Good morning. Trump signed the Iran deal Wednesday night at a dinner party in Versailles, and by today the follow-up talks were already called off. Four Israeli soldiers are dead in Lebanon overnight, and Ben Gvir wants the whole country to burn for it. And antisemitism researchers just clocked a 78% jump in a single week. There’s a lot to get into — let’s go.

Trump Signed the Iran Deal Wednesday. Today, the Follow-Up Talks Got Called Off.

On Wednesday night, at a dinner with Macron in Versailles, Trump signed the US-Iran memorandum of understanding alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian — two days earlier than planned, since the in-person signing by VP JD Vance and Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wasn’t supposed to happen until Friday. Pezeshkian and Vance had already signed it digitally over the weekend, but Trump showed up to Versailles and just signed the physical copy himself. Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif, who brokered it, says Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz immediately, and the US lifts its naval blockade immediately right back.

By today, the first round of actual follow-up talks — the ones meant to start hammering out a permanent deal over the next 60 days — were already called off. The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed the session, planned for the Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne with Iran, the US, Qatar, and Pakistan all expected, isn’t happening as scheduled. A US official told Axios it may be tied to Iran’s objections over Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

Ghalibaf came right out and called the whole thing “a record of US failure” — not exactly the tone of the losing side. He also said the toll-free window on Hormuz only lasts 60 days, then “we will receive a fee for services,” because Iran says it has “the right to sovereignty” over the strait. Trump, asked about Iran keeping its ballistic missiles, said it’s “a little bit unfair” for Iran not to have some if Saudi Arabia and Qatar do. A deal where the other side is calling itself the winner days after the ink dries, with the negotiating table already empty again, isn’t one anyone should be taking a victory lap over.

Four Soldiers Dead, and Ben Gvir Wants Lebanon to Burn

Overnight, Hezbollah killed four IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon — a tank crew, including the battalion chief — with five more wounded in the same village hours later. Israel’s response was not gentle. The IDF says it struck more than 80 targets and killed dozens of Hezbollah operatives overnight; Lebanon says 18 people were killed and 33 wounded in those strikes.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir didn’t hold back: “With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not up for bargaining. All of Lebanon must burn.” Defense Minister Israel Katz was steadier but just as firm — the IDF stays “in the security zone in Lebanon, from the coastline to the heights of the Beaufort,” he said, regardless of whatever gets signed with Iran.

So while the world is toasting a historic deal that supposedly ends this war, Israeli soldiers died last night and the government just confirmed it isn’t leaving Lebanon on anyone’s schedule but its own. The deal with Iran was never a deal with Hezbollah. Don’t let one signing ceremony convince you the whole region exhaled at the same time.

Antisemitism Researchers Clock a 78% Jump in a Single Week

The Antisemitism Research Center documented 16 vandalism incidents this week — a 77.8% increase from the week before. A public Hanukkiyah in Temuco, Chile was spray-painted with “genocidas.” A high school in Urbana, Maryland found antisemitic graffiti in a bathroom for the second time this year. A historic church in Hobart, Australia — with no Jewish congregation of its own — was defaced with swastikas and the words “Hitler is God.”

A church with no Jewish congregation getting hit with swastikas tells you this isn’t confined to synagogues, or Israel, or even Jews directly — it’s hate looking for the nearest available surface. South America, a Maryland suburb, an Australian church. Same week, three continents, same symbol. That’s not a coincidence, that’s a trend line, and it’s pointed the wrong way.

Yael’s Take:

A deal gets signed at a dinner party in France and the headlines call it peace. Meanwhile four families in Israel are sitting with soldiers who didn’t come home, and a swastika shows up on a church that has nothing to do with any of it. These are not the same war, and they don’t end on the same signature.

The lesson isn’t new, but it bears repeating every single time this happens: paper doesn’t end hatred, it just changes which headline runs above it. Watch the actual behavior, not the ceremony.

Know your history. Know your people. And don’t for one second believe any of this is someone else’s problem to solve.

Be proud of who you are, don’t shrink — and have a peaceful Shabbat. Back Sunday.

— Yael

house-of-yael.com

Sources:

• Times of Israel — “US, Iran sign war-ending deal, which enters into effect 2 days earlier than planned” (Wednesday Versailles signing; Sharif quotes on Hormuz/blockade; Ghalibaf on the 60-day toll-free window and Strait “sovereignty”)
• Reuters / Times of Israel / Yahoo News — “Switzerland says planned US-Iran talks called off” (Bürgenstock talks called off, dated today; Axios sourcing on possible Lebanon link)
• Times of Israel — Liveblog June 19, 2026, and related entries (Ben Gvir “all of Lebanon must burn”; Katz on IDF remaining in south Lebanon; Hezbollah kills four soldiers overnight)
• Combat Antisemitism Movement — Weekly Report, June 18, 2026 (global vandalism spike)