Alan Zendell, September 23, 2025

As Jews begin the ten holiest days of the calendar, we tend to be introspective. It’s more than tradition – it’s what Judaism requires of its followers. Nine days from now is Judaism’s Day of Atonement, a time when most of us, whether we generally observe the rules of our religion or merely subscribe to its humanistic values, honestly look within ourselves. We don’t need a priest to hear our confessions – we’re expected to assess ourselves honestly, learn from what we did wrong in the past year, and do better next year. If only our leaders, especially those who, despite being greedy, corrupt, and otherwise morally bankrupt, claim to be Christians, could be trusted to display such humility.

Nowhere is the lack of such moral clarity more visible than in the two wars raging in Europe and the Middle East. Instead of humility, what the leaders of the countries who are prosecuting these wars display is immense egos and lust for power. Central to both, of course, is Donald Trump, for whom every action is determined by his crippling narcissism. Trump’s desperate need for adulation and respect from people he perceives as genuine strong men – that’s neither chauvinism nor misogyny, it’s simply a reality that the most dangerous people in the world all presently are male – has contributed greatly to drawing both wars out indefinitely.

Trump asserts that his only concern is all the lives being lost, words for which he believes he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet, it’s clear that lives of Gazan and Ukrainian civilians, ill-trained Russian troops and their North Korean mercenaries, and Israeli civilians who have lived under constant bombardment and threats for as long as Israel has been an independent nation don’t matter to Trump at all. It’s equally clear that every action he’s taken with respect to these two horrific wars has been driven solely by his need to maintain his own cult of personality.

In Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has found a kindred spirit of sorts. They are very different people, but what they have in common is a willingness to put their own self-interest ahead of everything else. I don’t doubt that Netanyahu cares very deeply about Israel, but he cares more about staying in power, which is probably the only thing keeping him out of prison. He also believes that the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis justifies anything he wants to do, including genocide, to protect Israel. He’s smarter and far more complex than Trump, but their mutual need to support each other has dominated Trump’s bizarre attitude toward the war.

Gaza is no longer about hostages or the brutal, savage attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas. As much as anything else, it’s about an American President who sees political advantage in allowing Netanyahu to do whatever he wants, when it’s obvious that he is the only person with the power to rein him in. In today’s New York Times, former Israeli Defense Minister and member of Netanyahu’s War Cabinet, Benny Gantz addressed this conundrum. While he opposes many of Netanyahu’s policies, as do a majority of Israelis, Gantz points out that Israeli citizens are united in their distrust of Hamas and Iran and their rejection of a two-state solution. Of course, Trump sides with Netanyahu, while most of our major allies have chosen to recognize a Palestinian state. Do they know something we don’t or is this just an extension of Trump’s personality war, needing to dominate the leaders of our traditional allies?

It’s been eight months since Trump’s self-imposed deadline on ending Russia’s war in Ukkraine expired.  In reality, they have been eight months in which Trump has bent the knee to Vladimir Putin in every possible way to gain his love and admiration. That was never going to happen, although Trump seems to be the only world leader who didn’t recognize that. After being humiliated and severely embarrassed by Putin, Trump did what he always does.

Now that it’s clear even to Trump that Putin has no respect for him, he’s reacting in the only way he knows – by insulting and attacking Putin publicly, appearing to embrace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and claiming Ukraine can defeat Russia with NATO’s support. Even in flipping overnight, however, Trump was still playing power games with our allies, suggesting that when it comes to standing up to Russia, NATO really means Europe. Need I say that we can’t trust Trump’s apparent support for Zelensky? It’s only his feeble attempt at annoying Putin.

If Trump had any sense of humanity or morality, he would use his unique status as President of the strongest country in the world to pressure all sides to end the fighting in Europe and the Middle East. Instead, he continues his failed ego-driven version of diplomacy. In the end, all that matters to Donald Trump is the size of the crowds that worship him.