Taliban and Al Qaeda members are fleeing northern Afghanistan in disarray, amid a “collapse of morale” following the death of bin Laden, Juan Cole reports on his “Informed Comment blog. 

It appears that the Taliban were still linked to, and perhaps taking direction from, al-Qaeda, more than most analysts had suspected.  It also appears that Bin Laden had more of an operational, strategizing role than we had thought. 

If it is true that radicals are fleeing Qunduz, and indeed other provinces as well, and heading for safe havens in places like North Waziristan in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt, it is likely primarily because they had direct contact with Usama Bin Laden and now fear that information about them is in American hands, since the SEALS captured his hard drives and thumb drives. 

Speaking of disarray, there are more and more signs of alarm within Israel’s defense and intelligence establishment regarding the cliff toward which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is resolutely leading the country. 

Meir Dagan, the long-serving former Mossad director who was a close ally of Ariel Sharon, told a conference at Hebrew University on Friday that a military attack on Iran’s nuclear project, an option cherished by Netanyahu and his defense minister Ehud Barak, is “the stupidest idea I ever heard.” 

Dagan was immediately lambasted by Barak and finance minister Yuval Steinitz, a frequent Netanyahu surrogate.  Both said he should have kept his mouth shut.  But a string of top security honchos sprang to his defense, including former Mossad directors Danny Yatom and Ephraim Halevy.  So did Knesset foreign affairs and defense committee chairman Shaul Mofaz, a former IDF chief of staff and Ariel Sharon’s defense minister. 

Dagan has been in this movie before.  The day after he stepped down as Mossad chief in January, he testified before the Knesset foreign affairs and defense committee and said Iran could not acquire a nuclear bomb before 2015 at the earliest.  He said that Western sanctions and various accidents plaguing the Iranian project were continually pushing the date further and further into the future. ( Here is the latest Iranian public acknowledgment of the serious threat that last year’s Stuxnet virus posed to the computer guidance of their centrifuges.  They say it’s mostly under control, but it’s not.  Here’s the head of the Iranian miltary’s cyber-defense unit in the Iranian army describing yet another virus they found in their nuke computers just two weeks ago.) 

That drove Bibi ballistic, according to numerous press reports (including this piece by Ari Shavit in Haaretz, who agreed with Bibi that Dagan was irresponsible. 

Dagan sheepishly backpedaled a week later, allowing as how maybe Iran could have a bomb sooner than 2015.  It seemed clear at the time that he had been bludgeoned into recanting.  Now it’s obvious. 

Inspired by his Brooklyn childhood, The Little Beet chef/owner developed a gluten-free version of apple pie for his restaurant that's the perfect #passover dessert: baked apples with vanilla-walnut charoset. 

Has your non-Jewish colleague told you Passover is only one night — or that Hanukkah always falls on December 25?  That's #goysplaining, says Lilit Marcus. 
Have you ever been goysplained? 

It's only been a day since Trevor Noah was appointed Jon Stewart's The Daily Show successor, and he's now being slammed for old anti-Semitic tweets. 
What do you think of Noah's tweets?  Let us know in the comments. 

Israel's own Black Panthers once latched onto the #Passover story to challenge Ashkenazi domination.  The radicals issued their own Haggadah, which mentioned strikes and injustice — but not God. 

Fans of the The Daily Show are wondering how new host, Trevor Noah, will address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
Well, his past posts on social media indicate he probably won’t be appearing at next year’s AIPAC conference

#Passover is now five days away.  That means matzo, matzo, and more matzo — kind of a mood killer.  Here are 6 things you should watch to get you revved up for Seder. 

Even though it's often men who lead the Seder in traditional Jewish families, Avi Shafran believes that the Seder itself is maternal in its quality and purpose. 

From our friends at Kveller.com, need something delicious for a Passover snack?  How about this potato pizza kugel! 

#Passover is especially meaningful — and challenging — when you're converting.  Take it from Kelsey Osgood, who felt like a 'stranger in a strange land' at her first Seder. 

Ex-Navy Seal Eric Greitens is plunging into the GOP primary for #Missouri governor — the same race shaken by the suicide of a candidate dogged by an anti-Jewish 'whisper campaign.' 

"My cousin and I are both dating non-Jews who are considering converting.  Is it wrong to ask our dad to tone down the Seder this year so they get a nicer impression of Judaism?" 
Check out the advice in this week's #Seesaw: http://jd.fo/p8Jdx

In her now infamous New Yorker piece, Lena Dunham acted like an outsider looking in.  Doing this made it not just unfunny but anti-Semitic, J.E. Reich says. 

In Rabat, Jonathan Katz found more tolerance for Jews than he’s seen in many "clean and safe" Western cities.  So why is #Morocco often described as "dirty and dangerous"? 

As far as we know, Abraham Lincoln never said, "Some of my best friends are Jewish."  But clearly he could have. 

Vayter / ווײַטער: A biweekly blog presenting original Yiddish articles, fiction, essays, videos and art by young writers and artists. 

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