Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
U.S. envoy says Israel will withdraw from southern Lebanon WSJ’s William McGurn: Netanyahu’s gift to Joe Biden Iran pulls most forces from Syria, in blow to Tehran's regional ambitions France says fate of citizens held in Iran worsening Azerbaijani anger over plane crash grows, in deepening schism with Russia U.S. to ease aid restrictions for Syria in limited show of support for new government US shifts some military aid to Lebanon from Egypt, letter says Kim Jong Un says hypersonic missile will keep rivals in check University of Notre Dame’s Sharon Yoon, Saehwan Lee, and Paul Lee: A rallying call for democracy in South Korea After a last visit from Biden’s team, India readies itself for Trump U.S. accuses Russia of funding both sides of Sudan's war WSJ Editorial: Canada needs a new electionIn The News
Israel
Gunmen opened fire on a bus and surrounding vehicles in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Monday, killing three Israelis and wounding eight others, according to Israel’s military and emergency services. – Washington Post
A top U.S. envoy who helped broker the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah issued reassurance on Monday that Israel would withdraw fully from southern Lebanon, as called for in the fragile 60-day truce deal that paused the bloodiest war between the two sides in decades. – New York Times
Eliana Passentin delights in her house, which sits nearly 3,000 feet above sea level in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, with a view from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean coast. The dining room looks out over ancient Shiloh, the Israelites’ first capital in ancient times. – New York Times
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Monday for a final push for a Gaza ceasefire before President Joe Biden leaves office, after a Hamas official told Reuters the group had cleared a list of 34 hostages as first to go free under a truce. – Reuters
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said on Monday that he was happy to see the Israeli army withdraw from the western sector of Lebanon back to Israel. – Reuters
The Israeli military said it identified three projectiles fired from the northern Gaza Strip that crossed into Israel on Monday, the latest in a series of launches from the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. – Agence France-Presse
Israel must prepare for a direct confrontation with Turkey, according to the Nagel Committee’s latest report on the defense budget and security strategy. – Jerusalem Post
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Israel Police have arrested four minors in the Triangle region in central Israel over the past weeks under suspicion of collaboration with and pledging allegiance to terror groups, the police announced on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
A forum representing the vast majority of the remaining 100 hostages in Gaza on Monday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to pursue a comprehensive deal that would see all of their loved ones released, blasting the framework Jerusalem is currently pursuing that would only free roughly one-third of the captives during a temporary ceasefire. – Times of Israel
The organization hounding Israeli soldiers around the globe is called the Hind Rajab Foundation, and it has strong ties to Hezbollah. The foundation posted on its social media accounts a video of a building being blown up, without context, and claimed that Yuval “actively contributed to the destruction of homes and livelihoods” in Gaza. – Jewish Insider
William McGurn writes: The further irony is that if Mr. Trump succeeds in the Middle East, Mr. Biden will continue to take credit. It won’t be as hard as it might appear, because he has spoken from both sides of his mouth. […] Whatever Messrs. Trump and Netanyahu choose, they will know they’ve hit on the right policy when Mr. Biden again takes credit for it. – Wall Street Journal
Louis René Beres writes: As an inconspicuous but vital result of Jerusalem’s preemption operations, the world needn’t have any of the nuclear fears about post-Assad Syria that it must still harbor about Iran. Owing to Israel’s widely overlooked Operation Orchard in 2007, the now-impending Syrian chaos may be deeply destabilizing, but it will plausibly be nonnuclear. – Jerusalem Post
David Jablinowitz writes: Yet, the Biden administration was considered weak on the international stage, in part due to its own political maneuvering. It contributed to the reality in which the State of Israel has been forced to negotiate with terrorists for the release of hostages. There could have been a unified call, a demand, and action – if necessary – by the international community to force Hamas to unconditionally release the hostages and allow the Gazan people to live in peace. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
Iranian forces have largely withdrawn from Syria following the Assad regime’s December collapse, according to U.S., European and Arab officials, in a significant blow to Tehran’s strategy for projecting power in the Middle East. – Wall Street Journal
Iran’s disputed uranium enrichment drive is nearing a point of no return and European partners to a moribund 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran should consider reimposing sanctions if there is no progress with Tehran, France’s president said on Monday. – Reuters
Iran said on Monday the detention of an Iranian national in Italy at the request of the U.S. amounted to hostage-taking. – Reuters
The situation of three French citizens held in Iran is worsening with some being detained in conditions similar to torture, France’s foreign minister said on Tuesday, adding that future ties and sanctions lifting would depend on their fate. – Reuters
Iran’s armed forces have nearly doubled the number of annual winter exercises this year as the Islamic republic seeks to project strength following a series of regional military blows by Israel and the election of Donald Trump in the US. – Financial Times
At least 31 women were executed in Iran in 2024, according to the Oslo-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR), marking the highest annual figure in 17 years since the organization began documenting executions. – Iran International
Erfan Fard writes: Iran is engulfed in multi-layered crises, and the 86-year-old dictator can no longer suppress public discontent, even through force. However, the historic opportunity to dismantle the Tehran regime may never arise again for Trump and Netanyahu. […] Khamenei’s regime resembles a fragile spider’s web – unstable, weak, and unable to withstand the inevitable forces of change. – Jerusalem Post
Delaney Soliday and Shivane Anand write: Russia also benefits from closer defense ties with Iran; it gains millions of dollars in weapons sales, Iran-backed forces to replenish its battered military still fighting in Ukraine, expert training on Iranian weapons technology from Hezbollah and the IRGC, and logistical support from a regional ally after losing its military positions in Syria. A renewed defense treaty between these two powers will render Iran’s web of proxies all the more dangerous by arming already destabilizing agents with more advanced weapons technology and the capacity to manufacture and ship arms to new battlefields. – Breaking Defense
Russia & Ukraine
President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan on Monday excoriated Russia for trying to duck responsibility in the downing of an Azerbaijani passenger jet last month, doubling down on a rare confrontation with the Kremlin that has highlighted Russia’s loss of influence in much of the former Soviet Union. – New York Times
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Russia had suffered heavy losses in five months of fighting Ukrainian forces in southern Russia’s Kursk region, with nearly 15,000 killed. – Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Ukraine needs to have a realistic position on territorial issues as part of efforts to bring about a negotiation with Russia. – Reuters
Russia said on Monday its forces had made important gains in eastern Ukraine while continuing to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia, where a second day of fierce fighting was under way. – Reuters
Ukrainian businesses that set up or expanded in central Europe after Russia’s 2022 invasion are shifting their focus from mainly refugee to local customers as they become more established, with some now eyeing a move further west. – Reuters
A meeting between Slovak, Ukrainian and European Commission officials over gas supplies planned for Tuesday has been cancelled because Kyiv will not participate, Slovakia said on Monday. – Reuters
Editorial: Ukraine can hardly survive another year of this devastating war. But the haste to find a negotiated settlement could produce a bad one that would reward Mr. Putin for his land grab and guarantee he will launch a new attack for more territory once he has a chance to rebuild his depleted arsenal. A poor settlement would also leave Ukrainians bitter after seeing their homes, schools and factories destroyed, and friends and family members killed. Much of their anger would be directed at the Western backers who betrayed them. This is a fight America, and Ukraine, cannot lose, especially with a bad deal. – Washington Post
Syria
The Biden administration said Monday it is easing restrictions on humanitarian aid for Syria for six months, a move to speed delivery of basic supplies without lifting sanctions that block other assistance to the new government in Damascus. – Wall Street Journal
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed discussed bolstering “brotherly” ties with Syria during the first official visit by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, Emirati state news agency WAM reported. – Reuters
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to expand its work in Syria significantly beyond an initial $100 million programme, the organisation’s president said on Monday, citing pressing needs in the health, water and power sectors. – Reuters
Syria is unable to make deals to import fuel, wheat or other key goods due to strict U.S. sanctions and despite many countries, including Gulf Arab states, wanting to do so, Syria’s new trade minister said. – Reuters
Handcuffed and squatting on the floor, Abdullah Zahra saw smoke rising from his cellmate’s flesh as his torturers gave him electric shocks. – Associated Press
A main road in the provincial capital of Quneitra in southern Syria was blocked with mounds of dirt, fallen palm trees and a metal pole that appeared to have once been a traffic light. On the other side of the barriers, an Israeli tank could be seen maneuvering in the middle of the street. – Associated Press
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday the West must not be naive about the new authorities in Syria after the ousting of Bashar Assad and promised France would not abandon Kurdish fighters. – Agence France-Presse
Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday that eradication of the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria was “imminent”, and that Ankara would not agree to any policy that allowed the YPG to maintain a presence there. – Reuters
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday slammed “greedy” pricing behaviour in some sectors, attributing extraordinary price hikes to opportunism rather than economic necessity. – Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday that Turkey is ready to step in if Syria breaks up following a rebel overthrow of the regime of President Bashar Assad last month. – Politico
Michael Rubin writes: While Israel can strike at Iran, Turkey’s NATO membership protects it from similar preemptive action. Erdogan may despise the West and hate its primary defense alliance, but he does not withdraw Turkey for two reasons: First, he can use NATO’s consensus provisions to paralyze it from within, and second, he wants NATO mutual defense commitments at least until Turkey gets the bomb, in effect using NATO as a shield against Israel. Talk about a Trojan horse. Stopping Iran’s nuclear breakout may consume Washington and Jerusalem, but Erdogan, motivated by the same irrational antisemitism as Khamenei, could, thanks in part to NATO, reach the nuclear finish line first. – Washington Examiner
Middle East & North Africa
The U.S. military said on Monday operations against Islamic State in Iraq over the past week led to the death of a non-U.S. coalition soldier and wounded two other non-U.S. personnel. – Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration will divert $95 million in military aid allocated for Egypt to Lebanon, which faces threats from Hezbollah and other non-state actors and is enforcing a ceasefire with Israel, according to a document seen by Reuters on Monday. – Reuters
The United Nations’ Yemen mediator arrived in Yemen’s capital on Monday as part of a bid to subdue heightened tensions in his first visit in almost two years, a spokesperson said. – Reuters
Libya’s UN-recognized authorities have launched air strikes targeting drug trafficking and fuel smuggling hubs west of the capital, a military statement said on Monday. – Agence France-Presse
A wave of unrest is brewing online as the hashtag “It’s your turn, Dictator,” targeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, trends across Arabic social media. – Haaretz
Korean Peninsula
The struggle of South Korean investigators to arrest a sitting president for the first time in the nation’s history has raised questions about the strength of the country’s democracy and the deep political divisions fueling South Korea’s constitutional crisis. – Washington Post
For four years, President Joe Biden made South Korea a key partner in his effort to contain China’s growing global influence. But following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s thwarted attempt to declare martial law last month, political chaos in Seoul is calling into question whether the outgoing U.S. president was right to place so much trust in a leader who undermined the democratic stability of his nation, officials and analysts say. – Washington Post
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the nation’s new hypersonic missile will keep any rivals in the Pacific region in check, following a test launch on Monday that coincided with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Seoul. – Bloomberg
Sharon Yoon, Saehwan Lee, and Paul Lee write: South Koreans today are not merely protesting a government decree. Rather, they are responding to a fervent rallying call to defend the soul of their nation and reaffirm a collective identity forged through past suffering and unyielding resistance. In South Korea, citizens, not politicians, have held the president accountable. – The Hill
Rep. Young Kim writes: The U.S.-ROK alliance must not fall on deaf ears in the United States or in South Korea. Stability and true democratic governance in South Korea are critically important for the United States to maintain a peaceful, free and open Indo-Pacific. Both Congress and the current and incoming administrations must work to ensure our continued commitment to the U.S.-ROK alliance and a free and democratic South Korea. – The Hill
China
A Chinese-owned vessel cut an undersea fiber-optic cable near Taiwan, according to Taiwanese authorities, causing only minimal disruption of service but sending a message about the vulnerability of the island and its internet. – Wall Street Journal
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit western China near the border with Nepal on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey. – New York Times
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that new Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will travel to China to try to make progress on a trade dispute that threatens cognac sales. – Reuters
Corruption is the biggest threat to China’s Communist Party, President Xi Jinping said on Monday, in a clear warning that the ruling party is resolved to tackle a long-running problem that is now entrenched in many strata of Chinese society. – Reuters
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have been speaking through representatives and he believes the two leaders will get along. – Reuters
China’s efforts to entice more Taiwanese people to get permits to live and work on the mainland is prompting concern in Taipei that Beijing could be laying the groundwork to justify intervention in the self-governing island’s affairs, according to a senior Taiwanese official. – Bloomberg
James Holmes writes: If Xi believes the People’s Liberation Army stands little chance of prevailing in 2027, he should refrain from ordering Chinese forces into action because of some arbitrary date. Or if the allies can persuade Xi that the cost and hazards of conquering Taiwan are more than the island is worth to China—or beyond China’s means entirely—he should likewise relent. The year 2027 is just a year. We should remain watchful as it approaches, lest the prophets of automatic warfare prove correct, but we should neither relax our guard in the meantime nor resign ourselves to a certain clash of arms. – National Interest
South Asia
On Monday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced in New Delhi a last hurrah for a bilateral relationship that he has personally worked hard to cement. “The United States is now finalizing the necessary steps to remove long-standing regulations that have prevented civil nuclear cooperation between India’s leading nuclear entities and U.S. companies,” he said. – Washington Post
Two Indian chemical companies have been indicted for allegedly importing ingredients for the highly addictive opioid fentanyl into the United States and Mexico, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday. – Reuters
Shabana Basij-Rasikh writes: But hope is not extinct. It exists only in small bursts, in hidden places, under the snow. It exists in the relentless spirit of girls on winter rooftops. It exists in the faces of a father and mother in the Badakhshan cold, sitting by a sawdust stove, warmed and illuminated by a girl and a dream that she made real. It’s rare and precious. But it exists. – Washington Post
Asia
U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel sued the United States government on Monday in a last-ditch attempt to revive their attempted merger after President Biden blocked it last week on the basis that the transaction posed a threat to national security. – New York Times
U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to block Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel cast a shadow over Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Japan on Tuesday for farewell meetings with Washington’s most important ally in Asia. – Reuters
Indonesia will formally join BRICS as a full member, Brazil’s government said on Monday, further expanding the group of major emerging economies that also includes Russia, India, China and South Africa. – Reuters
Malaysia and Singapore announced on Tuesday an agreement on a special economic zone in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, aiming to support investment and free up movement of goods and people between the countries. – Reuters
Gearoid Reidy writes: It’s an ignominious closing act in a bilateral relationship that Biden did so much to promote. And ironically enough, it leaves one way forward for the deal: for Trump to have one of his trademark changes of heart over his opposition to the takeover. In one fell swoop, he would boost investment, secure US jobs and tweak Biden’s nose — all while improving ties with Tokyo at little cost to himself. – Bloomberg
Europe
Elon Musk is throwing grenades into Europe’s political mainstream over issues ranging from immigration to free speech, creating a dilemma for governments as they try to respond to the tech billionaire and key adviser to the incoming Trump administration. – Wall Street Journal
Austria’s Freedom Party was tasked with trying to form what could become the nation’s first far-right-led government since World War II, adding to the trend of anti-immigrant and populist parties gaining ground across Europe. – Wall Street Journal
Prime Minister Keir Starmer berated Elon Musk and others Monday for alleging that British authorities failed the victims of past sex abuse cases, a dispute that highlighted how deeply the tech billionaire and top Trump ally has inserted himself into European politics. – Washington Post
Two undersea telecommunications cables that were damaged in the Baltic Sea on Dec. 25 appeared to have been torn apart by a strong external force, Finland’s Elisa (ELISA.HE), said on Monday, adding that they had now been repaired. – Reuters
Donald Trump Jr. will travel to Greenland this week in a surprise visit to the Arctic territory, just weeks after his father, US President-elect Donald Trump, rekindled the idea of buying the island from Denmark. – Bloomberg
Walter Russell Mead writes: Argentina’s awakening from the fever dream of Peronism creates important opportunities in the Western Hemisphere. Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand matter more than most European states to the future of American foreign policy. Mr. Biden’s words to Mr. Scholz were sincere and heartfelt. But Europe is no longer the center of America’s foreign-policy universe, and barring a near-miraculous European recovery, future presidents will likely follow Mr. Trump’s lead in shaping their policies for the new post-Western world. – Wall Street Journal
Edward Lucas writes: Britain relies on what Francis Tusa, a defence pundit, calls the “1,700km duvet”: the distance between its shores and Russia. NATO allies, supposedly, will deal with aggressors long before they reach the UK. […] How many of their scarce air defence resources will they devote to deal with missiles heading to Britain? In short: Britain’s government is gambling that allies care more about its defence than it does. An odd definition of leadership. – Centre for European Policy Analysis
Africa
The head of Uganda’s military, who is also the son of longstanding President Yoweri Museveni, said he wanted to behead the country’s most prominent opposition leader. – Reuters
The United States accused Russia at the United Nations on Monday of funding the two warring parties in Sudan, an apparent step up from Washington’s previous assertion that Moscow was playing both sides of the conflict to advance its political objectives. – Reuters
John Dramani Mahama will be sworn in for his second term as Ghana’s president on Tuesday with a fresh mandate to tackle familiar challenges, including corruption, high unemployment, inflation and public discontent. – Reuters
Rebels with the M23 group have seized two key towns in eastern Congo as they advance in the volatile region, civil society and a local politician said Monday, as the security and humanitarian crisis deepened. – Associated Press
Michael Rubin writes: It is easy for U.S. officials to say Eritreans deserve better. Rhetoric is cheap and business as usual only preserves the status quo, however. President Donald Trump need not engage actively in Africa, but he should empower his incoming National Security Council and assistant secretary of State for African Affairs to do so to help Eritreans rid the world of one of its worst regimes. – 19fourtyfive
The Americas
After months in hiding from the secret police, Venezuela’s popular opposition leader is planning a return to the public stage—a last-ditch attempt to stop President Nicolás Maduro from clinging to power when his term ends this week. – Wall Street Journal
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he would resign, making him the latest global progressive leader to fall from power and leaving Canada rudderless as it prepares to contend with President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to upend free trade in North America. – Wall Street Journal
Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with Paraguay on Monday, with Paraguay expelling Venezuela’s diplomats in the country in return, a day after Paraguayan President Santiago Pena expressed support for Venezuela’s opposition. – Reuters
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab said on Monday that 146 more people arrested after a July election are to be freed, taking the total number of prisoners released to 1,515 just days before President Nicolas Maduro is set to begin his third term. – Reuters
The outgoing U.S. ambassador to Mexico said Monday he anticipated “major changes” in the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Mexico during the incoming Trump administration. – Associated Press
A controversial Canadian Islamic group is resurrecting its annual conference calling for the return of an Islamic caliphate and imposition of Shariah law that was abruptly cancelled last year after its sister organization was declared a terrorist entity in Britain. – National Post
Editorial: Mr. Trudeau’s woke agenda and his efforts to freeze the bank accounts of Canadians who resisted his Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns have also infuriated even moderate Canadians. Immigration has helped the economy avoid a worse decline, but the newcomer influx has led to housing shortages that the Liberals haven’t addressed. Voters are turning against progressive government across the West, and Canadians deserve an urgent chance to render their verdict. – Wall Street Journal
Jonathan Turley writes: Yet Trudeau has been a darling of the Canadian and American press despite a disapproval rate of around 68 percent among Canadian citizens. The media clearly approves of his position that “freedom of expression is not without limits” when others seek “to arbitrarily or unnecessarily injure those with whom we are sharing a society and a planet.” So the question is: Now that Trudeau is heading out, where do Canadians go to get their free speech back? – The Hill
United States
The Pentagon on Monday added a number of well-known Chinese businesses to a list of companies it identifies as military in nature, including some of the country’s largest internet, battery, science and shipping firms. – Wall Street Journal
The Biden administration has released 11 additional detainees from the U.S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay, sending the men, all natives of Yemen, to neighboring Oman, the Pentagon said Monday. – Washington Post
The White House said on Monday that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced that he will step down in the coming months after nine years in power, has been a “stalwart friend” of the United States. – Reuters
A former U.S. Marine and a Florida man who were imprisoned in Venezuela have sued President Nicolás Maduro, accusing the leftist leader of heading a vast “criminal enterprise” that has co-opted the state and uses American citizens as bargaining chips in negotiations with the U.S. – Associated Press
Congress certified Donald Trump’s presidential election victory Monday without dispute and with his defeated Democratic opponent Kamala Harris presiding, resuming a ritual of democracy four years after a mob attack on the US Capitol marred the vote count with violence. – Bloomberg
Several hundred anti-Israel protesters demonstrated on Monday outside the NYU Langone Health Center in New York City. – Times of Israel
Michael Beckley writes: China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, however, are unlikely to mellow overnight. The United States’ struggle against these countries may not last forever, but Washington must prepare for a contest that could last years. […] Calling on Americans to stand up to autocratic aggression doesn’t mean rushing into war; it means creating a future in which peace is secured through sustained investments in military strength and diplomatic outreach. – Foreign Affairs
Ilya Shapiro writes: New York’s anti-masking law itself survived a legal challenge in 2004. Indeed, far from infringing on First Amendment freedoms, anti-masking laws are essential to preserving the rights to assemble, to petition for redress of grievances, and otherwise to express ourselves while preventing intimidation and harassment. […] Unsurprisingly, that lawsuit was quickly dismissed; judges often must assess the sincerity of claims relating to health and safety gear or religious garb, so they’re well-equipped to make similar determinations in mask-ban cases. – The Free Press
Cybersecurity
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met virtually on Monday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and raised concerns about “malicious cyber activity” carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors, the Treasury Department said in a statement. – Reuters
At least two U.S. school districts suffered from cyberattacks over the Christmas and New Years holidays, continuing an annual trend of hackers targeting K-12 schools and colleges during periods when IT staffing is at its lowest. – The Record
Argentina’s airport security police (PSA) have fallen victim to a cyberattack that reportedly compromised the personal and financial data of its officers and civilian personnel. – The Record
Defense
Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas bid farewell to its last T-1A Jayhawk last month, as the Air Force continues its drive to retire the heavy aircraft trainer. – Defense News
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced that the service’s newest destroyer will bear the historic Intrepid name, according to the Navy. – Military Times
The Defense Department has tapped Kratos to develop a testbed for hypersonic vehicles under the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed 2.0 program, the company announced Monday. – DefenseScoop
Andrea Goldstein and Steven Katz write: The alternative is the use of unguided bombs which take far more skill to achieve similar precision. These Senate resolutions weren’t about protecting Palestinian civilians. Rather, they were introduced to pander to the segment of the progressive base that despises Israel simply for existing. No lasting peace, including one that might result in a Palestinian state, can come in the region until the war ends, beginning with a resounding Israeli victory. Israel is fighting well. Now it must be allowed to win. – Newsweek