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**MARCH 4, 2024**
On the Prospect website
The Chinese Auto Conundrum
How can the U.S. hit its factory revitalization and climate goals when
BYD and other Chinese automakers can sell for less? BY DAVID DAYEN
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Attempt to Offload Shady For-Profit College Runs Into Trouble
The University of Idaho wants to buy the University of Phoenix for
$685 million. Some Idaho lawmakers are starting to sour on the deal.
BY LUKE GOLDSTEIN
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Reformed Capitalism in Seattle; Baristas' Unionism
Microsoft and Starbucks as exceptions to corporations' union
busting; Starbucks baristas as beacons of bottom-up organizing BY
HAROLD MEYERSON
Kuttner on TAP
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**** Israel-Hamas: The Beginning of the
Endgame?
Is the Biden administration willing to move beyond scolding Bibi to a
seriously tougher policy to force a deal?
Last week, President Biden startled his senior advisers by blurting out
that he hoped for a cease-fire and hostage deal
by today (Monday). The day
isn't over, but all signs from Cairo, where negotiations are
proceeding, suggest that no immediate deal is happening. Israel didn't
even send negotiators, and Hamas has its own reasons for delaying a
cease-fire, which include increasing the global sense of outrage against
Israel and revving up Palestinian protests in the occupied West Bank and
Israel proper.
The new de facto deadline is the beginning of Ramadan, sundown on March
10. Benjamin Netanyahu continues to threaten an invasion of Rafah in
southern Gaza, which would destroy the fragile negotiations.
In the meantime, the Biden administrtation is increasing its own
pressure on the Netanyahu government to agree to end the brutalization
of civilian Gaza. On Sunday, Vice President Harris significantly
increased U.S. criticism of Israel. And Benny Gantz, the most soft-line
member of the coalition war cabinet, is in Washington today for meetings
with Harris and other top U.S. officials, though not with Biden.
Speaking Sunday in Selma, Alabama
,
a venue that linked civil rights for African Americans with rights of
Palestinians, Harris called the obliteration of Gaza a "humanitarian
catastrophe."
"What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating," Harris said. "We
have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed. Women giving
birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care. And
children dying from malnutrition and dehydration. As I have said many
times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed." She added,
"There must be an immediate cease-fire, for at least the next six
weeks."
The escalation of administration demands on Israel combined with the
Gantz mission could signal the beginning of the end for Netanyahu.
Whether it signals the beginning of a durable peace deal is far less
clear.
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Gantz's visit was not cleared with Netanyahu, and the Israeli press
reports that it infuriated him
.
Gantz, a centrist, is the most pro-peace member of the coalition
cabinet. If the government fell, Gantz would likely succeed Netanyahu
and be a far more supportive partner for Biden.
However, on Israel's defense and survival, Gantz, a former military
chief of staff and defense minister, is far from a pushover. Gantz has
issued an ultimatum
to
Hamas: Return the hostages by Ramadan, or "the fighting will continue
everywhere, to include the Rafah area."
The fact that Gantz unilaterally decided to come, and with the
encouragement of Washington, is a sign of Netanyahu's weakness. His
visit to Washington comes at a moment when Netanyahu's government is
fragmenting from multiple causes, only one of which is whether to
embrace a cease-fire.
The Israeli armed forces are short of troops, but the ultra-Orthodox,
who are key elements of the current government, are still exempt from
military service. Netanyahu has pledged to end this policy
.
Last week, the war cabinet removed another far-right leader of the
coalition, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, from his
authority over the Temple Mount, after Ben-Gvir, in a reckless
provocation, proposed barring Israeli Arabs from worshipping at the
Al-Aqsa Mosque
during Ramadan.
A key puzzle in all of this is why Kamala Harris has been elevated to a
leading role in negotiations with Israel. In the past, she has not been
a major player. It may be that the White House wants to keep Biden at
one remove from increasingly hard-line statements on Israel. Or the
administration, mindful of Harris's low public regard, may want to
give her a more visible opportunity to lead.
Sooner or later, of course, this is all on Biden. The risk is not that
Biden will overplay the pressure on Israel but that he will underplay
it, and that Bibi will keep finding ways to sabotage a deal.
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter
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