Another day, another series of seemingly self-contradictory statements, especially from the U.S. regarding the Strait of Hormuz (or maybe it’s just the reporting coming out of U.S. media?). The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump told associates he is prepared to end the war with Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked. And yet Trump claimed in a post on his Truth Social platform that “serious discussions are taking place with a new, more reasonable regime.”
He also posted that “If for any reason a deal is not reached soon, which is likely to happen, and if the Strait of Hormuz is not ‘open for business’ immediately, we will end our wonderful ‘stay’ in Iran by bombing and completely destroying all their power plants, oil wells and Kharg Island (and perhaps all the desalination facilities too!), which we have intentionally refrained from ‘touching’ until now.”
Rubio gave an interview where he said that the U.S. will not agree to accept Tehran’s demand for ‘sovereignty’ over the Strait of Hormuz. He also promised the war would end within weeks, not months. “Recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz is unacceptable to us,” he said. “The Strait of Hormuz will reopen one way or another after the operation in Iran ends.” And Netanyahu told Newsmax that he does not wish to “set a timeline” for the end of the war with Iran. Netanyahu added that Israel has achieved more than half of its war objectives and noted that he believes the Iranian regime “will collapse from within.”
What is clear is that Iran, no matter who is actually in charge, is continuing to commit war crimes by launching multiple warhead missiles with fragmentation warheads at Israel. And as usual, the UN is ignoring that, while at the same time, they have decided to convene later today to discuss Israel’s response to the continual attacks by Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah. But the UN, as has been its pattern for decades, is only concerned with condemning Israel at every opportunity.
Europe is also coming down on Israel as the Knesset is about to vote on a law that would give the death penalty to convicted mass murdering terrorists. Hamas is up in arms about this proposal; so naturally, the United Nations, Germany, France, Italy, and Great Britain are protesting against Israel and demanding that “Israel must immediately repeal this discriminatory death penalty law”. The U.S. has backed away from the discussion, saying, “the United States respects Israel’s sovereign right to determine its laws and the penalties for those convicted of terrorism.”
What is also clear is that Israel has again been doing covert and creative operations. The Journal reported that Israeli hackers infiltrated the popular Iranian prayer app, BadeSaba, which has over 5 million downloads. It is because of Israeli access to these millions of phones that the Iranian regime shut down 98% of internet access for 10 days, as Israel reportedly was sending messages to IRGC members urging them to defect and oppose the regime.
The Associated Press reported that U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are urging President Donald Trump to continue waging war against Iran because the Islamic Republic has not been sufficiently weakened as a result of the war.
The New York Times reported that the war has destabilized Iran’s leadership, hindering its ability to make decisions and coordinate extensive retaliatory actions against the U.S. and Israel. But Trump is claiming that we are in negotiations with a new leadership.
So a lot of differing takes on what is happening; with the constant being that Israel is creative in its operations; Iran continues to attack with illegal weapons; and Europe and the UN will condemn Israel for anything they can think of Netanyahu interpreted the international actions simply, telling Newsmax, “Europe has shown notable weakness, as if burying its head in the sand.”
Even more consistent is the inherent power in the coming few days. Wednesday night is the evening of Passover, and Jews around the world will be starting the Festival of Freedom. It is also Holy Wednesday, the beginning of the concluding 5 days of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday. For all of Western civilization, this is a powerful time dedicated to freedom and renewal; birth and rebirth; promise and resurrection.
We are entering a time devoted to new beginnings, and may that include the new beginnings that we will all see, God willing, in Iran and the Middle East: a new beginning for a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors.
Chazak u’Baruch
Rabbi Michael Barclay
March 31, 2026
13th of Nisan, 5786
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