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If you blinked, you may have missed some of the many important actions that President Donald Trump and his administration took this week. They include:

Attorney General Pam Bondi establishes task force to prosecute Oct. 7 crimes

Attorney General Pam Bondi established a joint task force dedicated to investigating the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks and seeking justice for their victims. Joint Task Force October 7 is also tasked with prosecuting "antisemitic civil rights violations" and "other federal crimes" committed by Hamas supporters domestically, including on US college campuses.

Lee Zeldin Reveals EPA Found Unprecedented Scheme Biden Admin Used To Funnel Money To Leftists

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that he has contacted the US Justice Department and the inspector general to launch investigations into $20 billion that was transferred to an outside financial institution for the purpose of doling out funds to leftist organizations during Biden's final days in office.

Today: Vance visits Dachau concentration camp, lays wreath saying: 'We remember'

Vice President JD Vance, accompanied by his wife, Usha, toured the Dachau concentration camp with a group that included Abba Naor, a 97-year-old Holocaust survivor, and Karl Freller, the director of the Bavaria Memorial Foundation.

Rubio's first Mideast trip to target advancing hostage deal
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates from Feb. 15-18, Foggy Bottom confirmed on Wednesday. State Department Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a press statement, "The trip will center on freeing American and all other hostages from Hamas captivity, advancing to Phase II of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and countering the destabilizing activities of the Iranian regime and its proxies."

State Dept notifies Congress of $7 billion arms sale to Israel
The US State Department has notified Congress about its plan to sell $7 billion worth of weapons to Israel, in two parts. The first includes an array of munitions from 166 small-diameter bombs to 2,800 500-pound bombs, as well as thousands of guidance kits, fuses and other bomb components and support equipment, totaling $6.75 billion and to begin delivery this year, according to the report. The second arms package, for $600 million, includes 3,000 Hellfire missiles and will begin its delivery in 2028, with additional training by the US military.

Personnel News
President Donald Trump formally nominated Mike Huckabee, of Arkansas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the State of Israel.

The President named two members of the RJC Board of Directors, Wayne Berman and Sander Gerber, to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said that "all hell is going to break out" if Hamas does not release the remaining hostages by Saturday. He said that Hamas must return "all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two–by Saturday at 12 o'clock," but added, "I'm speaking for myself. Israel can override it."

In fact, according to Israeli news sources, Israel has reportedly sent a message to Hamas through mediators Egypt and Qatar that the hostage release-ceasefire deal will continue if the terror group releases three more hostages on Saturday.

The President's idea of moving the residents of Gaza elsewhere and rebuilding the Gaza Strip continues to prompt discussion. UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef al-Otaiba said today that while the United Arab Emirates regards President Trump's plan for Gaza as "difficult," Abu Dhabi has yet to see "an alternative to what's being proposed."

Further reading

• Friedman: Trump Plaza in Gaza: A serious, brilliant, timely vision

• Roberts: The historical case for Trump's Riviera

• Dhume: If Indians and Pakistanis can relocate, why can't Gazans?

• Tobin: Trump plan puts an end to the Palestinian state fantasy

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and over 30 other senators reintroduced the Senate version of the Antisemitism Awareness Act yesterday. The bill was reintroduced in the House last week.

Last year the bill passed in the House and was never taken up by Senate. Senate Republican leaders have promised to act on the bill this year. The bill has strong bipartisan support, which suggests that when it does come up for a vote in the Senate, it should pass.

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree this week ostensibly ending the "Pay for Slay" program that gives salaries to the families of terrorists who were killed or imprisoned by Israel.

Abbas, according to a statement published by PA state media, transferred the program from Ramallah's Social Development Ministry to the Palestinian National Institution for Economic Empowerment, an agency Abbas controls. Families that receive "pay for slay" money would continue to qualify for aid based on financial need, rather than on the severity of their relatives' terrorist crimes.

Neither Middle East experts nor Republicans on Capitol Hill believe that the corrupt liars of the PA have decided to truly end their "martyr payment" program.

JI: Supreme Court to hear case on Palestinian Authority's 'martyr' payments

The Supreme Court is set to hear a case in the coming months to decide whether American victims of Palestinian terror attacks can sue the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority for damages based on support for such attacks through the "pay for slay" program that compensates individuals who have carried out attacks as well as their families.

The Supreme Court cases — Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization and United States v. Palestine Liberation Organization, which the court will hear jointly — pertain to a decades-long series of litigation efforts by American terror victims and their families to sue the PLO and PA.

Of note: The case is named for one of the plaintiffs, the family of Ari Fuld, who was killed by a Palestinian terrorist at the Gush Etzion Junction near his home in Efrat in 2018. Ari Fuld was a hero who chased and shot his attacker, preventing the terrorist from killing others, before he succumbed to his injuries. The Republican Jewish Coalition honored Ari at the 2022 RJC Leadership Summit in Las Vegas and presented the "Defender of Israel" award to his wife Miriam, in Ari's memory.

Hennessey: Democrats Ought to Love DOGE

Elon Musk's glorious rampage through official Washington is like something from a dream. Many conservatives and some Republicans have fantasized for decades about laying off bureaucrats and shrinking the government. Nobody's ever pulled it off.

Even Ronald Reagan, the great apostle of smaller government, couldn't achieve in eight years what Mr. Musk has done in 3½ weeks. The billionaire businessman is less apostle than avenging angel. The Department of Government Efficiency is the change we've been waiting for.