The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey

Gaza is gearing up to be a war on President-elect Donald J. Trump’s watch that he doesn’t want but may be unable to end.

Predicting President Donald J. Trump’s Middle East policy and his attitude toward Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu amounts to reading tea leaves. The leaves are the cast of characters included in Mr. Trump’s administration when he takes office and who he excluded. Yet even that could prove to be misleading.

Israel may soon return tens of thousands of evacuees to their homes along the border with Lebanon, with or without a ceasefire with Hezbollah. The return of the evacuees would allow Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to tout a significant success in his 13-month-long war in Gaza and Lebanon, even if it may be short-lived without a ceasefire, if not in an equitable negotiated resolution of Israel’s disputes with Lebanon and the Palestinians.

The Middle East may not preoccupy Donald J. Trump. Still, the president-elect preoccupies the Middle East as it attempts to figure out how he will handle the wars ravaging Gaza and Lebanon and threatening to spark an all-out conflagration between Israel and Iran.

Donald J. Trump’s electoral victory promises to give Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a free hand, at least temporarily, to deal with Iran and its non-state allies, Hamas and Hezbollah.

Donald J. Trump’s electoral victory promises to give Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a free hand, at least temporarily, to deal with Iran and its non-state allies, Hamas and Hezbollah.

United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed is manoeuvring to replace Qatar as the main Gulf player in post-war Gaza with the backing of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Messrs. Bin Zayed and Netanyahu see humanitarian aid provided by the Emirates and the prospect of UAE-funded post-war reconstruction as a way to marginalise Hamas and drive a wedge between the group’s leadership and Hamas-appointed civil administrators.

The recent spike in Middle East hostilities has underscored the urgency of a ceasefire. The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon has topped 2,800 since the beginning of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict. More than 12,000 have been hurt, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported Wednesday. With the Middle East situation getting more serious, James M. Dorsey and Wang Jin discuss on CGTN what can be done to keep the already dire humanitarian crisis from worsening,

Next week’s US election rather than a US-led push for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, is likely to determine the course of Israel’s wars, no more so than with Iran.

James M. Dorsey tells Radio Islam's Middle East report that next week’s US election could determine what happens next in the Middle East

Two incidents in the past week shine a spotlight on Israel’s loss of a moral compass.

James M. Dorsey discusses Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon on CNA 938

An Israeli airstrike on Iran has sparked fears of an all-out regional war. BFM 89.9 asks James M. Dorsey, adjunct senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies whether de-escalation is possible and what impact the U.S. Presidential election will have on the ongoing

This weekend’s carefully calibrated Israeli retaliatory strikes at Iranian military targets could lower the risk of an all-out Middle East war, particularly if Iran decides not to respond. The Iranian military said as much by suggesting in a statement that Iran reserved the right to defend itself but may not respond to the attack if Israel agreed to ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to back the military by declaring the armed forces would decide how the Islamic Republic should respond. By avoiding escalatory tit-for-tat attacks, Iran would ensure that the international community remains focused on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon at a time when Israel’s support network is fracturing. With Israeli-Iranian tensions constrained, the fractures in Israel’s US and European diplomatic and military defence shield and the Jewish state’s existing and potential regional partnerships would likely return to the forefront, potentially with a vengeance.

The United States has called on Iran to refrain from escalating the situation, reminding them of the dangers of the cycle of retaliation. This came after Israel launched airstrikes against Iran targeting several sites across the country. James M. Dorsey talks to TRT World. For more, subscribe to The Turbulent World at https://jamesmdorsey.substack.com

James M. Dorsey and Tahei Institute Senior Fellow Einar Tangin discuss on CGTN Israel's retaliatory strikes against Iran.

James M. Dorsey, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, tells CNA why he believes the Middle East conflict won’t escalate into a regional war and why Iran doesn’t want an all-out war with Israel.

James talks to CGTN as Israel strikes Iran

In his weekly radio show, Middle East Report, on Radio Islam International James M. Dorsey discusses US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's tour of the region, prospects for Israeli resettlement of Gaza, and planned joint Saudi-Iranian naval exercises.

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is jumping through hoops on his 11th Middle East tour in the past year. As he attempts to revive the stalled Gaza ceasefire talks and secure agreement on post-war arrangements in the Strip, Mr. Blinken is discovering that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu may not be the only party pooper. So is Mahmoud Abbas, the internationally recognised, West Bank-based Palestinian president. Mr. Blinken is touting a United Arab Emirates proposal for the administration of Gaza once a ceasefire has been achieved. The proposal was crafted with input from Israel but not the Palestinians. That’s where the rub starts.

In some respects, Israel and Iran have traded places when it comes to Lebanon. Iran sees a ceasefire as a way to shield Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim militia, against US and Israeli efforts to degrade the group not only militarily but also politically and secure continued Iranian support for the militia. That is what Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu believes he can prevent by continuing to wage war.

Speaking to Los Angeles Jews for Peace, James M. Dorsey discusses Israel’s Gaza and Lebanon wars, the risk of an all-out Israeli-Iranian war, the drivers of Israeli militarism, and the role of the United States.

More important than shining a light on apparent Israeli dis-and misinformation, the impact of the contrast in images of assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar suggests that Israel’s management of its information war is backfiring, much like its targeted assassinations that have failed to spark the collapse of groups like Hamas or Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia.

The opportunity to pull the Middle East back from the brink came and went within hours of Israel’s confirmation that it had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Instead of capitalizing on Israel’s tactical success to declare victory in Gaza, push for a ceasefire that could also end hostilities in Lebanon, and negotiate a prisoner exchange that would secure the release of the 101 remaining Hamas-held hostages, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insisted the war would continue until the Israeli military liberated the captives. More than a year into Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza in response to last year’s Hamas brutal October 7 attack on Israel, Netanyahu’s problem is that he is pursuing two long-tested strategies that have failed to produce results.

Israel's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar changes little as fighting in Gaza and Lebanon goes on with no end in sight

Israel ignores at its peril the increasingly bold writing on the wall. The writing suggests Israel’s US and European diplomatic and military defense shield, a fixture of Israeli defense and foreign policy, and the Jewish state’s existing and potential regional partnerships are fracturing and, in some cases, possibly crumbling.

What were they thinking? It’s a question both Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ultra-nationalist government have yet to answer.

The UN Security Council met to discuss the recent escalation and the Israeli attack on UNIFIL troops. France and the United States called for the Lebanese army to be strengthened in an effort to maintain peace along the border, and the Lebanese Ambassador to the UN condemned Israel's actions. For more on this story, joining us is James M. Dorsey. He is an Adjunct Senior fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

James discusses Iran, Israel, Lebanon, and Hezbollah in his weekly show on Radio Islam

Hezbollah and Iran are playing political and military defence in Lebanon. Militarily, Hezbollah has demonstrated that it may be down but is not out as a result of Israeli body blows in recent weeks, including the September 27 killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Even so, Iran’s network of militant non-state actors, dubbed the Axis of Resistance, has little to show for itself a year into the Gaza war beyond adding to the economic cost of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Mohammad Ali al-Husseini personifies the complexity of escalating tensions tearing the Middle East apart. A onetime associate of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader Israel killed, Mr. Al-Husseini, a Lebanese Shiite cleric, has emerged as a controversial figure in Saudi efforts to counter Iran and its allies by making inroads into non-Saudi Shiite Muslim communities, particularly in Lebanon.

Since October 2023, with the support of the US and other Western allies, Israel responded to the October 7 attack with a campaign of aerial bombardment that devastated Gaza. The death toll is now well beyond 40,000 people, and there appears to be no end sight to the suffering. As the war widens and deepens across the region, questions of what will happen to the Palestinian people when the war ends are being drowned out. The destruction of the past year is almost unfathomable. However, what lies ahead threatens to be much, much worse. To help us try and make sense of it, "Leave It to the Experts" spoke with Dr. James M. Dorsey, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. James" remarks start at minute 5:58

Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has turned Iran’s asymmetric forward defense strategy into a double-edged sword.

Backchat discusses the latest developments in the Middle East, following the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon and Iran's launch of over 100 missiles at Israel with James M. Dorsey, Kenneth Houston, and Dov Levin.

James discusses on CGTN the potential fallout of Iran's missile attack on Israel.

Iran's missile attack on Israel, involving nearly 200 projectiles, significantly escalates tensions in the Middle East. Despite most missiles being intercepted, the incident highlights the region's precarious security amid ongoing conflicts and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. For insights, BFM 89.9 speaks to James M. Dorsey, adjunct Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Israel has killed the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in a targeted bombing attack on Beirut. Many of Hezbollah's weapons caches have also been destroyed. An estimated 1000 people have been killed over the past two weeks and up to one million people may be internally displaced across Lebanon. Will this coordinated attack finally mean the end of Hezbollah? Guest: James M. Dorsey, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and host of The Turbulent World podcast

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is likely to discover that the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will not shift the paradigm of Middle East politics. It’s a lesson Mr. Netanyahu should have drawn from decades of Israeli targeted assassinations.

It will take a lot more to convince Israel and its supporters that newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian means business and can deliver on his proposal to dial down tensions between the two countries.

On his weekly Middle East Report show on Radio Islam International, James M. Dorsey discusses Iran’s charm offensive at the United Nations, the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and a US-French-led effort to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Israel has signalled it is ready to invade Lebanon following weeks of intense bombardment, ostensible against Hezbollah targets. Hezbollah has responded with rocket attacks which were mostly intercepted by Israel's defences. Dr James M. Dorsey, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, shares insights into how the current conflict is escalating on BFM 89.9

Israel has signalled it is ready to invade Lebanon following weeks of intense bombardment, ostensible against Hezbollah targets. Hezbollah has responded with rocket attacks which were mostly intercepted by Israel's defences. Dr James M. Dorsey, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, shares insights into how the current conflict is escalating.

A Saudi push to become a major natural gas player is as much about diversifying the kingdom’s domestic consumption and export mix as it is about cementing Saudi Arabia as a global geopolitical, economic, and energy player. It also is about capitalizing on harsh US economic sanctions against Iran designed to force a change in the Islamic Republic’s policies.

Months of cross-border exchanges have forced thousands of people to evacuate areas along the Lebanon's southern border. James M. Dorsey, an adjunct senior fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies explains, escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel have increased discontent among the country's citizens.

James M. Dorsey discusses on Backchat with Steve Vickers and Daniel Marwecki what escalating tensions between Israel and the Iranian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah mean for the Middle East.

James M. Dorsey discusses on Radio Islam the fallout of a massive attack on Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah's communications infrastructure.

James M. Dorsey, adjunct senior fellow at Singapore's S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, weighs in on Israel-Hezbollah tensions following the deadly pager blasts in Lebanon, and considers whether Washington has any leverage to prevent the conflict spiralling out of control.

Iran and its Arab allies may not want an out Middle East war, but that has not stopped them from increasingly engaging Israel on multiple fronts.

A US decision to dial back its reinforced military presence in the Middle East suggests that America’s commitment to defend Israel could be less ironclad than the Biden administration would like the world to believe.

Israel hasn’t just lost the battle for hearts and minds in much of the world, including significant constituencies in Western countries. It has scored a significant own goal that has rendered it all but impossible to achieve a key element of Israel’s quest for Middle Eastern and Muslim recognition.

Let’s be clear. Hamas’ alleged execution of six Israeli hostages constitutes a war crime. The hostages were killed in line with new Hamas guidelines that violate international law on how guards should handle hostages if Israeli forces approached their hideouts Even so, the guidelines have proven to be a powerful tool in the struggle to achieve a Gaza ceasefire.

James M. Dorsey, senior fellow at Singapore's S Rajaratnam School of International Studies talks to TRT World about Gaza ceasefire negotiations and unpacks what Washington could do to bring Israel to the negotiation table.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and onetime Palestinian foreign minister Nasser Al-Kidwa have put forward a proposal designed to keep a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict alive. The proposal caters to Palestinian national aspirations as well as Israeli efforts to groom a Palestinian leadership that is not tied to Hamas or the internationally recognised, West Bank-based Palestine Authority and is more amenable to Israeli concerns.

This week’s US sanctioning of an Israeli-government-backed vigilante settler group constitutes a weak shot across Israel’s bow as the United States and Europe mull also sanctioning ultra-nationalist members of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.

Middle East Report 30 August 2024

A recent evolution in critics’ thinking about Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s drivers suggests that he is motivated as much by ultra-nationalist ideology as by political opportunism.

James M. Dorsey tells TRT World that the escalating hostilities raise more questions than they provides answers.

Sunday’s escalation of hostilities along the Israeli-Lebanese border raises more questions than it provides answers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to continue the Gaza war extends beyond personal political survival and legal concerns, says Dr James M. Dorsey in an interview with Radio Islam.

Gaza’s desperately needed but increasingly elusive ceasefire, if achieved, is likely to be fragile, threatened by multiple ticking time bombs that could explode at any given moment unless it is embedded in a political process that culminates with the creation of an independent Palestinian state. The time bombs are ticking with or without a ceasefire but will likely be accentuated if and when the guns fall silent.

US, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators appear optimistic after two days of Gaza ceasefire talks. Even so, US officials are considering confronting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu publicly should the talks ultimately fail. Long frustrated with Mr. Netanyahu's refusal to heed US advice, President Joe Biden is considering shelving his bear hug approach for a more assertive attitude should the US-Qatar-Egypt mediated talks fail, according to US officials.

James M. Dorsey, adjunct senior fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies talks to TRT World about the latest round of Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha and the prospects of a lasting truce in Israel’s war on Gaza.

When Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stormed the Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif with up to 3,000 of his singing, dancing, and praying ultra-nationalist religious followers, he didn’t just target the site holy to Jews and Muslims.

Former US national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski’s warning in 2002 that Israel was losing its global standing as Israeli-Palestinian violence escalated during the second Intifada or uprising against Israeli occupation seemed overstated at the time. However, looking back, Mr. Brzezinski’s warning rings prophetic.

Five decades ago, Nayef Hawatmeh, an aging left-wing guerrilla leader, created a template for a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian resistance that has lessons for today’s warring parties.

Qatar, Egypt, and the US have called on Israel and Hamas to resume talks to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues. James N. Dorsey from Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies unpacks whether there will be any breakthrough in these talks.

The killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is about more than Israel’s targeting of the group’s officials whenever and wherever an opportunity arises. Mr. Haniyeh was known as a ‘pragmatist’ and a ‘moderate’ within Hamas. His killing was as much about achieving Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas militarily and politically as it was about quashing any chance that a post-war Hamas would potentially be more accepting of a two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Intellectual honesty is a rare commodity in the divide between Israelis and Palestinians. It is even rarer with the rise of Jewish ultra-nationalism and a generation of Israelis and Palestinians nurtured on prejudiced, biased, and often supremacist perceptions of the other. The irony is that historically, it was far-right militants, and currently, it is fringe left-wing intellectuals who displayed intellectual honesty, even if their conclusions differ radically.

Washington sends more military hardware to the region in anticipation of retaliatory attacks against Israel. Iran's president says the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran will not unpunished, with US intelligence suggesting an attack on Israel could happen within 24 to 48 hours. James M. Dorsey, adjunct senior fellow at Singapore's S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, explains on TRT.

Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell Season 2, Ep. 28 • Friday, August 2, 2024 James M. Dorsey is a writer and journalist and author of the new book The Battle for the Soul of Islam - Defining the Muslim Faith in the 21st Century, published by Macmillan.

Israeli forces have raided Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank following an airstrike on a car that killed at least five people, including Hamas military leader Haitham Balidi. In response, the US Pentagon announced the deployment of additional jet fighters and warships to the region, anticipating possible Iranian retaliation for the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Thousands mourned Haniyeh across the Middle East, with rallies in Lebanon, Yemen, and Jordan, and his burial in Qatar. The United Nations reports that nearly two-thirds of buildings in Gaza, over 151,000 structures, have been damaged or destroyed since October 7. Speaking to Radio Islam, Dr. James M. Dorsey highlighted that since October 7, Israel has vowed to kill Hamas leaders whenever the opportunity arises. He noted that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh was important because Haniyeh was viewed as a pragmatist and a moderate within Hamas.

The session will open with a wrap-up of where developments stand after the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukur in Beirut and Israel’s confirmation of the killing in mid-July of Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. The question: is How will Iran, Hezbollah, and other non-state Iranian allies respond, is the Middle East on the brink of all out, and how do these events impact the Gaza ceasefire talks?

Lost in the Middle Eastern fog of war is a struggle that is as much about geopolitics as it is about shaping future generations in a swath of land that stretches from the Gulf states and the Gaza battlefield to Houthi schools in Yemen and jihadist seminaries in Indonesia. It’s a rivalry of competing worldviews in textbooks designed to shape education in the 21st century in Muslim lands. The players run the gamut from jihadists and religious militants to autocracies that propagate a socially more tolerant but politically repressive interpretation of Islam.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government is mulling a proposal for the post-war administration of Gaza that would put the battle to define moderate Islam in the 21st century on the front burner of Middle Eastern politics and allow the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to export their autocratic notion of ‘moderate’ Islam.

US presidential candidates Kamal Harris and Donald J. Trump are at each other’s throats, but there is one thing they agree on: The Gaza war must end. It’s the one kind of agreement Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu didn’t want to hear within 24 hours of his address to the US Congress that was choreographed to project unbridled support for the Gaza war.

On this edition of Parallax Views, James M. Dorsey, whose commentaries can be read at his Turbulent World w/ James M. Dorsey Substack, give one of his regular visits to discuss the latest in regard to the Middle East and Israel/Palestine. This time we examine Israeli Prime Minister's visit to Washington D.C. where he gave a speech to Congress that received multiple standing ovations despite the heavy criticisms Netanyahu has come under for both how the war in Gaza has been conducted and the safety of hostages. Pro-Palestinian activist and hostages' families alike protested Netanyahu's visit. We'll discuss all of that as well as James's upcoming book The Battle for the Soul of Islam, the two-state vs. one-state solution, his views on the Confederation solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (and why he believes it looks good on paper, but has obstacles), the calculus of Netanyahu's speech to Congress, what a second Trump term may mean for Israel, the Israeli far-right, the settler movement, land swaps in relation to solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate/current Vice President Kamala Harris and her rhetoric on Gaza, and much, much more.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (Jul 24) addressed a United States Congress divided by the ongoing war in Gaza, as he attempted to drum up continued support for his country’s military campaign. James M. Dorsey, adjunct senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, gives Radio his assessment of Netanyahu’s speech and policies

Gulf investment in European soccer threatens to become a hot potato.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government is mulling a proposal for the post-war administration of Gaza that would put the battle to define moderate Islam in the 21st century on the front burner of Middle Eastern politics and allow the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to export their autocratic notion of ‘moderate’ Islam.

This year, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli hit the road. Not to shore up Diaspora Jewish support for Israel’s war on Gaza or reassure Jews concerned about rising anti-Semitism but to forge closer ties to the global far-right tainted by its anti-Semitic roots.

Israel’s self-declared safe zones trap the Jewish state in the contradictions of its nine-month-long failed campaign to destroy Hamas. It’s one and one is two that Hamas operatives seek cover in such zones.

An Israeli attack on the south of the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed dozens of people according to the health ministry in Gaza, while an Israeli official said the offensive targeted the head of Hamas' military wing Mohammad Daif according to the Israelis.

The coming days and weeks will clarify whether the Biden administration has succeeded in bridging the yawning gap that has dogged the ceasefire efforts for months or whether Mr. Netanyahu and Hamas are going through the motions to ensure that the other gets the blame if renewed talks fail. Subscribe to jamesmdorsey.substack.com for more updates. https://jamesmdorsey.substack.com

The past few decades—since 9/11 in particular—have seen the increasing prominence of ‘moderate Islam’ in the public sphere. But who gets to define what this term means? How are these different definitions projected to wider Muslim, and non-Muslim, audiences? And what are the political implications of these varied versions of ‘moderate Islam,’ whether locally or internationally?

Imagine Gaza if Israel were to agree today to a permanent ceasefire and a complete troop withdrawal from the Strip. One of two things would happen: Hamas would return to power and/or continued anarchy in the absence of a credible post-war administration of the territory.

A one-time revolutionary Egyptian force, the storied Egyptian soccer club Al Ahly FC is today the latest Emirati trophy in regional competition between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and a potential symbol of Egyptian crony capitalism.

There’s a silver lining for Egypt in the Gaza war. Egyptian general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, much like his predecessors, would like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be a lightning rod that distracts from mounting frustration and anger at his regime. To be sure, Mr. Al-Sisi has to tread carefully.

For much of the last decade, discussion of soccer among ultra-conservative Muslims faded into the background while Islamic militants appeared to set their sights elsewhere. That could change with the current European football championship and next month’s Paris Olympics. For now, the Gaza war’s mobilizing effect will likely primarily manifest itself in pro-Palestinian protests rather than violent attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s refusal to end the Gaza war is about much more than avoiding a reckoning that could end his political life and potentially land him in prison.

Even by Israeli standards, Uri Tzafon (Awaken North) is a far-right fringe group. Amid mounting tension with Lebanese Shiite political group and militia, Hezbollah, along the Lebanon-Israel border, Uri Tzafon is calling for Israeli settlement of southern Lebanon.

The Dahiya doctrine that mandates the destruction of infrastructure, images of Gaza’s devastation, IDF soldiers’ social media postings, and inflammatory statements by officials, politicians, religious figures, and pundits call into question Israeli assertions that its military is among the world’s “most moral.”

Israeli military triumphs and exploits often produce battlefield victories that fail to garner political gains. The Gaza war has changed that paradigm.

A former Israeli hostage negotiator suggests Hamas may be willing to shift the paradigm in Gaza ceasefire negotiations.

As Middle Eastern states attempt to manage their political and security differences, Muslim-majority countries are regrouping along a fault line that separates proponents of varying concepts of an authoritarian but religiously and socially more tolerant, ‘moderate Islam’ from those advocating stricter adherence to intolerant, non-pluralistic strands of the faith.

Gaza is not one but multiple wars. Beyond the horrors of the kinetic war in the Strip, Israel, the Palestinians, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and multiple political groups, including pro-Palestinian students, supporters of Israel, and right-wing forces, are waging often inter-connected Gaza-related information wars.

The coming week or two could determine Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s political fate and reshape the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s Gaza war. That is, if Mr. Netanyahu fails to comply with war cabinet member Benny Gantz’s demand that the prime minister produce a plan for the post-war administration of Gaza by June 8 and Mr. Gantz makes good on his threat to resign.

Innocent Palestinians bear the brunt of Israel’s Gaza war, but they are not the only victims of the conflict. So are freedoms of expression, the media, and academia in the West, as well as Arab autocracies.

Jordan's King Abdullah is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Israel’s territorial claims, West Bank policies, and Gaza war conduct shine a spotlight on problematic Jewish religious legal precepts, much like the 9/11 Al Qaeda attacks did with Islam.