Next year, Eytan Stibbe will be the second Israeli in history to participate in a manned space mission. Michael Bachner describes the historical artifact he plans to take along:

Stibbe has chosen to take [a] 1,900-year-old coin with him on the Rakia mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for early next year. Stibbe said that he is taking the artifact with him as a symbol of his Jewish heritage.

The coin . . . dates to the second Jewish revolt against the Romans, also known as the Bar Kokhba revolt, bearing the name of its leader, Shimon Bar Kokhba. It was found in recent years and unveiled last March along with countless rare artifacts from the “Cave of Horror” in [the Judean desert], including dozens of 2,000-year-old biblical scroll fragments—the first such finds in 60 years.

Both sides of the coin—which is from the second year of the revolt—bear Jewish symbols typical of the Second Temple period: a palm tree with the inscription “Shimon” . . . on one side; and a vine leaf with the inscription “Year two of the freedom of Israel” on the other. Stibbe said that for him, the coin “represents the connection to the land, the love of the country, and the desire of the population of Israel in those years for independence.”

Yesterday, the Iranian foreign minister flew to Geneva to meet with European diplomats. President Trump, meanwhile, indicated that cease-fire negotiations might soon begin with Iran, which would presumably involve Tehran agreeing to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, while Washington pressures Israel to halt its military activities. According to Israeli media, Iran already began putting out feelers to the U.S. earlier this week. Aviram Bellaishe considers the purpose of these overtures:

The regime’s request to return to negotiations stems from the principle of deception and delay that has guided it for decades. Iran wants to extricate itself from a situation of total destruction of its nuclear facilities. It understands that to save the nuclear program, it must stop at a point that would allow it to return to it in the shortest possible time. So long as the negotiation process leads to halting strikes on its military capabilities and preventing the destruction of the nuclear program, and enables the transfer of enriched uranium to a safe location, it can simultaneously create the two tracks in which it specializes—a false facade of negotiations alongside a hidden nuclear race.