germany put together. They It's a country with 100 million people. The people are ready to take action. They've given up on the Europeans. Their only hope is what the United States and Israel will do, and that's why they're popular there. But they they We've we've seen serious things, you know, the Haifa refinery getting targeted, other things that all of which cumulatively are are serious uh threats and and dangers. But the Europeans, would they would they stand up now? For the first time, Britain said they would lead an armada or lead the the Brit- the naval defense in the to open up the straits because they're all paying a heavy price for the gas and they they will have the domestic backlash no matter what. They would have they joined it, maybe the force we would be further ahead against Iran if they had seen a unified and more uh robust uh actions on the part of the Europeans. And they are the front line and it's so much closer than it it is to the United States. So the the the the fact that now they said that they would open you know, put naval ships there, 20 countries, 25 countries. Um but we haven't seen any action in that regard. And and I know the messages are confusing from the United States, whether they're talking, they're not talking. Then another 10 days and the and the negotiations are going on and does the president really want a deal and tells Israeli leaders have been told that they really want a deal. It's I understand why people are confused and disheartened and in fact we could spend the whole hour just talking about the details of what really is going on, whether there's a war of attrition, whether there's other things happening or could happen, whether you know, there is a real out of this without a ground invasion which a lot a lot of people in this country and elsewhere will will resist. Yeah, of course and I Yeah, what worries me is that the more of a desire expressed by the US to make that deal, the the more the more resistant Iran will be because they'll take it as desperation. They'll take it like oh boy, you know, the United States is desperate now because they've got to get out of this thing. So that's why it's like it's sort of like a catch-22, especially dealing with an enemy that doesn't care, you know, how they're perceived or whether they're you know, going to go ahead and uh and launch more and more rockets against uh you know the US allies in the Middle East. And we've removed layer after layer of the leadership and yet and we know that there is hardly any coherent government left in Iran. The IRGC has taken over and is giving the orders but you see that in the naval exercises and the fact it took out the navy the head of the navy yesterday. There there are great successes in what is being done and the pinpoint nature which has kept the the number of casualties civilian casualties so low. But it it tells you how much has to be done when all of this stuff is underground. You could drop 5,000 pound bombs one two 20 and and still not eradicate the threat that they can always come out there you know an hour later and they launch it and remember the launchers are inside mountains. They come out for five minutes. They launch they they load the the the rockets and they have to heat them up so there does take time till they're able to generate it but so Israel tries to follow where they're being launched from and go right after them immediately after the rockets are launched so all this stuff doesn't get out to the public and to understand how complicated and difficult it is and how much redundancy there is in their system. But most of all the cluster bombs is a big is a change from from what we faced in the past from them. >> Mari you explained that to us last week. So they've expressed they've expressed no desire to continue speaking to the team of Kushner and Whitkoff. That's why Vance and Rubio are even more prominent now in these conversations. But what did you think of the whole request demand that Whitkoff and Kushner take a step back? I think that they are talking that there is communication going on. Remember there there aren't that many people at high level, because they've been removed. And so, whether the foreign minister is really engaged, whether there's somebody else, other people, there are very few people who have broad authority, because they've been eliminated. They and we still don't see the popular uprising or the ability to create an alternative regime, a coalition of all the different ethnic and majority group to to be successor regime. And the and the intimidation worked. The killing of 50,000 people. I mean, families still many thousands have don't know what happened to their loved ones or family members who were who were killed in in January. So, you know, that all of these things are playing and and when they see weakness in the West, then they say, "We put our lives on the line and we're going to do this and we're going to be abandoned in the end." So, there there's hesitation about it. But look, the lies have been put to all the claims. There's nobody who will say today Iran didn't have a nuclear program, Iran didn't have a ballistic missile program, or Iran all the things that they said they didn't have. And they still are threatening and have their terror network worldwide that they could still activate. They haven't done it by and large, though there have been some attempts and I think people have to be very careful over Pesach, especially in big gatherings. Um about you know, to to be cautious not to to take You should tell that to the Pesach programs. I absolutely have told it to Pesach programs. I think they've been told by security. They'll see that New York police are going to add patrols to to over Yom Tov, but it's it's you know, when you have places in very remote areas, it becomes a a danger that we have to take seriously. So, caution not panic and not not canceling your trips, but to make sure that that proper precautions are taken. >> How many hours before a scheduled flight, especially who wants to get stuck in an airport for Pesach? How many hours before a scheduled flight are you recommending people go to the airport with this whole TSA situation? In 15 minutes, they should leave. They should leave now. That's funny. That First of all, we hope that over that it it might be relieved that the president is ordering the payment to the TSA workers. And I heard from one last night that maybe it's possible that in the next 2 days it'll be over. Um but people should know that even if it's over, it still will be a huge backup because this is a heavy travel week. And still I would tell people to get there at least 3 hours, but I know people have been 5 hours early and missed their flights. >> Wow. So But it depends where also and it and it shifts in different places if there are workers or not. So, the um you know, people should not take it lightly and try to do as much as they can before with getting the the no touch and the and the if they have clear or or TSA precheck, all those things do help from what I've been told from people who have been flying that to facilitate cutting back the time somewhat. Yeah, and then of course the people go 4 hours in advance and then they you know, sitting at the gate for 4 hours cuz they got through in 5 minutes. Just don't know. It's such an unknown. You just have no idea what's going to happen when you get to the airport. Exactly, but but you know what? Better safe than a lot of people will be sorry. >> Oh, I get that. Did I Did I misunderstand this news story this week? Is the United Nations now in fact hopping aboard this concept of disarming Hamas? Well, it is part of the agreement. So, the it's not that they're jumping on board. The problem is that it's not happening and we are seeing Hamas rearming, reorganizing, and it's something obviously of concern to Israel. It's one of the reasons they need the the to have the potential call up of so many people cuz they need for various fronts. It's not just Iran. It's obviously Lebanon. And Israel has done a very good job and trying to to clear the area up to the Litani River, which will give a buffer to Israel. I regret the statements my defense minister uses words like invasion and and occupation without knowing what the the words the the way it can be exploited here. It's not their intention. They're not looking to reoccupy Lebanon. They're looking to stop the rockets and they see that more and more of the people in Lebanon support it. You know, they they want to get rid of Hezbollah and the fact that the government took measures against them. But I I would say that the the actions in Gaza, which don't get that much attention, we have to of course watch the Syrian situation as I mentioned before. There there's still a lot of fronts that and the Houthis have never been activated in this war yet. I mean, this is going to really throw it you know, it's going to dampen the prospects of the What did the president call the board of peace? I forgot already what it's called. I mean, if this is one of the conditions and they're ignoring it and rearming, then I mean, this whole rebuilding of Gaza is which many thought and were skeptical about to begin with is basically going to be, you know, history. Well, I think that the board of peace could be with if it's a broad enough coalition. A, they want to rebuild and they want to, you know, do it under the right controls. B, to to try to disarm and create a domestic police force. Um but the first thing disarmament, denazification, all these things that they that they are supposed to do and the rebuilding are all put on hold right now, but will this agenda is not going away. I get that. It is going to you know it's funny we talked about the you know we're not going to talk for a couple of weeks. I mean the next couple of weeks can be really really critical in in all of this on every front that you mentioned frankly. On every front and we see you know some of the activities um in the Gulf for instance in other areas the attacks on Jordan the and whether we can use the opportunity to build alliances to to emerge from this with a a different you know the Abraham Accords strengthened. Many things could happen the next week next every day is actually going to be interesting in the Chinese cursed way you know many live in interesting times today. But but it will certainly be interesting and every day we'll see new developments and two weeks is going to be a lifetime in this case because of the of the intensity and the so many fronts and the domestic front the anti-Semitism here the you know whether it's all the developments in New York that we see it's it's it's overload and I know that and I'm trying not to let people become depressed. This is no basis for depression. It's activation. We have to be stronger. We have to stand stronger. We have to help Israel more now. The people in Israel especially for the hug we have to make sure that every family is is taken care of and the the challenge is is for us. We see that it's a global challenge. You can't separate what's happening to Israel and the threats to Israel are the threats we are facing here the threats that are facing in Europe. It's a global war. And we are being tested as well. Does never again really mean something? Do we Did we learn the lessons of the past? Listen to the Haggadah, you'll get the answers. >> Very, very good point. Finally, I need you to hop on my bandwagon, my annual I don't know, for the last many years I've done this already, my annual plea to the rabbis out there. I know how important the regulations of the Haggadah and the Seder are. And I know that there's a place in the Shabbos Haggadah drasha and the Shabbos Haggadah sermon for those regulations and the further discussion about them. But Malcolm, wouldn't you agree with me that tomorrow is a golden opportunity for rabbis around the world to speak about the national mission, to speak about how the Exodus leads to the establishment of a presence in the in in the land of Israel, which is of course the final step of the Exodus from Egypt. And that this is really a an opportunity to focus on a on a true, serious national message in addition to whatever details about Pesach they want to review. 100% and and we shouldn't separate the two. We we we are living what could be a different aspects of what the even went what the Jews went through in that period and what the lessons that we derive and and the messages. First of all, I want I'll go to a shul that doesn't say at least to heal them for the soldiers at the davening. And everybody should demand, if their shul isn't doing it, go to the rabbi, talk to them. If they, you know, they they if they can say the prayer for the for the Medina, if not, at least to say a couple capital to heal them. Because we should recognize this is all of us. We all are involved in this war. This is a war against all of us. Israel is the front line taking the brunt of it for us and and all of us who have children, grandchildren, they all know it and feel it. Maybe a little bit more, but and there's no one who should feel that this is not their future at stake. And every rub has a I I think it's a hill to go out there and give them warning and a surround to people just as we would warn them if there was something wrong with a product Right. that everybody would jump on it. >> Right. But here we have something so much more fundamental and and essential that everybody should be talking about it. And every family at the seder should should take time to talk about it. >> 100%. Wishing you a hot kosher Pesach. Thanks again for sharing in the big simcha. Have a wonderful Yom Tov and please God we'll speak after the holiday. Have a great Shabbos Shavua tov and everybody should have a hot kosher Pesach, a safe one. Remember in our tefilos our brothers and sisters who are who are facing the danger up front and for our own futures. Amen to that. Thank you, Malcolm. Malcolm Hoenlein Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Weekly Update. Fridays here at J M in the AM. The next one, please God, on the 17th of April.