Trump claims Iran has agreed to most US demands, questions why Jews support Democrats

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US president also denies Iran will turn into ‘forever war’ * Sa’ar accuses Turkish FM of ‘incitement to genocide’ for saying humanity ‘cannot bear’ Israel

The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.

Trump again asks why Jews vote for Democrats, says he’s been ‘best president’ in Israel’s history

US President Donald Trump again questions why most American Jews vote for Democrats, and claims he has been the friendliest US president to Israel.

He makes the comments in an interview with CNBC while criticizing then-US president Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“How a Jewish person can vote for a Democrat is beyond me,” Trump says. “Because I’ve been the best president in the history of Israel, and they acknowledge — and by the way, in Israel I think I was at 99% or something.”

Trump has historically polled well among Israelis, though his approval has tanked in Israel since he signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran that has sparked grave concern among Israeli officials, and that some observers have said is worse for Israel’s security than the 2015 deal. A poll published last month by the Israel Democracy Institute found that only 44% of Israelis think Israel’s security is one of Trump’s main considerations.

In his first term and especially during his 2024 campaign for president, Trump repeatedly questioned why most American Jews have historically voted for Democrats. In 2024, he took to saying that Jews who voted Democrat “should have their head examined.”

Exit polls showed that in 2016, 2020 and 2024, most American Jews voted for the Democratic presidential nominee over Trump. A poll in April of American Jews found that only 22% approve of his performance as president.

Trump: Iran has ‘agreed to just about everything we need’

US President Donald Trump claims that Iran has “agreed to just about everything we need” in negotiations over a final accord between the two countries.

Trump makes the claim in a CNBC interview when asked whether the Iran war could turn into one of the so-called ‘forever wars’ that he pledged to avoid.

Trump has previously touted Iran’s pledge in the MOU inked last month to not obtain a nuclear weapon, even though it made the same commitment in the 2015 nuclear deal brokered by then-US president Barack Obama, which Trump ridiculed and pulled out of in 2018.

He has also previously claimed that Iran has agreed to allow the US to extract the country’s stockpiles of highly enriched uranium — something the Islamic Republic has denied and is actually one of the main sticking points in talks between the sides, which have reportedly not made much progress.

Trump points out in the CNBC interview that the Iran war was much shorter than other conflicts, and claims that the Afghanistan war lasted “like 10 years,” though it in fact lasted some 20 years, including spanning his first term.

He says of Iran that he managed to “defeat them militarily,” even though Tehran has “some missiles left.”

He says the US could wipe those out as well and has hit Iran as recently as last week in retaliation for targeting ships in Hormuz.

“We’re negotiating, and we’ll see,” Trump says.

Trump on Iran:

We totally defeated them militarily. They have some missiles left. We could wipe them out too.

I think they’ve agreed to just about everything we need. pic.twitter.com/fgJyfhoVBt

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 2, 2026

NY activists plan protest against Ben Gvir visit that spokesperson says isn’t happening

Anti-Zionist activists are planning to protest against a purported visit to New York by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, but a Ben Gvir spokesperson says he’s not actually planning on traveling to New York.

Anti-Israel activist groups, including the Palestinian Youth Movement and the New York branch of Jewish Voice for Peace, say that Ben Gvir is planning to attend a United Nations summit for police next week.

The groups announce a rally at the UN on July 7 and issue an open letter to New York State Attorney General Letitia James asking her to “use the full power of your office to pursue this war criminal.”

Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Hind Rajab Foundation also issue statements in protest of the visit.

A spokesperson for Ben Gvir tells The Times of Israel, however, that he’s not planning on attending the UN summit.

Last month, the Haaretz daily reported that Ben Gvir would be leading a delegation to the United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS) that is set to take place on July 7 and 8. But the report was never confirmed by Ben Gvir’s office and he reportedly later canceled the trip.

Far-right ministers have made surprise visits to New York in the past.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made an unannounced appearance at New York City’s annual Israel parade in May, causing an uproar.

Ben Gvir last visited the US in 2025, making stops in Florida, Connecticut, New York and Washington.

Hebrew media reported last month that the far-right minister canceled an earlier visit after he was required by the US embassy to arrive in person and provide his fingerprints as a condition for receiving a visa, apparently due to his past criminal convictions.

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Sa’ar accuses Turkish FM of ‘incitement to genocide’ for saying humanity ‘cannot bear’ Israel

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accuses his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, of incitement to genocide after Fidan calls Israel a “burden that humanity can no longer bear” and says it is a “problem” for the world.

Fidan makes the comments in a TV interview, in which he calls for global sanctions on Israel.

“Israel is not just Turkey’s problem, nor is it just the issue of our president,” Fidan says in the interview, according to subtitles posted by Sa’ar. “But everyone knows it, feels it, whispers it in hidden corners, and occasionally speaks openly. These are humanity’s common problems. This is what we must call it.”

He continues, “These people have become a burden that humanity can no longer bear, with their policies and their mindset. Humanity cannot bear this… I may be the only country raising my voice, but this is a problem for all of you.”

Sa’ar shoots back on X, writing that Fidan’s “sickening words are textbook incitement to genocide.”

The foreign minister adds, “Dehumanizing the Jewish people as an ‘unbearable burden’ is the classic, horrific language of history’s worst eliminationist regimes. The civilized world and Turkey’s NATO allies must unequivocally condemn this explicit call for the erasure of Israel.”

pic.twitter.com/Ijp22zxf8T

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 2, 2026

Relations between Israel and Turkey collapsed following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and the subsequent war in Gaza. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a leading critic of Israel and has repeatedly accused it of genocide.

Turkey will host a summit of the NATO alliance next week.