KOENIG

On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation designating “the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving.” Lincoln’s announcement marked the culmination of a multi-decade campaign by Sarah Josepha Hale to make Thanksgiving into a national holiday. Although Lincoln wrote the vast majority of his state papers, the Thanksgiving Proclamation was in fact drafted by Seward.

Washington DC, October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward, Secretary of State

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson for standing up for the Jewish state in a podcast interview that the Louisiana Republican posted online Tuesday.

“Thank you, Speaker @MikeJohnson, for your strong and principled words about Israel. Your clarity and conviction strengthen our shared stand against terror,” the premier stated on his office’s X social media account, along with a link to Fox News‘ coverage of the interview, which aired on “The Katie Miller Podcast.”

Since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon came into effect on November 27th of 2024, IDF troops have been operating in Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding.

On Thursday, the one-year mark of the ceasefire agreement between the two countries, local media reported Israeli airstrikes targeting the areas of Mahmoudiya, Reyhan, and Iqlim in southern Lebanon. The IDF later confirmed these reports. 

"The IDF is operating in accordance with the ceasefire understandings against Hezbollah’s attempts to rebuild and rearm and is acting with force to remove any threat to Israeli civilians," the IDF said in a statement.

Israel is expecting Argentine President Javier Milei to visit in April or May to open his country’s embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Tuesday.

“We hope to have the president in April or May to open Argentina’s embassy in Jerusalem, D.C.—David’s Capital,” said Sa’ar in an address to the Israel-Argentina Business Forum alongside Argentina’s Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, who he noted will be visiting the Jewish state in February.​

Milei announced during his visit to Israel in June that Argentina will open its embassy in Jerusalem in 2026.

Hamas is steadily consolidating its rule in the Gaza Strip, senior defense officials warned the Israeli Cabinet on Nov. 20, surprising several ministers who had not been aware of the extent of the terror group’s rehabilitation in such a short time.

According to the assessment, 13 of Gaza’s 25 municipalities have returned to full activity—effectively meaning they are again being run by Hamas—Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Tuesday.

Hamas police officers are once again deployed at checkpoints, and the organization is repairing key infrastructure. Israeli security officials emphasized that Hamas has reestablished its presence in the minds of the Gazan public.

Last midnight, the region once again witnessed movements that many described as a “mutual testing” between Iran and Israel. Some Iraqi and Hebrew-language media outlets claimed that Israeli fighter jets briefly entered Iraqi airspace and flew near Iran’s borders.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing the U.S. secretaries of state and the treasury to consider designating chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations.

According to a White House fact sheet, the president has ordered the two departments to submit a report within 30 days with recommendations to designate national chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists and to implement those recommendations within 45 days of the report’s publication.

US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a “civil but difficult” meeting at the White House last week in which talks grew tense over Saudi–Israel normalization, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing US officials.

In public, Trump and bin Salman flattered one another; however, part of their closed-door discussions were tense, according to Axios. Trump was disappointed to hear the pushback from the Saudi crown prince, the report stated, citing officials.

Bin Salman said he wants his country to be part of the Abraham Accords, but also make sure to secure a path to a two-state solution.

He claimed that Saudi Arabian society is not ready for normalization, Axios said, citing three sources. 

(photo: Flash90)

Delegations from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which along with the United States make up the mediators of the current ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, met on Tuesday in Cairo to discuss the second phase of the deal, Egyptian state-linked media reported.

Al-Qahera News, which has ties to Egyptian intelligence, said the meeting included the Egyptian and Turkish intelligence chiefs alongside the prime minister of Qatar.

The delegates discussed working with the US “to ensure the successful implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas, the channel reported.

(photo: AP)

Ukraine has signaled its acceptance of a U.S.-mediated plan to halt Russia’s nearly four-year-long assault, a senior American official told CBS News on Tuesday. 

According to the official, Kyiv has “agreed to a peace deal” shaped through the Trump administration’s diplomatic channel, marking the most concrete movement toward a potential ceasefire in months.

Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s national security adviser, echoed that assessment, saying that negotiators from both sides have reached a “shared understanding” on the outline of a proposal. He emphasized, however, that several elements still require refinement before anything can be considered final.

U.S. and Ukrainian mediators emerged from two days of talks on Monday with a slimmed-down peace framework that sets aside contentious issues, as Ukrainian officials underscored their country’s “red lines” on territory, military capacity and foreign alliances.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine was at a “critical moment” and would soon determine its next steps. He spoke after high-level discussions in Geneva on Sunday in which Ukraine and its European allies laid out concerns about a draft of a 28-point peace proposal that was favorable to Russia on many issues.

President Trump, who is pushing Ukraine to agree to a settlement by Thanksgiving but has indicated that talks could continue, said on Monday that “something good just may be happening.”

(photo: AFP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to meet French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot in Paris on Wednesday for high-level diplomatic talks. 

According to the Quai d’Orsay, the meeting is part of ongoing exchanges that began several months ago, focusing on the Iranian nuclear program, regional tensions, and key bilateral issues prioritized by France.

A central topic of the discussions will be Iran’s nuclear activities. France aims to press Tehran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose inspections and verification mechanisms have been severely limited in recent years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged Beirut to disarm Hezbollah, speaking after an Israel Defense Forces strike in the Lebanese capital killed the Iran-backed terror group’s “chief of staff.”

“I expect the government of Lebanon to fulfill its commitment to disarm Hezbollah,” said Netanyahu as he confirmed the death of Haytham Ali Tabatabai, the group’s No. 2 after Secretary-General Naim Qassem.

Only through Beirut fulfilling its commitments under the Nov. 26, 2024, ceasefire understandings with Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, “can a better future be made possible for every citizen in Lebanon—and only in this way can good and secure neighborly relations be established,” he said.

The Israel Defense Forces targeted Hamas terrorists in precision strikes across the Gaza Strip on Saturday in response to the Islamist group’s violations of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, the military said on Sunday.

One of the strikes killed Alaa’ Haddadeh, the head of supply for the terrorist group’s production headquarters, the IDF said.

The slain terrorist was a “central source of knowledge” serving Hamas’s supply and production systems, according to the IDF. “During the war, he operated to transfer weapons from Hamas’s headquarters to battalion and field commanders for use against IDF troops.”

The IDF said Sunday it killed the Hezbollah terrorist group’s “chief of staff” in Beirut in a targeted airstrike, pledging to continue to act against its efforts to rebuild and rearm.

The military operation against the No. 2 leader in the terrorist organization—which was dubbed “Black Friday”—was the first Israeli strike on Beirut since July and came nearly a year to the day since a ceasefire entered into force.

“A short while ago, the IDF struck in the heart of Beirut the Hezbollah chief of staff, who led the terrorist organization’s military buildup and armament,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in the afternoon.

Just hours after the killing of Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s number two and a key commander of the Radwan Force, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation Sunday evening in a firm, resolute statement. Netanyahu described Tabatabai as “one of the most dangerous strategists” within the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group, alleging that he had intended to “invade Galilee and massacre Israeli citizens.” 

Hezbollah announces the deaths of four operatives in an Israeli strike on Beirut today, in addition to its de facto military leader, Haytham Ali Tabatabai. They are named as Ibrahim Ali Hussein, Rifaat Ahmed Hussein, Mustafa Asaad Barrou and Qassem Hussein Barjawi.

Kyiv will engage with the Washington's 28-point plan to end the war with Russia and demonstrate it is open to substantive discussions, a senior Ukrainian official said on Saturday, even as an official from the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump indicated that the plan was not up for negotiation.  

"In the coming days in Switzerland we are launching consultations between senior officials of Ukraine and the United States on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement," Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, wrote on his official Facebook account.

"Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests. This is another stage of the dialogue that has been ongoing in recent days and is primarily aimed at aligning our vision for the next steps," he further added. "We value the involvement of the American side and its readiness for a substantive discussion. Ukraine will continue to act responsibly, professionally, and consistently — as required by our national security."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the US’s top diplomat assured him US legislation will prevent Saudi Arabia from buying the most sophisticated F-35 warplanes, directly contradicting President Donald Trump.

“Regarding the F-35, I had a long conversation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who reiterated his commitment that the United States will continue to preserve Israel’s qualitative military edge in everything related to supplying weapons and military systems to countries in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said in a Hebrew-language interview widely circulated on X.

Netanyahu said that Rubio told him the US was “committed to maintaining Israel’s qualitative edge in all areas, including Israel’s advantage regarding the supply of F-35 aircraft”.

The United States is poised to launch a new phase of Venezuela-related operations in the coming days, four US officials tell Reuters, as the Trump administration escalates pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

Reuters is not able to establish the exact timing or scope of the new operations, nor whether US President Donald Trump had made a final decision to act. Reports of looming action have proliferated in recent weeks as the US military has deployed forces to the Caribbean amid worsening relations with Venezuela.

Two of the US officials say covert operations would likely be the first part of the new action against Maduro. All four officials quoted in this article speak on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the impending action by the United States.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani accused Israel of committing genocide and the United States government of funding it during a White House press conference with US President Donald Trump on Friday.

In response to one reporter who inquired about Mamdani’s view on US involvement in the Israel-Hamas War, the incoming mayor stated that he has “spoken about the Israeli government committing genocide and our government funding it,” continuing that he shared his concerns with Trump during their meeting.

Trump did not respond to the question nor deny the genocide accusation.

The incoming mayor did, however, praise Trump for his peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, stating that he “appreciates all efforts towards peace.” Trump stated that both he and Mamdani shared an interest in pursuing peace efforts.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was “killed by the US and the E3 (UK, France, and Germany).”

“Like the diplomacy which was assaulted by Israel and the US in June, the Cairo Agreement has been killed by the US and the E3,” Araghchi wrote in an X post. The agreement allowed for the IAEA to enter Iran and inspect their nuclear program.

According to the Iranian minister, the reasons behind this move stemmed from the US and the E3's decision to “gang up to censure Iran at the IAEA Board of Governors (BoG).”

US President Donald Trump hosted a delegation at the White House on Thursday of nearly all the hostages freed through as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal he brokered last month.

“You’re not a hostage anymore… today you’re heroes,” Trump told the former hostages and their families in a brief portion of his prepared remarks that were filmed and released by the White House.

The Israeli delegation was made up of 26 former hostages, including 17 of the 20 living captives who were released in the deal that took force in October.