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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 27, 2024.
Netanyahu's uncompromising UNGA address
UNITED NATIONS — Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a defiant speech at the UN on Friday, framing Israel’s campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon as a fight for the country’s survival, while criticizing the UN as “a swamp of antisemitic bile.”
He spoke to a nearly empty General Assembly hall thanks to a walkout by a number of national delegations. Meanwhile, in the press gallery, which is open to an UNGA attendees, a group of supporters shouted “Bibi I love you” while others booed.
The display showed how divided the UN is on the escalating situation in the Middle East. But Netanyahu’s stance was clear: Israel is acting in self-defense, and for that reason, it has no plans to stop fighting.
“It’s not about Gaza,” he said of criticism over his government’s handling of the war, which has so far left over 41,000 people dead according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. “It’s about Israel. It has always been about Israel. About Israel’s very existence.”
Netanyahu made no mention of the international efforts taking place at the UN to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon.
The Israeli leader insisted that the military would keep striking Hezbollah with “all our might,” and dwelled on Hezbollah’s use of human shields, likely an indication that the civilian death toll in Lebanon, which has reached more than 700 people since Monday, is likely to rise.
“Hezbollah fires missiles from schools, from hospitals, from apartment buildings,” he said. “Hezbollah endangers its own people. It has put a missile in every kitchen, in every garage.” In recent days, Israel has signaled it may be preparing a ground invasion of Lebanon in order to uproot Hezbollah. (Read more here.)
Looking to the future, Netanyahu presented two maps, laying out Israel's desired future for the Middle East. One was labeled “the blessing” — which showed a vision of “Israel connected to Europe” with “rail lines, fiber optic cables, to serve the betterment of 2 Million people” — and the second “the curse” — a map showing the same area, which he described as “Iran’s arc of terror.”
He directly warned Iran, which backs Hamas, Hezbollah, and other proxy groups in the region that have attacked Israel.
Within hours of his address on Friday, the Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike on the central headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut. By early Saturday, it had been confirmed that longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in the strike.
People and Lebanese army members stand near a burnt car after an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon, according to two Palestinian sources, in Lebanon August 21, 2024.
Israel kills Fatah commander in Lebanon as regional tensions escalate
Maqdah was killed by a drone strike as Lebanon and Israel continue to trade cross-border strikes, fueling fears of a wider escalation. In response, Lebanon hit an Israeli military base in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, as it weighs the desire for vengeance against the risks of a backlash at home. Lebanon supports Iran and the Palestinian cause, but yearslong political and economic crises have left little appetite for an all-out war with Israel.
On Israel's side, these two assassinations in Lebanon and the one of a Hamas leader in Lebanon – which Iran has still not retaliated for – signals its increasing willingness to carry out targeted strikes against their adversaries in the region.
Meanwhile, in Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike hit a school turned shelter, killing at least two people, and ordered Palestinians to “immediately” leave parts of Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, saying that it would act “forcefully” against militants in the area. The Biden administration continues to push for a cease-fire and is offering a new deal it says could bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas, but so far both sides seem cool towards the proposal.Smoke rises from the vicinity of the Hamad Towers area, west of Khan Younis, Gaza trip, August 14, 2024.
US pressures Israel for Gaza truce, Hamas skips cease-fire talks
Israeli negotiators met with mediators in Qatar on Thursday to discuss an end to the war in Gaza. The basic framework revolves around an end to hostilities, the release of Israeli hostages, and the freeing of certain Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Hamas, however, refused to take part in the meeting, protesting several of Israel’s other proposals, including that Tel Aviv would continue to control Gaza’s border with Egypt.
With Hamas absent, the chances of the talks being successful are slim to none. This is bad news for the Biden administration, which had renewed calls for a cease-fire in hopes of delivering an agreement ahead of Iran’s anticipated retaliation for Israel’s assassination of a senior Hamas official in Tehran two weeks ago. Washington fears a severe Iranian reprisal could trigger a broader conflict in the region.
The Biden administration has been sending strong signals that it thinks it’s time for a cease-fire, with anonymous government officials telling the New York Times that Israel has reached the limits of its military campaign to destroy Hamas.
So far, it looks like little progress is likely, and Iran is still weighing its options against Israel.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech at BusinessEurope conference in Brussels, Belgium March 5, 2020.
Hard Numbers: Von der Leyen seeks reelection, Israel GDP plummets, Ukrainian troops captured, Something’s smelly in Cape Town, Moïse’s widow indicted
20: Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel's GDP has plummeted by nearly 20%. The biggest economic hits came from the government calling 300,000 reservists away from their jobs to Gaza, relocating 120,000 Israelis away from the border, and restricting Palestinian West Bank workers from working in the country.
1,000: Up to 1,000 Ukrainian troops appear to have been captured during Russia’s takeover of the east Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. The loss is a sign of military supplies dwindling in the absence of new US funding, damaging morale, and Ukraine’s ability to hold the line.
19,000: After searching for days to locate the source of the “unimaginable stench” that engulfed Cape Town, South African officials finally found the culprit: a ship transporting 19,000 live cattle from Brazil to Iraq. The ship is set to depart soon, but the country is seeing an uptick in livestock bound for the Middle East passing through Cape Town as an alternative to the Red Sea route amid Houthi violence there.
51: Martine Moïse is among 51 people indicted for alleged involvement in the July 2021 assassination of her husband, then-Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. Attorneys for Mrs. Moïse, who was wounded in the attack, denied the charges and questioned the legitimacy of the 122-page indictment, which doesn’t provide evidence of her direct involvement.
Noa Kirel from Israel performs during the grand final of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, Britain, May 13, 2023.
Could Israel be disqualified from Eurovision 2024?
The search is underway for representatives from each of the 37 countries participating in the 2024 Eurovision song contest. The competition’s slogan might be United by Music, but as always, politics are never far from the stage.
This year, the controversy concerns Israel. Calls are growing for the country to be kicked out over its assault on the Gaza Strip, which has drawn accusations of war crimes and genocide. Many are citing as a precedent the 2022 expulsion of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Israel’s entry: 20 year oldEden Golan was selected after performing Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” to a hall of empty chairs, meant as a tribute to the Gaza hostages. Israel has been in Eurovision since the 1970s and has won four times — most recently in 2018.
Could Israel be expelled? Entries can be fined or disqualified for bringing politics onto the stage. But Israel’s expulsion is unlikely at this point. The final say rests with Eurovision officials, and so far they’re singing an evasive tune, saying, “Comparisons between wars and conflicts are complex and difficult and, as a nonpolitical media organization, not ours to make.”
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu
Biden finally invites Bibi, sort of
The invitation – which pointedly excluded any details on time or place – arrived as Israeli President Isaac Herzog was in Washington looking to ease strained bilateral ties. But it also comes right as Netanyahu faces a fresh wave of protests and strikes over his fast-advancing plans to trim the remit of Israel’s powerful judiciary.
The Biden administration, along with a number of prominent American Jewish groups, has blasted the judicial reforms, which critics say will undermine Israel’s democracy. The White House is also at odds with Netanyahu over his government’s plans to vastly increase settlement construction in the West Bank.
Against that backdrop, Biden’s invitation is welcome news for Bibi, who has faced criticism that his hardline policies risk imperiling ties with Israel’s most important ally.
But while the invitation is a small salve for US-Israel ties, it seems unlikely to calm the volatile situation in Israel itself. Protesters who see themselves in a fight for Israel’s democracy won’t be much moved by a vague invitation from Biden. And Netanyahu has shown little inclination to back down on his plans, despite months of tension with the US already.
Wade Brennan from Sarasota County Mosquito Management Services shows a mosquito that is capable of harboring malaria
Hard Numbers: Malaria makes moves in the US, Kramatorsk death toll, Britons go hungry, Brazil notches 19th century growth number, Israel’s politics crimp tech funding
20: The CDC has detected the first locally transmitted cases of malaria in the US in 20 years. Four of the cases were in Florida, the fifth in Texas. Aren’t those genetically modified mosquitos supposed to be preventing this? THEY HAD ONE JOB!
11: The death toll has climbed to 11 after Russia struck a patron-filled restaurant in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday. More than 60 people were injured in the blast. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have arrested a local resident who they say fed the Russians information in the lead-up to the strike.
1 in 7: These days a whole lot of Britons don’t have enough to eat. A new study reveals that 1 in 7 people in the UK faced hunger last year because they didn’t have enough money to buy food. That’s more than 11 million people. The UK, which is the world’s sixth largest economy, has recently seen its worst food price inflation since the 1970s.
0.52: Brazil’s population grew an average of 0.52% per year between 2010 and 2022, according to new census figures. That’s the slowest clip for Latin America’s most populous nation since 1872. Brazil’s birth rates have been steadily declining since the 1960s as the country industrialized. For comparison, the US population grew just 0.4% in 2022.
65: Fundraising by Israel’s world-renowned tech sector plummeted by 65% in the second quarter of 2023 as political upheaval over PM Bibi Netanyahu’s court reform plans spooked investors. For a look at the tech sector’s outsized role in that story, see our piece here.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu attends Arnon Milchan's video testimony
Latest twists and turns in Bibi’s trial
In one of the more damning moments of Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, Arnon Milchan, a billionaire Hollywood mogul, took to the stand (virtually) on Monday to say his piece.
A longtime friend of the PM, Milchan testified for the prosecution and said that during Bibi’s previous tenure (2007-2016) he sometimes gave gifts to the PM and his wife – most commonly cigars and champagne – in exchange for business and tax favors.
By saying that the Netahyahus had at times requested kickbacks, the powerful media tycoon undercut the PM’s claim that this case comes down to nothing more than one friend giving some gifts to another.
Quick recap: Bibi, who has ruled over the right-wing Likud Party for decades, is currently facing three separate criminal cases for bribery, corruption, and breach of trust. Milchan, who has produced scores of blockbusters including “Pretty Woman” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” is a key witness in just one of them.
Milchan’s testimony, which he’s giving via video link in the UK, where he lives, will go on for several more days. Still, this isn’t the most serious case facing the PM – that one is known as Case 4,000 and linked to allegations that Bibi greenlit regulatory decisions to benefit a telecoms giant in exchange for favorable media coverage.
Crucially, Bibi got some good news related to that case in recent days, with reports that judges overseeing Case 4,000 have in recent days called on the prosecution to seek a plea deal owing to insufficient evidence.
Given the sluggish nature of Israel's judicial system (and the PM’s stonewalling tactics) even if negotiations over a deal fall through, some legal experts say that proceedings, including appeals, could drag on until as late as 2029.