At his graduation from the New York City police academy, Allan Pearlman was one of seven recruits (in a class of 600) to be honored with the commanding officer’s award for exceptional police duty. Pearlman, born in Staten Island, joins the NYPD’s growing number of Orthodox Jewish officers. Luke Tress writes:

Pearlman joins the force as it grapples with the surge in anti-Semitism across the city and raucous anti-Israel protests that have disrupted city life on the streets, college campuses, during major events and, at prominent public gathering places. There have been at least 223 anti-Semitic hate crimes reported to police since January 1, according to preliminary police data. In one of the most recent incidents that is being investigated as a suspected hate crime, an arsonist lit a Hatzalah emergency services vehicle on fire in the Lower East Side.

Jewish officers can be an asset to their coworkers by explaining nuances about the Jewish community, said Mitch Silber, the former head of intelligence analysis for the NYPD and current director of the Community Security Initiative, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions in the New York area.

Pearlman doesn’t anticipate any problems coming up due to his religion, noting that he has spoken with other observant Jews on the force who have found the NYPD accommodating. “They always get Shabbat off; they get off holidays,” he said.

In other words, it’s possible Jews are more welcome at the NYPD academy than at Harvard or Columbia.

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.