With Israeli independence day approaching, Gil Troy reflects on the life of the chemist and Zionist activist Chaim Weizmann, who was one of the architects of the Balfour Declaration, a crucial leader of the Zionist movement during the Mandate period, and eventually Israel’s first president. Troy notes, among other things, the great Jewish statesman’s understanding of Zionism itself:

In Vienna this week, negotiations continue between Washington and Tehran over how to reinstate the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which aimed to restrict the Islamic Republic’s ability to develop the technology necessary for producing atomic bombs. Jacob Nagel and Mark Dubowitz explain the risks of a bad deal: