Daily News Brief

July 25, 2023

Top of the Agenda

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated across Israel (Haaretz) yesterday, and in some cases clashed with police, after Israel’s parliament approved the first pillar of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary. The newly-approved law removes the Supreme Court’s right (NYT) to overturn government actions it deems “unreasonable.” In a televised address last night, Netanyahu offered to return to talks with the opposition (Reuters) about the remainder of the overhaul plan.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was “unfortunate” that the approval occurred with a slim majority after U.S. President Joe Biden had called on Netanyahu to postpone the vote in order to seek a compromise. Opposition lawmakers chose to walk out of Israel’s congress rather than be present for the vote.

Analysis

“The vote to reduce the ability of Israel's Supreme Court to overrule the Knesset is not the end of democracy there—but it is a strong indication that Israel is becoming less secular & more nationalist. Demographic trends will only reinforce the country's increasing illiberalism,” CFR President Emeritus Richard Haass tweets.

“The demonstrators who believe their country is on a slippery slope to dictatorship are not going home,” the Economist writes. “Israel is facing a tempestuous summer.”

Pacific Rim

President Xi Jinping’s top foreign policy aide, Wang Yi, was elevated to the post of foreign minister (SCMP), state media reported. The former foreign minister, Qin Gang, has not been seen in public since he attended a meeting in June with officials from Russia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

Thailand: The head of parliament indefinitely postponed (Bangkok Post) Thursday’s planned vote to choose the country’s new prime minister while the constitutional court considers a case regarding Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s rejected renomination bid.

For the Asia Unbound blog, CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick and Abigail McGowan argue that the Thai establishment risks violence if it prevents the democratic opposition from taking power.

South and Central Asia

The trip was an attempt to gain international recognition and court foreign investment to bolster Afghanistan’s economy, which has struggled since the Taliban took over in 2021, Nikkei reported. Indonesia’s foreign ministry said Taliban members visited the capital, Jakarta, but did not meet with the foreign ministry. Malaysia’s foreign ministry did not immediately make a comment.

This Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland looks at how the Taliban is ruling Afghanistan. 

India: Police arrested seventy-four Rohingya refugees (Reuters) for living “illegally” in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. They had been living in the area for about ten years after fleeing persecution in Myanmar, a rights group said. India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention that mandates states to protect refugees and does not have any such laws of its own. 

Middle East and North Africa

The head of Libya’s Tripoli-based government took the first direct commercial flight (AP) between the two countries in ten years and announced that Libyans would be able to book direct flights to Italy beginning in September. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has touted the measure as part of efforts to improve ties between Libya and the broader Mediterranean region.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Before Russia ended its participation in a deal that allowed Ukraine to export wheat from its Black Sea ports, it had been selling its own to Mali at prices lower than those offered in Europe in an effort to boost ties with one of its strongest African allies, Bloomberg reported. African countries have been some of the most severely impacted by food insecurity as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

Sudan: A Sudanese general criticized (Reuters) a Kenya-led East African regional proposal to send peacekeepers to help end the war in Sudan, saying “not one of [the Kenyan troops] would make it back.” The Sudanese army has accused Kenya of being biased toward the Rapid Support Forces, their rival paramilitary group.

Europe

Following Moscow’s dissolution of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russian drones attacked Ukrainian grain warehouses and other facilities (Guardian) on the Danube River. The river is an alternative route for Ukraine to export grain without using the Black Sea ports currently blocked by Russia, signaling the country’s escalating attempts to suffocate Ukraine’s agricultural exports.

This In Brief by CFR’s Kali Robinson explains which countries are hit the hardest by Russia pulling out of the grain deal. 

Greece: More than twenty thousand people across the country have evacuated (Kathimerini) as intense wildfires continue to rage out of control, authorities said. European Union officials have said climate change is to blame for the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires across Europe. 

Americas

Hundreds of demonstrators marched yesterday (AP) to denounce efforts to disqualify progressive candidate Bernardo Arévalo de León after he qualified for the second-round presidential election in August.

Ecuador: President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency (Reuters) in three provinces yesterday after at least eight people died amid a wave of violence over the weekend, including clashes between gangs in a prison in the region and the shooting of the mayor of Manta. 

United States

Texas Governor Greg Abbott refuses to remove the barriers in the Rio Grande, defending them on security grounds. Mexico, meanwhile, claims they violate boundary and water treaties, while the Department of Justice said Texas lacks the necessary federal approval (NPR) to install them. The one-thousand-foot barrier covers a small fraction of the river.

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