Twice in the past 10 days, the US State Department has chosen to spend time, effort and hard-earned American taxpayer dollars publicly bashing Israel.

And in a world so rife with problems, with Russia attacking the Ukraine, North Korea threatening to launch ballistic missiles near Japan, and Iran advancing toward the nuclear threshold, what is it that seems to have ruffled the feathers of America's diplomats so much? The reopening of a small yeshiva in Homesh in northern Samaria. I kid you not.

Homesh was one of four Jewish communities in Samaria that were destroyed by the Sharon government during the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza.

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At the conclusion of its summit in Hiroshima earlier this month, the Group of Seven issued a communique calling attention to China's "malign practices." That prompted spokesmen for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to complain about the G-7's "Cold War mentality."

You've got to admire the audacity.

Xi Jinping, the most powerful Chinese ruler since Mao Zedong, is building his military capabilities at breakneck speed. He formed a "no limits" alliance with Vladimir Putin days before Russian tanks invaded Ukraine.

He stripped Hong Kong of its freedoms in violation of Beijing's treaty obligations. He persecutes Tibetans, Uyghurs, and other minorities. He threatens Taiwan.

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Last month, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, visited Kyiv, Warsaw, Berlin, Paris, and Brussels with "a clear message": European governments should view Beijing as an alternative to Washington, and recognize Ukrainian territories seized by Moscow as belonging to Russia in order to quickly end the war. These overtures fit a larger pattern; for some time now, in its dealings with Europe, China has promoted the concept of "strategic autonomy" from the United States, arguing that the continent should go its own way in international affairs. For Beijing, dividing the United States and Europe makes good strategic sense, since it would weaken the Western bloc and enhance China's influence on the world stage. The concept of strategic autonomy also appeals to like-minded political elements in Europe who have long sought, albeit for very different reasons, to pull Brussels and Washington apart. Some European leaders are on board. Following his recent trip to China, French President Emmanuel Macron argued that Europe faces a "great risk" of getting "caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy." Those sentiments were, of course, promptly trumpeted by China's state media. But Macron's once mainstream views are now out of touch. Today, Europe is more united than at any time in recent memory—mostly as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Much to Beijing's chagrin, Moscow's campaign of aggression against its western neighbor has breathed new life into the NATO alliance and forged a durable consensus on the continent about the need to roll back Russia's advances and thwart its persistent imperialist impulses.

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President Joe Biden and Mayor Eric Adams' growing feud reflects significant differences in the political realities facing them.

As president, Biden has to manage the increasingly progressive left wing of the Democratic Party — its calls for decriminalization and decarceration, and limiting enforcement of illegal US border crossings.

As mayor, Adams is responsible for preserving order on the streets, and therefore must have tools for dealing with criminal behavior.

He must also find ways to limit the costly inflow of illegal migrants into New York.

Evidence of the feud is manifesting from both sides: Adams is now blasting Biden policies.

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During his long-overdue testimony before the House Committee on Agriculture in April, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan complained about anti-pesticide groups tying up his agency's resources via the courts, but he and his agency only have themselves to blame. The courts are forcing change largely because EPA invites lawsuits — perpetuating its reputation for a lack of scientific integrity in the process.

For years, anti-pesticide groups have sued EPA in the famously liberal 9th Circuit for allegedly making registration decisions without substantial scientific evidence, which would violate EPA's mandate under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act .

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Rockets from Gaza flew toward Tel Aviv on May 10, only a few weeks after Israel celebrated its 75th anniversary. Against all odds, the country has survived despite multiple wars with its neighbors, a dearth of natural resources, and countless other challenges. But the rockets are a reminder that there are no permanent victories in the Middle East. Only permanent battles. There is a real possibility that Israel will be facing a serious war with enemies coming at it from various sides for the first time in nearly half a century—one coordinated out of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but fought along Israel's borders by Tehran's terror proxies. Indeed, just a day before the rocket barrage, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly spoke of "an attempt by Iran to start a multi-front campaign against us."

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Muslim teachers in Berlin, the German capital, have been authorized to wear Islamic headscarves in the classroom after a court determined that the city's religious neutrality law, which imposes a blanket ban on sectarian clothing and symbols in public schools, is discriminatory and unconstitutional. Muslim Brotherhood associated figures and organizations were instrumental in reversing the ban and are treating the decision as a major victory.

Berlin is one of eight German states with neutrality laws of this type. Berlin's abandonment of this measure is likely now to lead to Islamist efforts to rescind parallel laws in the other states.

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Israel in 1948 was a manifestation of an ideal at the time it was created. Namely, this meant Jewish self-determination in their ancient homeland, a nation-state like all others, brought about by a liberation movement that worked with and ultimately against the world's greatest imperial power, and which was the culmination of decades of patient organizing and building, all set against the horrific backdrop of the Holocaust.

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As a journalist, I sometimes favor leaks – even of classified material – since far too many mundane government documents continue to be classified top secret and Americans are often denied information they should have in the name of protecting national security.

But as an American who cares deeply both about the nation's global standing and Ukraine's survival, I'm worried about the mysterious leak of a cache of potentially hundreds of Pentagon documents marked "secret" and "top secret," but not for the reason most analysts now cite.

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