As grim as the political scene is in Israel today – with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition bulldozing through contentious and damaging legislation on the final days of the Knesset before the October election – the view on the other side of the world in Washington regarding Israel is just as worrisome.
Washington
Health insurance costs to rise about 12% for WA small employers • Washington State Standard
Health insurance costs in Washington for small businesses and their employees will increase an average of 11.9% in 2025, according to the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
This marks the highest increase for small employers in the last decade.
Nearly 220,000 people will be affected by the new rates starting in January. Ten insurers were approved to sell group plans to small employers, with the largest increase going to Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon at 21.9%, impacting around 6,000 people.
“Health insurance costs have been the number one problem for small businesses for 38 years running, and these increases will only make it worse,” said Patrick Connor, Washington state director for the National Federation of Independent Business.
Nationwide, a little over half of small employers offer employees health insurance.
“It’s a tough decision for small businesses to make about whether or not to offer their employees health coverage. It’s a promising sign that our state has over a dozen insurers offering small employers plans,” said Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler.
The nation’s average annual premium for an individual employee is $1,368, up 6% from 2023, according to the health care research nonprofit KFF. That average rises to $6,296 for employees with family coverage, up 24% over the last five years.
“High costs are often passed along to customers, driving up the price of goods and services for the average American. We need action to address this issue and ensure small businesses can continue to be the engine that drives our economy forward,” said Sammi Kerley, a small business advisor with Small Business for America’s Future, in a press release from Fair Health Prices Washington, a consumer health care advocacy coalition.
Employers pay an average of $7,584 on top of their employees’ share for health coverage for individuals, the KFF figures show.
Kreidler said his office sent a report to the Legislature in August with policy options to help make health care more affordable in Washington.
“We’re hopeful we can improve the underlying factors that have pushed costs up,” Kreidler said.
The Washington Nationals recalled catcher Harry Ford from Triple-A Rochester on Friday. Additionally, Washington reinstated right-handed pitcher Max Kranick from the 60-day Injured List and placed catcher Drew Millas on the 10-day Injured list (retroactive to July 12) with a left index finger fracture on Wednesday. Nationals President of Baseball
Two events overnight Wednesday emerging from the US Capitol, one a vote and the other an interview, exemplified the rockslide – turning into an avalanche – of anti-Israel sentiment that has taken hold in the hallowed halls of decision-makers.
The degree to which both the Republican and Democratic parties are sharpening their claws against Israel and hyper-focusing on it to the exclusion of critical issues indicates that the long-standing US-Israel bond is in a real crisis.
Nearly half of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, 103, voted for an amendment to cut off aid to Israel. The amendment was defeated 314-104. It was sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), whose disagreement with his party on Israel is his signature issue. He recently lost the GOP primary to run for reelection in the November midterms.
Lest we breathe a sigh of relief that Republicans en masse voted against the amendment, US Vice President JD Vance demonstrated that Israel has just as much to worry about from the Right in the US.
Vance claims Israeli ‘influence campaigns’ affect US political decisions
In an interview with highly popular America First podcaster Joe Rogan, who has labeled Israel’s war efforts in Gaza as “genocide,” Vance suggested that shadowy Israeli “influence campaigns” exist in the US.
“I definitely think you have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal,” he told Rogan.
An article in Time magazine on Tuesday was “worth reading because it lists a bunch of people who have quite literally been paid by a former Trump campaign person, who was himself paid by certain elements within the Israeli government,” Vance said. “And those people are attacking me viciously for quite literally trying to accomplish the negotiation objective that the president set for the country.”
“Many of the people who were receiving that money were actually attacking me in completely dishonest ways,” he said. “You know, my response to that is: ‘Go to hell.’ I’m going to do what I have to do for the American people. I represent Americans first.”
Vance shares claim spread by far Right influencers linking Jeffrey Epstein to Israeli intelligence
Vance, who is seen as a prime contender to be the Republican nominee for president in 2028, also waded into the conspiracy surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender. Epstein “clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence,” he said, reiterating a claim that has been refuted and discredited.
The embrace by such a senior Trump administration official of conspiracy theories about Epstein’s ties to Israeli intelligence, which have proliferated in the years since his death and often have veered into antisemitism, is part and parcel with Vance’s increasing alignment with the far Right base populated by the likes of Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and Candace Owens.
Taken separately, the vote in the House of Representatives and the Vance interview are worrisome signs that the “special” relationship between Israel and the US is on life support at best. Taken together, they should be an alarming wake-up call that the days of the “kishkes” identification test with Israel – as exemplified diversely by the late Lindsey Graham and former president Joe Biden – are long gone.
Although it’s easy to place the blame elsewhere – and there are a plethora of strong arguments to be made in retort to both Democratic and Republican detractors of Israel – we must also look inward and see what can be done to reverse the tide of sentiment against us.
We can surely criticize the headline-provoking gambit by US Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) last week, who chose to only hear and see the Palestinian side of life in the West Bank. But we can also acknowledge that vigilante Jewish groups are patrolling the area in a heavy-handed and lawless fashion that creates potentially lethal friction points and does irreparable damage to Israel’s image.
We can criticize Rahm Emmanuel for haughtily coming to Israel and warning us about what needs to be done to repair the US-Israel relationship, while acknowledging that some of his points were spot-on and unfolding before our very eyes in the House vote and Vance interview.
Jerusalem can no longer ignore or downplay the growing trends in the US of having to endorse the “Israel is genocide” trope to become a candidate, or of blaming Israel for getting the US entangled in Iran. The unsettling news this week demonstrates that with stark clarity.
Washington DC air quality could deteriorate Friday
Wildfire smoke from Canada may push DC to Code Red Friday (AQI 151–200); even healthy people may feel effects.
Washington DC’s air quality has worsened this week as wildfire smoke from Canada traveled hundreds of miles south, prompting air quality alerts and creating hazy skies across the region.
There’s belief by some forecasters that the worst is yet to come.
Here’s what they say about Friday’s forecast, which Capital Weather says could feature “the worst air quality in years” in DC.
Could air quality reach Code Red levels in Washington DC?
Washington DC’s air quality reached Code Orange this week, meaning conditions are unhealthy for sensitive groups, including children, older adults and people with heart or lung disease.
Forecasters warn conditions could deteriorate further Friday as a thicker plume of wildfire smoke settles over the region. The Maryland Department of the Environment’s forecast suggests parts of the DC metro area could reach Code Red — an AQI of 151 to 200 — if the heaviest smoke reaches the surface.
“A weak cold front will move south Thursday night and Friday morning, ushering in a significant amount of smoke into Maryland that will persist all day Friday due to weak, recirculating winds,” officials said.
Capital Weather Gang reported that smoke concentrations are expected to peak Friday afternoon into Friday evening, when air quality could deteriorate to levels not seen in three years.
Other forecasters indicate the highest concentrations of smoke are expected late Friday before conditions gradually improve over the weekend.
What do Code Red air quality levels mean?
Many areas north of DC are already in a Code Red, meaning anyone could experience health effects from the air quality, not just sensitive groups.
On the Air Quality Index (AQI) scale, Code Red represents levels between 151 and 200. At those levels, even healthy people may experience eye or throat irritation, coughing or difficulty breathing after prolonged exposure.
If the DC area were to reach that level, residents should limit their time outdoors. If you must spend an extended period outdoors, DC Health recommends wearing a well-fitting N95 or KN95 mask.
People with asthma, heart disease or other respiratory conditions, as well as children, older adults and pregnant people, may be especially vulnerable to wildfire smoke and should take extra precautions. Anyone who develops symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain or difficulty breathing should move indoors and seek medical attention if symptoms become severe.
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