An upcoming exhibit at the Museum of the Bible will display what is thought to be the oldest extant bound volume—as opposed to a scroll or inscription—of a Jewish book. The Jerusalem Post reports:

The exhibit, Sacred Words: Revealing the Earliest Hebrew Book, showcases the book, which was discovered in Afghanistan and dates back roughly 1,300 years. The book, referred to as the ALQ, comprises prayers, poems, and pages of the oldest discovered Passover Haggadah, which was mysteriously written upside down. The prayers and poetry in the book draw on texts from the Hebrew Bible.

The book is also said to hold a connection to the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan. Upon discovering the text, a group of Muslims, Christians, and Jews worked together to rescue the historic document, the museum said. The group later made it accessible across the globe. These efforts had reportedly taken place under the democratically elected Afghan government before the Taliban’s takeover.

Yesterday I saw an unconfirmed report that the Biden administration has offered Israel a massive arms deal in exchange for a promise not to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Even if the report is incorrect, there is plenty of other evidence that the White House has been trying to dissuade Jerusalem from mounting such an attack. The thinking behind this pressure is hard to fathom, as there is little Israel could do that would better serve American interests in the Middle East than putting some distance between the ayatollahs and nuclear weapons. Aaron MacLean explains why this is so, in the context of a broader discussion of strategic priorities in the Middle East and elsewhere:

If the Iran issue were satisfactorily adjusted in the direction of the American interest, the question of Israel’s security would become more manageable overnight. If a network of American partners enjoyed security against state predation, the proactive suppression of militarily less serious threats like Islamic State would be more easily organized—and indeed, such partners would be less vulnerable to the manipulation of powers external to the region.

[The Biden administration’s] commitment to escalation avoidance has had the odd effect of making the security situation in the region look a great deal as it would if America had actually withdrawn [from the Middle East].

Alternatively, we could project competence by effectively backing our Middle East partners in their competitions against their enemies, who are also our enemies, by ensuring a favorable overall balance of power in the region by means of our partnership network, and by preventing Iran from achieving nuclear status—even if it courts escalation with Iran in the shorter run.