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Man holding Israeli flag against the backdrop of an Israel Defense Forces tank.
Netanyahu: “Now is the time for war”
Announcing on Wednesday that Israel had formed a unity government with the opposition, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference that “we put aside all differences to face an enemy worse than ISIS.”
The war cabinet includes the PM, along with his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, both from the right-wing Likud Party, as well as leader of the National Unity Party Benny Gantz, a former military chief of staff and head of the defense ministry.
Uniting a divided nation. “The most important action [now] is to establish the unity of the nation,” Netanyahu said in an attempt to convey unity to Israel’s enemies. Netanyahu himself has come under intense scrutiny in recent months for driving a wedge through Israeli society and politics by trying to diminish the power of the country’s judiciary.
Along with the military, the two political factions will oversee decision-making for the duration of the war in the Gaza Strip. No legislation unrelated to the war effort will be passed in the Knesset during this time, according to a statement released by both sides.
Crucially, this move sidelines far-right members of Netanyahu's coalition government, like National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who, according to Haaretz, rallied against the formation of a unity government that would dilute his own power.
In his address to the country, Netanyahu also confirmed new details of the Hamas attack against southern Israeli communities on Saturday, including revelations that families had been burnt alive, while children were handcuffed before being abused and killed. The gruesome imagery is indeed galvanizing a previously-divided people, but it is also stoking public rage at the government and intelligence community for failing to protect its citizens.
Prospects of a humanitarian corridor. As Israel continues to bomb Gaza and prepares for an imminent ground invasion, the Palestinian death toll is rising. Key Hamas leaders have reportedly been killed, along with hundreds of civilians.
The US, for its part, says it is working with Israel and Egypt to secure a humanitarian corridor for Gazans that would help evacuate civilians, after Israel imposed a blockade on the coastal enclave, cutting off water and food deliveries, and electricity. But this effort is complicated by the fact that Israel has in recent days bombed the only crossing connecting Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula. Meanwhile, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has made national security his top priority, has also made it crystal clear that he does not want to absorb an influx of Gazans or risk terrorists crossing the border. “National security is my first responsibility and under no circumstances will there be any complacency or negligence,” Sissi said in recent days.
The US’ stance. After Biden on Tuesday addressed the “sheer evil” of the Hamas attack, there are now reports the US could soon send a second aircraft carrier group to the Eastern Mediterranean in order to deter Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah from joining Hamas in the fight against Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel this morning to meet with Israeli leaders, and will then head to Jordan where the issue of securing the release of civilian hostages taken by Hamas, including many Americans, will likely be the focus.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, said that he wants to visit Israel in a show of solidarity, putting an embarrassing spotlight on Netanyahu who has been broadly criticized for failing to adequately back Kyiv amid the Russian invasion.
What We're Watching: Egypt closes Gaza border, Swedish PM resigns, Tunisia's indefinite emergency
Egypt closes Gaza border: Egypt closed the Rafah border with the Gaza Strip this week, giving no indication when it'll reopen. Rafah, one of two economic gateways to Gaza and the only entrance not controlled by Israel, is the primary exit point for Palestinians in the Strip to travel overseas. So why did Egypt close it? Well, Cairo — which has been trying to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group that runs Gaza since an 11-day war broke out in May — is extremely peeved at the lack of progress, and blames Hamas for the impasse. Much of this is linked to a recent wave of violence, whereby Hamas launched a series of bomb balloons across the border with Israel, causing multiple fires across Israeli communities, and prompting Israel to launch several military strikes in response. Egypt has long been a negotiator between Israel and the Palestinians, and Egypt-Israel ties have warmed in recent years: last week, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met with Israel's PM Naftali Bennett, and invited him to visit Egypt.
Sweden PM's shock resignation: After seven years in the top job, Stefan Löfven abruptly stepped down this week as Sweden's prime minister. Löfven, who has led the center-left Social Democrats since 2012, has overseen an extremely fractious time in Swedish politics in recent years, which culminated in June when a dispute over rent-control policy almost toppled his government. Whoever takes over now will have a very tough time: the government is pushing hard to pass a budget proposal as Sweden tries to navigate its way out of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Sweden Democrats, a right-wing populist party with neo-Nazi affiliations, has been gaining popularity ahead of next year's general election. Many say that Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson is the leading candidate to replace Löfven, which means all five Nordic countries — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway — could soon be led by women.
Tunisian emergency rule extended: Tunisia's President Kais Saied has extended indefinitely the suspension of parliament he ordered a month ago in response to mass protests over the economy and COVID. Saied — who also sacked the government under a very broad interpretation of his emergency powers under the constitution — said at the time that he was not staging a coup, but rather dismissing an inefficient and corrupt political class. He also promised to appoint a new PM and restore parliament within 30 days. Now he will explain why he has failed to meet this deadline in an address to the nation later this week. Indeed, the delay gives Saied's critics another reason to denounce his initial action as a power grab. What's more, since taking over the president has placed several current and former officials under house arrest, preventing politicians and businessmen from traveling abroad. This has raised further doubts about the political future of the only democracy that emerged from the Arab Spring.