The United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday, with Vice President JD Vance confirming Monday that both he and President Donald Trump digitally signed the MOU alongside Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, formally halting the US-Israeli military campaign launched against Iran on February 28. A formal in-person signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday in Switzerland, with Vance, Ghalibaf, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and senior Trump aides Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner all expected to attend.
The deal, whose full text has not yet been released, is reported to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, lift the US blockade of Iranian ports, and establish a 60-day framework for negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Trump, speaking from the G7 summit in Versailles, declared the strait “partially” reopened and promised it would be “completely open” by Friday’s ceremony. Senior US officials clarified, however, that normal shipping traffic could take weeks to resume, as mines must first be cleared.
The MOU also reportedly extends the existing ceasefire to Lebanon, effectively halting Israel’s ongoing operations against Hezbollah. a provision Jerusalem has refused to formally accept. Netanyahu, at his first press conference since March, said Israel does not yet know the final terms of the deal, and insisted that any agreement must be backed by a credible military threat. “With or without an agreement, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” he declared. “As long as I am prime minister, it will not happen.”
Critically, Iran’s missile arsenal remains intact, and the regime retains stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, material that can be weaponized. Iran’s commitment not to seek nuclear weapons mirrors the language it agreed to in the 2015 JCPOA, the same agreement Trump withdrew from in 2018 as unverifiable and worthless.
The reconvened Sanhedrin, meeting in formal session on 30 Sivan 5786, issued an urgent psak din, a halachic ruling, condemning the agreement in the strongest terms and calling on Jews worldwide to fast, pray, and repent for the annulment of what it termed a mortal decree against the Jewish people and humanity.
The ruling opens by drawing a direct parallel to one of the most infamous transactions in Jewish history. “The agreement of the United States with the Revolutionary Guards of Iran recreates the agreement made by Ahasuerus with Haman 2,500 years ago,” the Sanhedrin declared, citing the verse: “Vayomer hamelech l’Haman, haKesef natun lach, v’ha’am la’asot bo k’tov b’einecha,
“And the king said to Haman, ‘The silver is given to you, and the people, to do with them as seems good in your eyes'” (Esther 3). The Khomeinist regime, the ruling state, is the direct heir of Haman’s ideology, and the funds unlocked by the deal will be used toward the same end Esther declared before Ahasuerus: “Ki nimkarnu ani v’ami l’hashmid, laharog ul’abed,” “For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated” (Esther 7).
Beyond Israel, the Sanhedrin warned that the deal imperils virtually the entire world. Twenty percent of global maritime commerce passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the ruling noted, and under the terms of the MOU those traders “will now be required to pay ransom to the Revolutionary Guards for the right to pass.” The Iranian people themselves, who sacrificed tens of thousands of lives in protest against the Revolutionary Guard Islamist regime,”have now been abandoned to their fate.” The ruling was unambiguous: “The only beneficiaries of this agreement are the Revolutionary Guards.”
The court then issued six binding halachic rulings:
On repentance and prayer: “In accordance with the laws of Ta’anit, all Jews must be convened for an assembly of trumpet blasts, fasting, repentance, soul-searching, prayer, and outcry for the annulment of the decree.” Alongside this, the Sanhedrin called for gratitude to God for the miracles of the present war: the striking of the “Khomeinist father and many of his men,” the destruction of large portions of Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure, and the conquest of broad areas of northern Eretz Yisrael. The ruling invoked Psalm 44: “Kumah, ezratah lanu, u’fdeinu l’maan chasdecha,” “Arise, help us, and redeem us for the sake of Your kindness,” pleading that the miracles already granted not be rendered meaningless.
On territorial withdrawal: “Every clause in the agreement that speaks of Israeli withdrawal from any portion of Eretz Yisrael is null and void. Every part of the Holy Land conquered by Israel must remain in the possession of the Jewish people, withdrawal is forbidden, and settlement is obligatory.”
On the Prime Minister: “The honorable Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, is required to fulfill the will of the people of Israel according to Torah, and to win the war in Lebanon, Gaza, and Iran ‘ad ridtah,’ complete and total victory, and to enable the children of Israel to settle in the conquered territories.”
On Israel’s right of self-defense: “Every clause in the agreement that imposes any limitation whatsoever on Israel’s right to defend itself against its enemies is null and void. The State of Israel has the halachic and moral right and duty to defend itself and to destroy those who seek to destroy it, and in particular the men of Hezbollah [which the Sanhedrin terms Chizb-El-Satan, the Party of Satan], the mercenaries of the Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon.”
On freedom of navigation: “Every clause granting the Revolutionary Guards any special rights in international waters is null and void. Any nation or organization that closes an international waterway is an enemy of humanity, and the nations of the world are obligated to fight them until they submit.”
On the Revolutionary Guards’ legitimacy: Citing its own earlier ruling of 27 Adar 5786, the Sanhedrin declared the Revolutionary Guards have “lost all justification for the continuation of their rule following the brutal massacre they carried out against their own citizens.” The ruling called for a naval siege, invoking the Torah’s law of siege warfare: “U’vanita matsor al ha’ir asher hi osah imcha milchamah, ad ridtah,” “And you shall besiege the city that wages war against you, until it falls,” and for the destruction of Iran’s oil, gas, and electricity infrastructure “until the regime loses the power to fight, and the Iranian people who seek peace and freedom can rise up against the regime and replace it.”
The Sanhedrin concluded its ruling with a personal address to President Trump. “From the first time you were elected to the presidency, you were a true friend of the State of Israel. As a result, God protected you and saved you from death several times, and even helped you win the presidency a second time.” The court warned that continuing to honor a deal that endangers Israel risks forfeiting that divine protection. It predicted the agreement would not help Trump in the midterm elections but would “humiliate and degrade you and the United States.” And it invoked history’s most cautionary parallel: “The weakness you are displaying toward Iran will weaken you and the United States and will very quickly bring the world to a Third World War, like Chamberlain’s agreement with the Nazis, which was presented as a peace agreement but in reality brought about and caused the Second World War.”
The ruling closed with the blessing: “B’virkat hageulah hashlema b’rachamim, b’malchuto hagalui v’ha’atzumit shel HaShem Yitbarach, “With the blessing of the complete redemption in mercy, in the revealed and mighty kingship of the Blessed God.”
