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This Week:

• Operation Epic Fury = Overwhelming Victory
• RJC in the News
• Short Takes
• Week's Best Tweets
• Upcoming Events

Operation Epic Fury = Overwhelming Victory

A White House statement this week noted:

President Donald J. Trump laid out clear objectives in Operation Epic Fury — and in just 38 days, the greatest fighting force the world has ever known has met those objectives with overwhelming strength and lethal precision.

Among the tremendous accomplishments of the operation:

Iran's air forces have been functionally neutered. Before Operation Epic Fury, the Iranian air force would fly between 30 to 100 flights each day; today, that number is zero.

Iran's navy has been obliterated. 150 warships across 16 classes have been destroyed, every submarine has been sunk, and 97% of its once-massive inventory of naval mines have been eliminated.

Iran can no longer arm terrorist proxies. The majority of the regime's offensive weapons are destroyed and the regime can no longer manufacture new terror weapons like ballistic missiles and long-range drones…

Over 10,200 total air sorties flown.

Over 13,000 targets struck.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week that the United States "achieved and exceeded" its core objectives in the war in just over five weeks.

U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said Thursday the United States has achieved its core military objectives under Operation Epic Fury, declaring Iran "has suffered a generational military defeat" after its more than four-decade military buildup was systematically destroyed in under 40 days.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said: "Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield. A capital 'V' military victory… Iran begged for this ceasefire, and we all know it." Hegseth said, "Together with our Israeli partners, America's military achieved every single objective on plan, on schedule, exactly as laid out from day one."

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Wednesday that the world is "safer" under President Donald Trump, pointing to recent US military actions targeting Iran's capabilities.

"Absolutely, because this is thanks to President Trump's leadership," Rutte said during an interview on "The Lead with Jake Tapper" when Tapper asked if the world was safer. "Degrading these capabilities is really, really very important for your and my safety here in the US, in Europe, in the Middle East," he added.

RJC in the News

Jewish Insider: Trump Hosts Jewish Leaders and Admin Officials for Oval Office Passover Commemoration

Prominent Jewish figures and senior Trump administration officials gathered at the White House on Monday afternoon for an event hosted by President Donald Trump commemorating the Passover holiday.

…[S]potted at the event were Rabbi Moshe Margaretten, president of the Tzedek Association; Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition; William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Jeff Miller, chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council; Jonathan Burkan, United States Holocaust Memorial Council member; Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad); Paul Packer, the former chairman of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America and Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, member of the Religious Liberty Commission and vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Jerry Wartski, a Holocaust survivor, and freed Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander were also in attendance.

Jewish Insider: Lindsey Graham Calls on Primary Rivals to Fire Antisemitic Staffers

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) doubled down on his calls for two of his primary challengers in his reelection campaign to fire senior officials over their record of antisemitic statements after both candidates refused to do so — vowing on Tuesday to fight the growing tolerance for Jew-hatred in the GOP and call out aspiring lawmakers in South Carolina who excuse or embrace it.

…Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition; Sandra Hagee Parker, who chairs the board of CUFI Action Fund, the political arm of Christians United for Israel; and Rabbi Yossi Refson of Chabad of Charleston spoke on the call in support of Graham's efforts.

"We have witnessed, I believe, sadly, the institutionalization of antisemitism in the Democratic Party," Brooks told attendees. "For us at the Republican Jewish Coalition, let me be very clear and unambiguous that this is a fight that we will take everywhere. We will ensure that antisemitism does not take hold in our party like it has taken hold in the Democratic Party. The fabric of America was woven together based on Judeo-Christian values, the values that we all cherish are built in partnership with our Christian allies and friends. Anybody who traffics in antisemitic rhetoric or antisemitic actions has no place in our party."

Short Takes

Tobin: Unlike Israel, many of America's NATO allies aren't really allies

It is axiomatic that Israel's greatest diplomatic challenge rests on a single unavoidable truth. The Jewish state has only one real ally on which it can depend right now: the United States. Yet at the start of the sixth week of war against Iran, it's becoming clear that the same may be true for Washington. It has formal alliances with many nations—notably, the 31 other members of NATO. But when push comes to shove, it turns out that the only truly reliable ally of the United States is the country with which it has no formal alliance: Israel.

…Other countries will cheer or jeer from the sidelines, but Israel not only has a powerful military but is willing to use it, along with its unmatched intelligence capabilities and operations, to fight a war alongside America.

Lake: Meet the new faces of the Iranian regime

When Vice President J.D. Vance arrives Saturday in Islamabad for talks with the remnants of Iran's regime, he will be negotiating with what the US government believes is a five-man senior council that is effectively running the Islamic Republic, according to current and former US officials.

Focus Project: Who controls what we believe? Wikipedia and AI alter reality

The Focus Project does a deep dive into how activist editors are controlling the narratives on controversial topics in Wikipedia.

"A small group of very active and biased Wikipedia editors has spent years shaping how billions of people understand global events, Israel and Jewish identity. Known as the 'Gang of 40,' they dominate important pages, control which news sources are accepted and remove views that challenge their ideological framing.

…"The Gang of 40 has collectively made millions of false or malicious changes to pages and often rewrites entire sections related to Judaism, Israel and the Middle East, according to investigative reporting by Ashley Rindsberg. These highly coordinated editors dominate many important and contested pages – including high-traffic pages with millions of annual views – a stark contrast to Wikipedia's portrayal as a welcoming, democratic community."

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