WORLD ROUNDUPRussia Launched Research Spacecraft for Antisatellite Nuclear Weapon | EU Wants Spies on University Campuses to Fight Chinese Tech Espionage | Democracy Needs an Economic NATO, and more
· Western Europe Is Starting to Send a Vital Warning to Israel
These kinds of diplomatic shocks could lead Israelis to finally escape from the gravitational pull of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and start calling for two states on terms Israel can live with
· Bibi Blocks Israeli Intel Chiefs’ Meetings with U.S. Officials
A sign of Bibi’s growing suspicion about Israel’s intelligence, military and security establishment, which hold divergent views about how the prime minister is carrying out the war
· Russia Launched Research Spacecraft for Antisatellite Nuclear Weapon Two Years Ago, U.S. Officials Say
Cosmos-2553 went into orbit in February 2022 just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine
· Russia Mysteriously Deletes Threat to Redraw Baltic Sea Border
Defense ministry plan had sparked alarm among NATO allies
· EU Wants Spies on University Campuses to Fight Chinese Tech Espionage
The bloc is urging researchers to take steps to secure their work against foreign interference
· The Blood Equation: Hamas’ Strategy to Radicalize Youth Through Emotional Narratives
This approach leverages images of casualties from the October 7 conflict, particularly women and children, to create a powerful emotional impact aimed at radicalizing new groups on a transnational scale
· US Removes Cuba from List of Countries Not Fully Cooperating on Counterterrorism Efforts
Cuba called for the U.S. to also remove the country from another list that designates it as a sponsor of terrorism
· Democracy Needs an Economic NATO
Fighting Chinese coercion requires new alliances
Western Europe Is Starting to Send a Vital Warning to Israel (Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times)
The decision by Spain, Norway and Ireland on Wednesday to recognize an independent Palestinian state marks the latest brick in the wall of rejection being built around Israel’s current far-right government, which is asking the world to let it destroy Hamas in Gaza while refusing to work on a new future with non-Hamas Palestinians.
More than 140 countries and the Holy See have recognized the right of Palestinians to have a state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. What is noteworthy about this latest move, though, is that major Western European countries, and the United States, had resisted going there, arguing that peace should be worked out between the two parties. Until today.
My focus is always on the practical: Will these recognitions of a nonexistent Palestinian state with undefined borders lead to the only sustainable solution — a real-life peace between two states for two indigenous communities — Jews and Palestinians? The answer is yes and no.
In the short term, these diplomatic recognitions from fellow democracies will not move the Israeli public. In the long term, though, it is precisely these kinds of diplomatic shocks that could lead the opposition leaders in Israel to finally escape from the gravitational pull of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who dominates what is or is not permissible to say on this subject — and start calling for two states on terms Israel can live with. One can already see signs of that.
If that does not transpire, though, Israel is heading for a world of hurt.
Bibi Blocks Israeli Intel Chiefs’ Meetings with U.S. Officials (Barak Ravid, Axios)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has banned his intelligence and security chiefs from meeting with U.S. officials and lawmakers multiple times since the war in Gaza began, three U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.
Netanyahu seems to be trying to control what American politicians and diplomats hear from Israel — at a time when his government is deeply divided over his war strategy, and relations with the U.S. are growing more tense, the officials said.
