IMRA Middle East News Updates

Weekly Commentary: Mr. Netanyahu - Hamas Disarmament Ball In Play NOW

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 18:35:09 -0400

Weekly Commentary: Mr. Netanyahu - Hamas Disarmament Ball In Play NOW
Dr. Aaron Lerner 8 April 2026

The "Hamas disarmament ball" is in play with agents of the Board of Peace
pressing Hamas to accept, in the coming days, the disarmament framework in
President Trump's Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza.

The stakes could not be higher.

Because considering the countries involved in this process - including
Turkey - we could easily find ourselves in a few months facing the dilemma
that Hamas carried out some high-profile disarmament ceremonies which
President Trump posted on Truth Social while proclaiming "mission
accomplished".

Yes. 90 days into the implementation of the plan, Hamas is supposed to
surrender all its heavy weapons (not to mention carry out action against its
tunnel network and military infrastructure) but it is up to Israel to ensure
that this isn't a dangerous farce.

It is not enough to conduct quiet diplomacy with the White House or the
Board of Peace.

We continually learn that understandings which are not public can be both a
source of confusion and readily ignored.

Israel should prepare and publicly release its own detailed standards,
milestones, and timelines for what constitutes verified compliance.

The Trump plan explicitly states that verification of the disarmament will
be based on such agreed parameters.

Making these criteria transparent AND PUBLIC before the intensive phase
(roughly days 30 - 90 after implementation begins) would prevent any attempt
at a ceremonial, photo-op handover that satisfies headlines but not security
realities.

Such action could make a major and critical contribution towards protecting
Israeli interests and ensuring that "demilitarization" means what it says -
not another farce.

Israel's security cannot be subordinated to diplomatic convenience or the
hope that external pressure alone will deliver results. The time for quiet
talks has passed. The time for a clear, public Israeli stand has arrived.
________________________________________
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Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

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Pres. Trump Threatens Hell For Iran On Day Egypt's Army Drowned After Exodus

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 01:29:15 -0400

Pres. Trump Threatens Hell For Iran On Day Egypt's Army Drowned After Exodus
Dr. Aaron Lerner 6 April 2026

Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in
Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy
bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.
President DONALD J. TRUMP - Truth Social 5 April 2026
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116351998782539414

Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116353078945787501

Tuesday evening 7 April 2026 is 21 Nissan on the Jewish calendar.

According to the Bible, on 21 Nissan, Egypt's army was drowned as the sea,
which had parted to facilitate passage for the Children of Israel, engulfed
them.

________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

A Practical Fix for the Fertilizer Shock: Let Big Oil's Windfall Pay to Put Food Crops Back on the Table

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:45:31 -0400

A Practical Fix for the Fertilizer Shock: Let Big Oil's Windfall Pay to Put
Food Crops Back on the Table
Dr. Aaron Lerner 4 April, 2026

The temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz has created a fertilizer
supply shock that will hurt global food security far more than most people
realize. Fertilizer production depends heavily on natural gas, and Gulf
shipments account for roughly one-third of global seaborne fertilizer trade.

Even if the strait reopens in the next two weeks, the damage to 2026 crop
yields is largely locked in. Farmers have already made their planting
decisions under higher fertilizer prices. Analysts now forecast global food
prices rising 12% to 18% by late 2026 and remaining elevated into 2027.

There is a straightforward way to blunt this blow - and it does not require
new land, new technology, or taxpayer money.

The Proposal

Temporarily redirect a portion of edible crops now used for biofuels (corn,
soybeans, sugarcane, rapeseed) back into human and animal food supply.

These crops are already perfectly edible and part of the food chain; only
government mandates currently divert them to fuel.

Important clarification on corn: The corn diverted from ethanol is field
corn (dent corn), not sweet corn eaten on the cob. It is already widely used
in human food as cornmeal, corn flour, starch, high-fructose corn syrup,
corn oil, chips, and tortillas, as well as livestock feed. Redirecting it
simply sends the same kernels to food processors and feed mills instead of
ethanol plants - no major new infrastructure is required.

Compensate the biofuels industry and affected farmers entirely through a
targeted windfall-profits tax on the excess earnings of oil companies
created by the same Hormuz-driven oil-price spike.

How Much Difference Would This Make?

United States alone: A credible 30% temporary reduction in biofuel mandates
could free up the caloric equivalent of 6% to 10% of global cereal and
vegetable-oil supply from the 2026 harvest.

If major biofuel nations act together (U.S., Brazil, EU, India and others),
coordinated action could shift 12% to 18% of the world's edible-crop
calories away from fuel tanks and back into food and feed markets.

Net impact on the shortage: This would reduce the projected food-price
inflation by roughly 40% to 60% - the equivalent of adding the annual food
needs of 200-350 million people without clearing a single new acre of land.

Why This Is Politically and Practically Feasible Now

The windfall-profits tax on Big Oil (50% of profits above a pre-crisis
baseline) could generate tens of billions of dollars in the first year
alone.

That revenue would be sufficient to offset lost income for ethanol plants,
corn/soy growers, and rural communities. It would also fund transition
grants to retool plants for food-grade use and cover storage and logistics
costs.

Framing is simple and powerful: "The same crisis that created oil-company
windfalls now funds the solution to the food crisis."

Timing and Next Steps

Even though planting for the 2026 harvest is already underway or locked in,
the harvested crops themselves can still be reassigned.

Once the grain is harvested, and while not all capacity can shift
immediately, the federal government can use existing emergency powers -
including the Defense Production Act and EPA biofuel-waiver authority - to
redirect it from ethanol plants to food and feed markets.

A clear policy signal issued now, paired with guaranteed compensation, gives
ethanol plants, grain elevators, and farmers the certainty they need to
prepare for post-harvest redirection.

Critics will call this "government interference." In normal times they would
be correct. But a fertilizer shock caused by foreign conflict is exactly the
kind of emergency these authorities were created for.

Using oil windfall profits to fund the transition is fiscally responsible
and politically balanced.

The alternative is to accept higher food prices, shrinking livestock herds,
and renewed hunger risks in developing countries - all while oil companies
bank record profits and biofuel plants continue burning food that humans and
animals could eat.

We have the crops. We have the legal tools. We even have the revenue source.

The only missing piece is the political will to act before the 2026 harvest
begins.

The window is open now - but it will not stay open for long.

________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

Weekly Commentary: End America's Free Pass For Turkey

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 10:08:29 -0400

Weekly Commentary: End America's Free Pass For Turkey
Dr. Aaron Lerner 1 April 2026

Secretary of State Rubio is justly criticizing European NATO allies for denying bases for operations against Iran.

Turkey has explicitly refused to allow the US to use Incirlik Air Base (or Turkish airspace) for any offensive operations or logistics against Iran. The base is one of the best-located NATO facilities for strikes on Iran (800 - 1,200 km from key targets, enabling shorter flights, higher sortie rates, and less refueling).

But Mr. Rubio, as President Trump, is silent about Turkey.

In late March 2026, Trump publicly called Turkey “fantastic” and Erdogan a “great leader” specifically for “staying out of things we asked them to” during the Iran war.

Sounds like Mr. Trump hasn't just lowered the bar. He's dug a hole for the bar he uses to measure the performance of Erdogan.

Is Erdogan a "great leader" for not deploying his air force to defend Iran?

Is Turkey "fantastic" because it isn't firing missiles at Tel Aviv?

This has been an ongoing free pass.

Turkey hosts Hamas’s main overseas political and operational leadership in Istanbul.

And today Turkey is doing everything in its power to ensure that Hamas is not actually disarmed.

Erdogan is anything but a moderate.

On 30 March 2025, during the official Eid al-Fitr prayer service at Camlıca Mosque in Istanbul (broadcast publicly), President Erdogan prayed: “May Allah, for the sake of his name ‘Al-Qahhar,’ destroy and devastate Zionist Israel.”

It is time for America to raise the bar for Turkey.

End the free pass.
________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus =
on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

Link for Tzohar Pesach Hagaddah with special wartime rules

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 13:36:12 -0400

Link for Tzohar Pesach Hagaddah with special wartime rules
https://your.tzohar.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/%D7%94%D7%92%D7%93%D7%
94-%D7%A9%D7%9C-%D7%A4%D7%A1%D7%97-%D7%90%D7%A0%D7%92%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%
90%D7%A9%D7%9B%D7%A0%D7%96%D7%99-26-1.pdf

Tzohar

THE PESACH HAGADDAH

With an Explanatory Halachic Guide Relating to Times of War

Nusach Ashkenaz

Nissan 5786 / 2026 - Operation Roaring Lion

Introduction (Page 2 - Clean English Text)

Introduction

"As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show him
wondrous things." (Micah 7:15)

We are living in miraculous times. What we are experiencing today are the
wonders that the prophets prophesied in ancient times. As we in Israel
strike out so decisively against our enemies, working hand-in-hand with the
world's most powerful nation, how can we not stand astonished and awestruck?

In the Haggadah, we are told: "In every generation, we are obligated to see
ourselves as if we personally left Egypt." This year, this takes no great
effort - we all feel that we are living a modern-day Exodus experience.

We are discovering that the Haggadah - the story that Jews have been passing
from generation to generation for centuries - is not yet finished. It is
actually an open book, ready for new chapters that reflect events unfolding
today.

Each and every one of us - whether we live in Israel or elsewhere across the
Jewish world - is playing a part in this narrative: from those in Israel
responding to sirens, to soldiers on the front lines, to Jews in the
Diaspora facing the rapidly spreading scourge of antisemitism.

This year, therefore, our duty "to expand upon the telling of the Exodus" is
different than ever before. In addition to trying to experience what our
ancestors went through, it is time for each of us to relate the story
unfolding in real time - to share our own experiences and reactions - and to
try to understand what God has planned and His ultimate goal for the Jewish
people.

To make time for such material and discussions - especially when young
children are around the table - you may find it desirable to shorten the
Haggadah's retelling of the original Exodus.

Unpredictable alerts and sirens may also force you to take a different
approach to the material than in the past. Not to worry: the new chapter in
the story - the one we are writing now - is legitimate and important. Of
course, everything is secondary to the preservation of life, and no halachic
concerns should prevent moving from the table to a shelter when instructed.

In fact, the overall halachic status of these days can be defined as a time
of "sha'at hadchak" - a time of pressure and extraordinary circumstances. As
such, special laws and practices apply.

In the following guide, written by Rabbis Shaul Baruchi and Yaron Moshkovitz
of the Tzohar Center for Jewish Ethics, you will find a summary of the
special laws that will shape your Seder this year. In addition, it suggests
some new passages you might consider adding to the traditional text.

During these challenging, inspiring, and hope-filled times, we pray for
continued strength for all those involved in the campaign, for the citizens
of Israel, and for all of Klal Yisrael.

If you have any questions related to the holiday or other challenges -
halachic or otherwise - created by the situation, please contact the Tzohar
Halacha hotline at 1-800-200-377. It is staffed by rabbis who speak both
Hebrew and English.

Chag Kasher v'Sameach!

Rabbi David Stav
Chairman
Tzohar Rabbinical Organization

Weekly Commentary: Don't Count on Mowing Iranian Grass in 2029

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 17:20:17 -0400

Weekly Commentary: Don't Count on Mowing Iranian Grass in 2029
Dr. Aaron Lerner 28 March 2026

Here in Israel, the media is bending over backwards in a campaign supporting
the abandonment of the war effort.

We are being served nonstop coverage of our casualties (mostly people who
actively declined to take shelter), with so little coverage of the
incredible damage we are doing to our enemies that you might miss it
altogether when clicking through Ynet and other popular sources or listening
to radio or television.

The push is for us to relate to what we've done as "mowing the grass," with
the idea that we can stop now and repeat the exercise when the "grass" needs
"mowing" again.

We are working on technologies that may very well make it dramatically
easier for us to face our enemies in the future.

But technology is only one factor.

The post-Trump world may be a nightmare for us.

We already hear voices on the left and also in segments of the right.

If we consign the current war to being no more than a grass-mowing
operation, we could find ourselves facing an American arms embargo and a
U.S.-sponsored UN Security Council ceasefire resolution the next time we are
compelled to mow the grass.

So, every decision we make today must take into account the international
conditions we may face in 2029 and beyond.

This brings us to a supremely challenging balancing act with President
Trump.

On the one hand, we want to be as cooperative as possible with Mr. Trump to
keep on his good side.

But at the same time, this desire to keep Trump happy needs to be tempered
by the painful knowledge that we must get things done now-when they can be
done-even if it may annoy President Trump.

"I would like to thank an incredible man and patriot-Benjamin Netanyahu. He
is not the easiest man to deal with, but that's what makes him so great."
President Donald Trump, 13 October 2025, at the Knesset

For the sake of our nation, Prime Minister Netanyahu may very well find
himself making choices consistent with President Trump's observation.
________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

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