The leverage today belongs to whoever can afford to say no and then wait. It costs nothing to hold that position, and the ones holding it have been holding it for months. Everybody doing the asking has a deadline.
Flash Brief: The Day in 90 Seconds or Less
Iran: Washington puts off striking Iran until after the midterms, and says again that it has cleared Hormuz. See The War Today.
Gaza: The Board of Peace warns Hamas through mediators and tells reporters Israel's strikes carry no security value. See The War Today.
Judea and Samaria: The Palestinian Authority trains sixty thousand men on infantry standards a kilometre from Route 90. See The War Today.
MK tours: The army closes Judea and Samaria to Knesset visits until October, after Sukkot hammers a terrorist's memorial. See Inside Israel.
The ballot: Netanyahu tells Winter, Feiglin and Maoz to merge or withdraw before lists close on 8 September. See Inside Israel.
Saudi Arabia: Trump sends Congress the thirty-year reactor deal, with normalization a condition Congress can let lapse. See Israel and the World.
The Netherlands: Sa'ar expels the Dutch from the Kiryat Gat coordination center over a trade ban taking effect next month. See Israel and the World.
Sanctions: Bessent aims sixty Iran designations at third countries, and Beijing threatens all necessary measures. See Israel and the World.
Australia: The antisemitism commission refuses more hearings and reports in December, with much of the inquiry held in camera. See Israel and the World.
Lebanon: Washington's ambassador in Beirut puts a two-day window on Ali al-Taher as Israeli jets work the ridge. See Developments to Watch.
Ofer Winter will not merge and cannot be made to, and Moshe Gafni knows what he means to recommend and is not allowed to say it — and the lists close on 8 September whether either of them moves or not. Abroad a refusal is free, and whoever refuses can outwait whoever is asking. Here it costs seats.
Today: when Washington's restraint toward Iran expires, why the army shut Judea and Samaria to MKs, and who is training off Route 90.
The Jewish State — Mitzpe's eight-session live course on Israeli history from the Mandate to October 7, taught the way the brief reads. Cohort 1: eight Sundays from Oct 11. mitzpe.org/the-jewish-state