Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

The U.S. is pushing ahead with plans to build communities for Palestinians on the Israeli side of the line dividing Gaza, bringing in teams of engineers and starting to clear sites in hopes of pulling civilians away from areas controlled by Hamas. – Wall Street Journal

The Israeli military conducted a wave of strikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least 20 people and wounding others, according to Gaza’s health ministry, as Israel and Hamas pointed fingers at each other for violating an ongoing cease-fire. – New York Times

The Israeli military’s chief of staff on Sunday summoned about a dozen senior commanders to let them know they would be ousted or disciplined for failures related to the Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip. – New York Times

A senior Hamas delegation met Egypt’s intelligence chief in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the ceasefire agreement and the situation in Gaza, the group said, as both Israel and the Palestinian militant group continue to trade accusations of truce violations. – Reuters

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and senior ministry officials will present Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Sunday with the state budget and planned structural reforms for 2026, Smotrich’s office said. – Reuters

More food supplies are getting into Gaza since the October ceasefire but are still falling short of huge humanitarian needs as winter rains risk spoiling delivered foodstuffs, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Friday. – Reuters

Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Friday that its medical teams in Gaza had treated Palestinian women and children this week for injuries from Israeli airstrikes and gunfire, almost six weeks into a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire. – Reuters

IDF soldiers carried out a series of arrests of suspected terrorists in Nablus and east of Tulkarm, in the West Bank, on Sunday night. – Jerusalem Post

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly rejected the idea that Israel requires approval for military action in his statement to the Security Cabinet on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post

Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov visited Israel last week for a series of high-level meetings in Jerusalem, highlighting the growing strategic partnership between the two countries in the areas of economy, energy, and regional cooperation. – Jerusalem Post

The IDF intercepted all 17 Hamas terrorists who tried to escape from terror tunnels in eastern Rafah, killing 11, and arresting six, the military confirmed on Saturday. – Jerusalem Post

Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh met with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in Ramallah on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post

Military investigations have reportedly revealed that Hamas spent years collecting sensitive intelligence on IDF bases and equipment, especially tanks and their operations, from soldiers’ social media activity, allowing the terror group to disable tanks and raid army bases during its October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel. – Times of Israel

In a major shift, Shin Bet Chief David Zini has informed the government that the security agency supports a controversial bill to enact the death penalty for terrorists, according to Hebrew media reports on Friday. – Times of Israel

Editorial: The United Nations records more than 1,400 such violent incidents by Israelis this year, but its database is unreliable. A review by Regavim, an Israeli NGO, found that the U.N.’s 2016-23 data included thousands of clearly nonviolent events, and Palestinians harmed in the process of committing terrorist attacks were even counted as victims of Israeli settler violence. Terrorism is abhorrent on either side, and acknowledging Palestinian violence doesn’t excuse violence by Israeli “hilltop youth.” It does give a more accurate picture of the lawless West Bank reality, which is up to Israel to stop. – Wall Street Journal

Avi Bell writes:  The Supreme Court on Nov. 16 ruled the appointment illegal—though it left the door open for the justice minister to appoint a different person as special prosecutor under strict restrictions. Throughout all this, Gen. Tomer-Yerushalmi has reportedly declined to provide much information to the police. Three years ago, Israel was consumed by a debate over whether elected officials should be permitted to limit the otherwise unchecked and unlimited powers of Israel’s senior lawyers and judiciary. The answer is now clear. – Wall Street Journal

Dan Perry writes: Moreover, Israel will never agree to a Palestinian state as long as Hamas remains an armed militia with any prospect of again seizing control, the way it did in 2007 when it forcefully expelled the Palestinian Authority. The issue is the West Bank — a strategic highland overlooking central Israel, abutting Jerusalem on three sides and coming withing 20 miles of Tel Aviv. There is no way Israel will risk an Oct. 7 coming from that territory, no matter how many votes are held at the UN. The UN Security Council vote is encouraging. It signals that much of the world is no longer willing to indulge myths about “resistance” movements that rule by fear and sacrifice their own civilians. But unless it is followed by fast, coordinated, determined action, it will amount to nothing. And the Palestinians will continue to suffer. – The Hill

Ludovic Hood writes: President Trump’s pragmatism and domineering style play well with many regional leaders, and his foreign policy team’s inventive diplomacy and strong relationships will be indispensable in the coming months. As the protagonist Avner in Spielberg’s Munich was told, “the world has been rough” with Israel over the past two years, as it has with the Jewish people for two millennia. Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and US support deserve scrutiny. However, the coverage and political gesturing in the West have been, at best, disproportionate and prejudiced, and, at worst, dishonest, malicious, and likely to extend the war and the suffering. – The National Interest

Russia and Ukraine

The White House hailed what it called constructive talks with Ukraine in Geneva on Sunday, saying the two sides had modified the Trump administration’s proposed plan for ending the war with Russia. – Wall Street Journal

President Trump said Saturday he could be open to changes in the administration’s 28-point plan for ending the war in Ukraine after Kyiv, European governments and even some Republican lawmakers denounced it as far too heavily weighted in Moscow’s favor. – Wall Street Journal

President Trump said he wants Ukraine to accept a sweeping U.S. deal to end its nearly four-year-old war with Russia by Thanksgiving, giving Kyiv less than a week to decide whether to agree to a draft plan that would make major concessions to Russia. – Wall Street Journal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is facing a stunning challenge to his presidency as major corruption allegations rock the wartime leader’s innermost circle just as Washington ramps up pressure for him to agree to an unfavorable peace deal. – Washington Post

More than three years after Russian troops captured Mariupol in May 2022, after a brutal three-month siege, the Kremlin is pouring billions of dollars into remaking the city, constructing scores of sparkling new apartment buildings and rebuilding some neighborhoods. – New York Times

Leaders of some of the world’s most powerful countries pushed back on demands that Ukraine cede territory and limit the size of its army included in President Trump’s latest proposal to end the war with Russia. But they said they believed the plan provided a basis for further negotiations, according to a joint statement released after they met in Johannesburg on Saturday. – New York Times

The European Union’s decision to stop issuing Russian tourist visas that allow for multiple visits has provoked both alarm and outrage among Russians living in exile. – New York Times

Russian forces staged a “massive” drone attack on Sunday on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing four people and injuring several others, officials said. “There is a massive attack on Kharkiv,” Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. – Reuters

Ukraine struck a heat and power station in the Moscow region on Sunday with drones, triggering a major fire and cutting off heating for thousands in one of Kyiv’s biggest attacks to date on a power station deep inside Russia. – Reuters

Ukraine said it had received 31 civilians on Saturday who had been freed from jail in Belarus. “Women and men detained in Belarus and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment ranging from two to 11 years are returning to Ukraine,” Kyiv’s prisoner exchange coordination committee said on the Telegram messaging app. – Reuters

Mass graves and bullet-scarred churches mark the torment of past Russian occupation in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where traumatized residents now face a new anguish: a U.S.-led peace proposal that would offer a blanket post-war amnesty for the perpetrators of atrocities. – Associated Press

Ukraine and its European allies will insist that discussions with Russia on any territorial swaps can only take place once the war ceases along the current line of contact, according to people familiar with a counter-proposal that will be presented to the US later today in Switzerland. – Bloomberg

Editorial: Mr. Trump can tarnish his legacy if he wants, but the bigger risk here is to the United States. A bad deal in Ukraine would broadcast to U.S. enemies that they can seize what they want with force or nuclear blackmail or by pressing on until America loses interest. The odds of a Pacific crisis will go up. European capitals and the last adults in Congress will now scramble to try to talk Mr. Trump off this plan—and don’t rule out Mr. Putin still overplaying his Trump hand. These are the forces that can save the U.S. President from appeasement he’ll regret. – Wall Street Journal

David Ignatius writes: Zelensky’s initial reaction to the new peace initiative had been to propose instead a ceasefire for energy-infrastructure targets. U.S. officials thought Moscow might accept this, because it has already damaged the Ukrainian power grid so severely. But the Russians responded that this approach was a “nonstarter,” an official told me. Zelensky now confronts the most agonizing choice of his presidency. If he says yes to giving up Donetsk, some Ukrainians will never forgive him. If he says no, this tragic war will continue. For all Zelensky’s courage, he may never have faced a more agonizing moment. – Washington Post

David Ignatius writes: Putin began this war hoping to neuter Ukraine’s sovereignty and halt its move toward Europe, and the Trump peace deal would give him only partial success in that. Ukraine would be eligible for European Union membership, and it would get “preferential access to the European market” in the meantime. Ukraine would have to forswear NATO membership, but it would get what the proposed security framework calls “security assurance modeled on the principles of Article 5” of the NATO treaty. – Washington Post

Erica Downs and Richard Nephew write: And the Trump administration could send signals in various ways: determining that a Chinese bank CEO is in violation of U.S. sanctions, working with Congress to adopt legislation that would block offending Chinese banks from having financial relationships with U.S. banks, or even publishing information about the nature of the Chinese banking system and its connection to Russian energy exports. The measures Trump adopted against Rosneft and Lukoil are a worthwhile expansion of Washington’s existing efforts. But for them to be effective, he will need to get serious about enforcement. Otherwise, China will continue to downplay the significance of U.S. threats—both when it comes to Russia and in general. – Foreign Affairs

Syria

U.S. military commanders and regional security experts have warned that the detainee population is an unresolved security dilemma threatening a new and uncertain Syria. Islamic State has targeted the camps and prisons with propaganda and messages to stir unrest—part of the reason the most dangerous prisoners held in Al Sina are kept under an information blackout. – Wall Street Journal

The killing of a husband and wife from a Bedouin tribe in Syria’s Homs province on Sunday triggered renewed sectarian tensions. The bodies were found at their home in the town of Zaidal, “with signs that the wife had been burned,” state-run news agency SANA reported, adding that “sectarian slogans were also found at the crime scene.” – Associated Press

Merissa Khurma and Giorgio Cafiero write: Ultimately, Syria’s entry into the coalition represents an opening for deeper cooperation with the United States and its regional partners. However, the challenges posed by sectarian militias and foreign fighters embedded within the state underscore how fragile and conditional this partnership could prove. Ultimately, the success of Syria’s membership in the coalition will depend not on symbolism alone, but on whether Damascus can demonstrate consistent, credible commitment to countering ISIS while stabilizing its fractured political and security institutions. Syria’s strategic partners in the region and globally should also support its efforts as it deepens its engagement with the coalition to eliminate the threat of terrorism once and for all. – Atlantic Council

Arabian Peninsula

The United Arab Emirates said on Saturday it will invest $1 billion to expand AI infrastructure and AI-enabled services across Africa, with the aim of helping countries meet national development priorities. – Reuters

Oman signed an agreement with Airbus on Sunday to design, manufacture and launch the sultanate’s first communications satellite, Oman’s state news agency reported. – Reuters

Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding Company (IHC.AD), has told the U.S. Treasury it is interested in buying Russian oil group Lukoil’s (LKOH.MM), foreign assets, the company said in response to a Reuters enquiry. – Reuters

Emirati defense giant EDGE Group was an unmistakable presence here at the Dubai Airshow, where the conglomerate unveiled several new systems on the show floor and announced more than a dozen new deals or cooperation agreements, including several with international partners half a world away from the UAE. – Breaking Defense

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman emerged from a White House visit this week as, in President Trump’s view, the undisputed leader of the Arab world. No Arab leader in recent memory has received such a lavish welcome from an American president—including a red-carpet welcome, a parade of horses and a black-tie dinner—and certainly not an authoritarian leader with such a scrutinized human-rights record. – Wall Street Journal

A Democratic lawmaker who served on Donald Trump’s National Security Council in his first term urged the White House on Friday to release a transcript of Trump’s 2019 call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing. – Reuters

Elie Podeh writes: Many Israelis know Abba Eban’s famous mantra that the Palestinians/Arabs “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” but tend to forget that Israel has also missed opportunities over the years. It appears now to be standing on the verge of another one. It is disheartening to see Henry Kissinger’s maxim proven once again: that Israel has no foreign policy, only domestic policy. In other words, preserving the government’s survival is more important than advancing Israel’s national interests. – Jerusalem Post

F. Gregory Gause, III writes: The recently concluded Saudi-American summit was undoubtedly a success for MBS and Trump. It ratified the historically close relationship between the two countries, quieted Saudi worries about the American commitment to their security, and advanced Washington’s goal of solidifying Saudi Arabia in the American technology orbit, even as Saudi economic ties with China continue to grow. The good feelings generated by the crown prince’s visit notwithstanding, important questions remain about how Riyadh and Washington are going to deal with the immediate diplomatic issues facing them in the Middle East, about the extent of potential cooperation on nuclear issues, and, perhaps most centrally, about the nature and extent of the American defense commitment to Saudi Arabia. – Middle East Institute

Korean Peninsula

North and South Korea are in a “very dangerous situation” where an accidental clash is possible any time and it was crucial for Seoul to engage Pyongyang in dialogue, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday, according to Yonhap News. – Reuters

South Korea sees room for cooperation with Taiwan on U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on chips, the country’s trade minister said on Monday. – Reuters

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during last weekend’s Group of 20 summit in South Africa, Lee’s office said in a statement on Monday. – Reuters

South Korea, a key American ally in East Asia, is moving aggressively to play a bigger role in the volatile Middle East, already a crowded theater for great-power competition among America, China and Russia. – New York Sun

The Republic of Korea Marines Corps held landing drills this week on the country’s east coast, testing the force’s amphibious assault capabilities during Seoul’s joint service Hoguk defense exercise. – USNI News

Karishma Vaswani writes: Kim’s hinted he could be open to dialogue if the US stops insisting he gives up nuclear weapons. At best, diplomacy could slow the pace of development. The four-kilometer (2.4 miles) wide stretch of the DMZ has always been dangerous. But with a more emboldened North Korea and shifting global alliances, the stakes are higher than ever. The goal shouldn’t be to chase an illusion of peace. It’s to prevent a war from starting by mistake. – Bloomberg

South Asia

Three suicide bombers targeted the headquarters of a Pakistani paramilitary force on Monday, killing three personnel and wounding at least five, authorities said. – Reuters

An Indian Tejas fighter jet crashed in a ball of fire in front of horrified spectators during an aerial display at the Dubai Airshow on Friday, and the Indian Air Force said it was setting up a court of inquiry to investigate the cause. – Reuters

Air cargo services between India and Afghanistan will be launched soon, an Indian foreign ministry official said on Friday, as the two countries seek to reset ties amid soured relations with common neighbour Pakistan. – Reuters

Thousands of opposition activists rallied near Sri Lanka’s capital Friday to demand that the government fulfill pledges to ease taxes and restore order, in the first major protest against President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration as it marks one year in office. – Associated Press

Standing before US-based Pakistanis in June at a dinner in Washington, Asim Munir beamed after meeting US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. – Bloomberg

Europe

A former politician in Nigel Farage’s Reform U.K. party was sentenced on Friday to 10 and a half years in prison for taking bribes to make pro-Russia statements in the European Parliament. – New York Times

A close ally of Bosnia’s Serb Republic separatist leader Milorad Dodik won a snap presidential election in a tight race with opposition candidate, the election commission said on Sunday, citing preliminary results. – Reuters

The head of a British employers group will accuse finance minister Rachel Reeves on Monday of ignoring them on issues such as energy costs and labour reforms and urge her to make “hard choices” in this week’s budget. – Reuters

Lithuania’s Vilnius airport said on Sunday it had temporarily halted operations due to balloons moving towards its airspace, diverting some incoming flights to other cities. – Reuters

Britain on Saturday rolled out a critical minerals strategy designed to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers by 2035, with targets to source 10% of domestic demand from UK production and 20% from recycling, the government said, as global competition for these essential resources intensifies. – Reuters

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said that China welcomes more Italian companies to enter the Chinese market and hopes Italy will provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese to invest in the country, the official Xinhua news agency reported. – Reuters

A U.K. patrol ship has intercepted a Russian corvette and a tanker after shadowing them through the English Channel, the Defense Ministry said Sunday, adding that Russian naval activity around U.K. waters had increased by 30% over the past two years. – Associated Press

The Dutch military opened fire at drones over Volkel Air Base in the east of the country but no wreckage was recovered, the Ministry of Defense said Saturday. – Associated Press

A 19-year-old Syrian went on trial in Berlin on Thursday over a knife attack on a Spanish tourist at the German capital’s Holocaust memorial days before February’s general election. – Agence France-Presse

This year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to build Europe’s strongest army – a tall order for a country whose military has undergone years of neglect. The coalition government is hoping a new bill agreed upon last week will help make this a reality, bolstering Germany’s forces in the face of the perceived threat from Russia and a significant shift in US foreign policy. – CNN

Editorial: Europe’s bigger challenge will be what to do when it identifies who is behind these drone episodes. Russia is the top suspect, yet it has suffered few repercussions throughout the war as its long-range drones have repeatedly strayed beyond Ukraine into NATO territory. After the Polish episode, NATO strengthened its posture on its eastern flank, but again there were no real consequences for Moscow. Weakness invites trouble, and one lesson from Ukraine’s drone war is that adversaries can throw large numbers of drones at a target, and intercepting all of them is difficult. That makes restoring deterrence even more important for Europe—and the U.S. – Wall Street Journal

Lionel Laurent writes: The stakes are high. Allowing a project like FCAS to fail would clearly send a pretty woeful signal at a time when the US is using F-35s to tip the balance of power in the Middle East, or when drone incursions have become a near-daily occurrence in Europe. It would also mean missing out on another defense-technology revolution. But on the other hand, political exhortations are starting to sound Peter Pan-ish: Close your eyes, wish and you just might fly. Without a more serious effort to invest in the way partnerships are structured, expect more turbulence ahead. – Bloomberg

Dan Hannan writes: “Name a single Brexit benefit!” People have been making the demand for ten years now, rarely in good faith. I quickly learned that the only useful response is, “Do you actually want me to list some Brexit benefits, or are you waiting for me to get three words into my answer before jumping in to tell me what an idiot I was to have voted Leave?” In fact, the biggest Brexit benefits are often negative. The United Kingdom has been free to stand aside from some of the crazier and more expensive regulations adopted by the European Union since January 2021. For example, it has not had to pay into the post-COVID-19 recovery fund, a racket for politically-connected rent-seekers. It has not had to adopt the 9,000 regulations decreed by Brussels since Brexit. – Washington Examiner

Cheryl Benard writes: Merz gave a speech describing the damage done to the “soul of the cities” by the lounging, menacing gangs of foreign men and the rise in crime. He was, of course, immediately attacked as racist by leftists and liberals—because apparently gangs of lounging, menacing men and the rise in crime are forms of diversity to be welcomed, Kumbaya. His three-word response was perfect: “ask your daughters,” he said. European governments are finally discussing—and promising their citizens—a speedier deportation of unqualified and criminal migrants and asylum seekers. Their main obstacle is the EU, which has so far blocked several attempts in that direction. The urgency could not be greater. Europe must expel this occupying force while it still can—if it still can. – The National Interest

The Americas

Chile is poised to elect as president a conservative who has proposed digging ditches to keep out immigrants. In Bolivia, voters recently kicked out the socialists who governed for nearly 20 years. And in Argentina, even the poorest voters have backed President Javier Milei’s efforts to shrink the state. – Wall Street Journal

The Trump administration has pressured Brazil like it has few others. The U.S. slapped 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports earlier this year to push authorities to drop charges against Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing former president and ally of President Trump. Brazil didn’t even run a trade surplus with the U.S., the usual rationale behind the levies. – Wall Street Journal

The White House recently proposed an idea for U.S. military planes to drop leaflets over Caracas in a psychological operation designed to further pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, timed possibly to Sunday to coincide with his birthday, according to people familiar with the matter. – Washington Post

Nearly 200 countries agreed Saturday to step up efforts to adapt to global warming and warned about the risks of inaction, but rejected proposals to directly address the fossil fuels warming the planet. – Washington Post

The Federal Aviation Administration warned pilots on Friday “to exercise caution” when flying over Venezuelan airspace “due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity” in or around the South American nation. – Washington Post

Former president Jair Bolsonaro was taken into preventive custody on Saturday, days before he is set to begin a 27-year prison sentence, after Brazil’s Supreme Court alleged he was plotting a possible escape attempt — claims his lawyers deny. – Washington Post

The U.S. Navy has routinely been positioning warships near Venezuela’s coast in locations far from the Caribbean’s main drug-smuggling routes, suggesting that the buildup is focused more on a pressure campaign against Venezuela than on the counternarcotics operation the Trump administration says it’s waging. – New York Times

The United States is poised to launch a new phase of Venezuela-related operations in the coming days, four U.S. officials told Reuters, as the Trump administration escalates pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government. – Reuters

Three international airlines canceled their flights departing from Venezuela on Saturday, the day after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned major airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over the country. – Reuters

President Donald Trump’s formal designation of Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization will go into effect on Nov. 24, escalating tensions between the US and Venezuela. – Bloomberg

Phil Gunson writes: Either way, the long, painful struggle to restore the rights of Venezuelans will have suffered a severe setback. Having outsourced its strategy to a foreign power, the Venezuelan opposition can, for now, do little but brace for impact. When the American fleet sails away and the world’s attention turns elsewhere, they will be left — as the local saying goes — to pick up the broken plates. – New York Times

United States

President Donald Trump and his top White House aides pushed for lethal strikes on Western Hemisphere drug traffickers almost as soon as they took office in January, and in the past 10 months have repeatedly steamrolled or sidestepped government lawyers who questioned whether the provocative policy was legal, according to multiple current and former officials familiar with the debates. – Washington Post

The Pentagon is urging the House to investigate whether Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Virginia) improperly consulted on behalf of the Ukrainian government before being elected to Congress — a claim the congressman denies and argues is an attempt by the Trump administration to “intimidate” him. – Washington Post

U.S. President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has disbanded with eight months left to its mandate, ending an initiative launched with fanfare as a symbol of Trump’s pledge to slash the government’s size but which critics say delivered few measurable savings. – Reuters

Saying she refused to be a “battered wife,” U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Friday she was resigning from the House of Representatives in the wake of a dramatic falling out with President Donald Trump. – Reuters

General Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet service members of the US Southern Command on Monday in Puerto Rico, where the American military presence has swelled as the Trump administration weighs military action against Venezuela. – Bloomberg

President Donald Trump said Friday night that he’s “immediately” terminating temporary legal protections for Somali migrants living in Minnesota, further targeting a program seeking to limit deportations that his administration has already repeatedly sought to weaken. – Associated Press

US President Donald Trump said late Saturday that six Democrats involved in a video calling on military officers to refuse illegal commands “should be in jail.” – Agence France-Presse

Noah Shachtman writes: If energy executives are unhappy, they can’t really be surprised. Mr. Trump’s favor is always transactional. More than helping any individual company, he wants to use energy as a tool for American leverage and, in his case, his own personal power. As he has shown over and over, he believes these chief executives now work for him, not the other way around. “If they drill themselves out of business,” he told voters at a rally last year, “I don’t give a damn.” – New York Times

Defense

RTX Corp. and Israeli defense firm Rafael have won a $1.25 billion contract to build surface-to-air missiles for Israel’s Iron Dome air-defense system at a new plant in Arkansas, the joint venture announced. – Bloomberg

The U.S. Air Force plans to put an experienced acquisition officer in charge of overseeing many of its most important ― and, in some cases, most troubled ― major programs, and award him a fourth star. – Defense News

The U.S. is maintaining a steady aircraft carrier presence in the South China Sea as both allied and Chinese military activity remains high around the contested Scarborough Shoal off the coast of the Philippines. – USNI News

The 25th Virginia-class fast-attack submarine, the future USS Massachusetts (SSN-798), was delivered Friday to the Navy, according to sea service and industry officials. – USNI News

The Space Force plans to issue a request to industry on Dec. 7 for prototype kinetic energy space-based interceptors (SBIs) for midcourse missile defense, Space Systems Command (SSC) announced. – Breaking Defense

Independent government auditors found that the Coast Guard’s aircraft availability rates and inventories overall have seen a bit of a decline in the past two decades, though they remained generally on par with the availability of the Pentagon’s fleets. – Breaking Defense

The Navy’s newest chief of naval operations made his first visit to Guam since he assumed responsibilities in August Wednesday, along with the service’s top enlisted sailor. – Military Times

The U.S. Coast Guard has released a new, firmer policy addressing the display of hate symbols like swastikas and nooses just hours after it was publicly revealed that it made plans to describe them as “potentially divisive” — a term that prompted outcry from lawmakers and advocates. – Military Times

Dov Zakheim writes: There can be little doubt that the department desperately needs to overhaul its acquisition system, for which the department’s plan provides an excellent blueprint. But the War Department cannot implement change on its own. It needs the strong support not only of industry and Congress, but of the men and women who constitute the workforce. Unless that support is forthcoming, China will eventually replace the U.S. as the world’s dominant military power. – The Hill

Francis Mahon writes: The Army must reconfigure IBCS’ leap-ahead capabilities to meet the changing operating environment. But the question of what is far easier than the how. The Army must fully leverage its existing contracts and challenge its current industry partners to develop, procure and deploy an upgraded IBCS as quickly as possible. Let’s parlay what’s working to innovate this much-needed adaptive capability by the swiftest means necessary. – Defense News