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The Jewish people, Israeli Jews and Diaspora Jews, observant Jews and secular ones, right-wing Jews and left, all of us ultimately in the same boat, whether we like each other or not,

have the honor of being hated. Constantly seeking to prove ourselves worthy in order to win

the world's love is a fool's errand. We need to stop being wounded. We need to stop being aggrieved and indignant.

And I'd go further.

We need to take this as an opportunity to stop caring.

Thank you. It's 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 4th in New York City. It is 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4th in Israel, as Israelis get ready to wind down their day.

The United States and Iran are set to meet for

de-escalation talks in Oman this Friday after Tehran pushed to move the meeting from Turkey

and limit the agenda to its nuclear program alone. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that

while the U.S. wants to resolve tensions diplomatically, the talks must

also include the dismantling of Iran's proxies, ballistic missiles, and preventing further repression

of anti-regime protesters. On Tuesday, a U.S. Navy jet shot down an Iranian drone that was

approaching the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea.

U.S. Central Command described the interception as a defensive action and noted that Iranian aircraft

continued to harass other American vessels even after the interception. After the incident,

according to reports, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with U.S. envoy Steve Whitkoff

about, among other things, maintaining a healthy skepticism of Iran negotiating in good faith.

The IDF has carried out multiple attacks in Gaza in recent days in response to what it claims to be

ceasefire violations by Hamas. On Tuesday, the IDF shared with reporters drone

footage showing armed Hamas operatives taking over hospitals and schools in northern Gaza.

According to Palestinian reports, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander was killed on

...