In 1458, the kingdom of Sicily (which included both the island itself and a portion of southern Italy) became part of the kingdom of Aragon, which then merged with Castile to create Spain in its present form. This newly united country forcibly expelled its Jewish population in 1492, an edict that was applied to its Italian territories as well. Now, the area is seeing a Jewish revival, in part a result of the reconversion of locals who believe themselves descended from converted Jews. Joshua Marks reports on the small but growing community of Catania, Sicily’s second city:

The Comunità Ebraica di Catania opened [its] synagogue in 2022 in Castello della Leucatia (Ghost Castle), a building constructed in 1911 in the northern district of Canalicchio, which since 2001 has been home to a municipal library and auditorium. The municipality purchased the building in 1960.

According to popular legend, a wealthy Jewish merchant established the castle as a wedding gift for his daughter, Angelina Mioccios, who rejected the arranged marriage and committed suicide by jumping from its tower. The Stars of David located along the battlements of the towers appear to confirm the Jewish origins.

Last week, the New York Times reported, based on unnamed sources within the Trump administration, that the president had asked Israel not to carry out a planned strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. That is, somebody deliberately gave this information to the press, which later tried to confirm it by speaking with other officials. Amit Segal writes that, “according to figures in Israel’s security establishment,” this is “the most serious leak in Israel’s history.” He explains:

As Israel is reportedly planning what may well be one of its most consequential military operations ever, the New York Times lays out for the Iranians what Israel will target, when it will carry out the operation, and how. That’s not just any other leak.

Seth Mandel looks into the leaker’s logic:

The primary purpose of the [Times] article is not as a record of internal deliberations but as an instrument of policy itself. Namely, to obstruct future U.S. and Israeli foreign policy by divulging enough details of Israel’s plans in order to protect Iran’s nuclear sites. The idea is to force Israeli planners back to the drawing board, thus delaying a possible future strike on Iran until Iranian air defenses have been rebuilt.

The leak is the point. It’s a tactical play, more or less, to help Iran torpedo American action.

The leaker, Mandel explains—and the Times itself implies—is likely aligned with the faction in the administration that wants to see the U.S. retreat from the world stage and from its alliance with Israel, a faction that includes Vice-President J.D. Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and the president’s own chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Yet it’s also possible, if less likely, that the plans were leaked in support of administration policy rather than out of factional infighting. Eliezer Marom argues that the leak was “part of the negotiations and serves to clarify to the Iranians that there is a real attack plan that Trump stopped at the last moment to conduct negotiations.”