WORLD ROUNDUPChina Is Still Rising | Stuck in Gaza | Confronting the Anti-Israel Narrative-Industrial Complex, and more
· Confronting the Anti-Israel Narrative-Industrial Complex
The growing demonization of Israel is not unstoppable
· Netanyahu’s War Strategy Doesn’t Make Any Sense
Even on their own terms, Israel’s plans don’t add up
· China Is Gaslighting the Developing World
Beijing’s promises of equality are a guise for hegemony
· China Is Still Rising
Don’t underestimate the world’s second biggest economy
· Stuck in Gaza
Six months after October 7, Israel still lacks a viable strategy
· The United States and Israel Are Coming Apart
The disagreements aren’t just over tactics. They’ve become fundamental.
· Australian Neo-Nazis Must Be Monitored Better, Senate Inquiry Told
White supremacists are training members in combat under cover of ‘active clubs’ promoting self-defence, counter-extremist experts say
Confronting the Anti-Israel Narrative-Industrial Complex (Lawrence J. Haas, National Interest)
From their perch as self-appointed human rights arbiters, human rights organizations play a huge role in shaping public views of the Jewish state. Their reports, tweets, and other utterances are echoed at the United Nations and other global bodies, in leading capitals, through media, on campuses, and in Hollywood—all of it contributing to what one might call a “narrative-industrial complex” that sets and reinforces a narrative about Israel that’s driven by ideology, biased in its conclusions, and disproportionate in its focus.
The silver lining in all this? Because the narrative is rooted less in facts than ideology, facts can chip away at that narrative, forcing its adherents to think anew. Polling proves it, and I’ve witnessed it up close.
Netanyahu’s War Strategy Doesn’t Make Any Sense (Anchal Vohra, Foreign Policy)
Even if, after years of counterinsurgency operations, Israeli security forces manage to destroy the group in Gaza, what about future reincarnations? Even if the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroy Hamas’s offshoots over an even longer period of time, how would Netanyahu eliminate the idea of armed resistance without a political solution on the horizon?
“We have destroyed 18 out of the total 24 battalions of Hamas, but how far are we from eliminating the group? That is a big question,” a senior security official told Foreign Policy on the condition of anonymity. “We can eliminate Hamas, but we don’t have a timeline, and, yes, other groups can emerge.”
Israel’s military operations inside Gaza have significantly damaged Hamas’s infrastructure and military capabilities, but they haven’t guaranteed peace. The fact that Israel’s world-renowned defense forces and security services haven’t managed to nab the two masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack—Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar, who are still hiding somewhere in Gaza’s crevices—is telling of the country’s limitations and the support that Hamas’s leadership still receives.
