Netanyahu Maintains Stance on Cease-Fire Condition After Street Protests |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would not bend on a demand that Israel maintain control over a southern Gaza Strip corridor along the Egypt border, speaking in a news conference last night that followed a day of demonstrations. Netanyahu added that if Israel were to withdraw from the area, “there will be enormous diplomatic pressure upon us from the whole world not to return.” Protesters renewed calls for Netanyahu to make a cease-fire and hostage deal after the Israeli military’s weekend announcement that it recovered the bodies of six hostages from Gaza. Hamas has rejected the idea of continued Israeli control over the corridor, while Netanyahu called it “essential for our existence.”
When asked yesterday if Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a hostage deal in Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden responded: “No.” Yesterday’s protests also came as the United Kingdom announced it was suspending about 30 of its 350 existing arms export licenses to Israel, citing concerns over the potential use of weapons for violations of international humanitarian law. Israel’s defense minister said he was “deeply disheartened” by the measure. (NYT, FT, AP)
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“Israel cannot survive if it is engaged in endless, unwinnable wars with its neighbors—especially while facing the possible existential threat of a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic of Iran. Its survival requires not just a powerful deterrent but also a willingness to create political conditions under which its neighbors will find living with Israel preferable to fighting it,” Harvard University’s Graham Allison and MIND Israel’s Amos Yadlin write for Foreign Affairs.
“Israel is offering unprecedented strategic concessions and risking its soldiers’ lives to free hostages. U.S. pressure should be on Hamas, which took the hostages and murdered them,” the Wall Street Journal editorial board writes.
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.
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Pope to Focus on Environment, Intercultural Dialogue on Asia Trip |
Pope Francis left the Vatican yesterday on his longest-ever foreign trip. Asia is one of the few world regions where the church’s baptized faithful and religious vocation are growing. Francis is due to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, and Timor-Leste, and is expected to emphasize the importance of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, environmentalism, and economic development. (AP)
This episode of the Why It Matters podcast gets into the power of the Pope.
U.S./China: A Washington Post investigation found that Chinese diplomats and U.S.-based, pro-China diaspora groups organized protests during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to San Francisco last November. Those demonstrations violently harassed and silenced protesters of Chinese policies, the Post found. Spokespeople for Chinese diplomatic offices in multiple U.S. cities called the reporting “sheer political maneuvering.” (WaPo)
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Myanmar Junta Unveils Plans for Preelection Census |
The country’s military government will collect census data between October 1 and 15 as a precursor to holding an election, state media reported. The junta has pledged to hold a vote since it took power in February 2021 but has repeatedly delayed its plans. Rebel control over much of the country makes carrying out a census and opening polls highly difficult, the Diplomat reported. (The Diplomat)
Afghanistan: At least six people were killed and thirteen injured in an explosion in Kabul yesterday, Taliban authorities said. Police determined it was a suicide attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility. (RFE/RL Radio Azadi)
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Middle East and North Africa |
UN Facilitates Libya Talks on Crisis That Has Sunk Oil Output |
The UN Support Mission in Libya said consultations between the country’s two rival governments yesterday ended with “significant understandings” on how to address a rift over the management of the central bank. Libya’s eastern administration ordered a halt on oil output in the dispute, leading the country’s daily production to decrease by around half since August 26. (Bloomberg)
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WMO: African Countries Saddled With Burden of Climate Adaptation Costs |
African countries are losing between 2 and 5 percent of gross domestic product on average due to the need to respond to extreme climate events, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a new report. Many are diverting up to 9 percent of their government budget on climate responses, it found. (WMO) At this CFR Meeting, U.S. climate envoy John D. Podesta and International Rescue Committee President David Miliband discuss the relationship between climate vulnerability and conflict.
China/South Africa: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was one of several African leaders who held talks with Chinese President Xi in Beijing ahead of a summit on China-Africa cooperation this week. During the talks, Ramaphosa called for more “sustainable manufacturing and job-creating investments,” and spoke on his goals to narrow his country’s trade deficit with China. (Reuters)
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Far-Right Party Wins German State Election for First Time Since 1945 |
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a state election in Thuringia on Sunday and came in close second in the state of Saxony. Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday described the result as “worrying” and called on other parties to put up a firewall and block the AfD from governing, while a co-leader of the party said such blockage would be “undemocratic.” (CNN, BBC)
Mongolia/Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin is attending meetings in Mongolia today despite the country being a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued a warrant for his arrest. It is Putin’s first trip to an ICC member country since the warrant issuance early last year. A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson said Mongolia’s failure to detain Putin was “a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court and the international criminal justice system.” (FT)
This Backgrounder by Claire Klobucista and CFR’s Mariel Ferragamo looks at the role of the ICC.
U.S./Turkey: Members of a Turkish nationalist youth group assaulted plainclothes U.S. Marines in western Turkey yesterday. Fifteen people were detained, local authorities said. A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson said “we are troubled by this assault on U.S. service members and are appreciative that Turkish police are taking this matter seriously and holding those responsible accountable.” A social media post by the Turkish group of videos of the attack pointed to their frustrations over U.S. military actions in the country and in the Middle East. (WaPo)
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Venezuela Issues Arrest Warrant for Former Opposition Candidate |
Venezuelan authorities doled out a warrant to arrest Edmundo González Urrutia, who is in hiding and whom the United States and several other countries said beat President Nicolás Maduro in the country’s July presidential election. The warrant accused González Urrutia of crimes including usurpation, forgery of a public document, instigation, and sabotage; opposition figurehead María Corina Machado said it “crosses a new line.” Meanwhile, U.S. authorities seized Maduro’s plane in the Dominican Republic and flew it to Florida yesterday after they found it was violating sanctions. (WaPo, WSJ)
Brazil: The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a judge’s ruling to suspend social media platform X for noncompliance with court orders, which Brazil’s president also backed. An official at Brazil’s telecommunications regulator said internet provider Starlink, which is also owned by Elon Musk along with X, could face penalties after it did not immediately block access to the platform. (Reuters)
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Harris Says U.S. Steel Should Remain Domestically Owned |
Vice President Kamala Harris said yesterday that U.S. Steel Corporation should remain nationally owned and operated. The firm hopes to move forward with a takeover by Japan’s Nippon Steel that former President Donald Trump previously said he would block if he were reelected. The United Steelworkers union opposes the deal, saying more commitments to union-operated mills and existing contracts are needed, while U.S. Steel said the merger will strengthen U.S. jobs and the U.S. industry’s competitiveness against China. (WSJ, FT)
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Correction: Friday’s newsletter incorrectly referred to Kamala Harris as president. She is vice president.
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