Forget Elon Musk versus Mark Zuckerberg. I wanna see Joe Biden vs. Binyamin Netanyahu.

benfell

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[1] fair use.

Remember the cage fight that never happened between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg?[2] It never happened because both men are just so full of shit that the entire planet would wretch rather than watch. We’re seeing that “full of shit” thing again.

In our previous installment, we saw Binyamin Netanyahu defending his genocidal war on Gaza by citing Israeli public opinion.[3]

A joint report by 18 [U.S. intelligence] agencies on the global threat level, published on Monday [March 11], found that the Israeli prime minister was facing significant opposition to his “hard-line policies on Palestinian and security issues”.

Mr Netanyahu is under pressure to maintain control of his coalition government, which relies on support from seven parties, amid public anger over the Oct 7 attacks.[4]

Something we need to remember when we see shit like this is that information is a battleground. I strongly doubt that the intelligence agencies have quantified the opposition to Netanyahu. I suspect that this is Joe Biden, who faces re-election-threatening criticism for being soft on genocide,[5] ramping up the pressure on Netanyahu.

Sure, there is opposition to Netanyahu in Israel. But what we’re really seeing here are yet more words from the Biden administration. Not action. Words. Even an unthinkably stupid cage fight would be better.

Ron Kampeas, “‘Uncommitted’ campaign opposing Biden’s support for Israel makes a mark in 5 more states,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 6, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/03/06/politics/uncommitted-campaign-opposing-bidens-support-for-israel-makes-a-mark-in-5-more-states

Zack Beauchamp, “Are Biden and the Democrats finally turning on Israel?” Vox, March 8, 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/2024/3/8/24093748/biden-israel-democrats-state-of-the-union-gaza-port

Konstantin Toropin, “New Military Sealift Operation to Aid Starving Gaza Residents Will Require More than 1,000 US Troops,” Military.com, March 8, 2024, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/03/08/new-military-sealift-operation-aid-starving-gaza-residents-will-require-more-1000-us-troops.html

Steve Hendrix and Sufian Taha, “At Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque, Ramadan brings uncertainty and fear,” Washington Post, March 9, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/09/ramadan-jerusalem-al-aqsa-gaza-war/

Paul Ronzheimer and Carlo Martuscelli, “Netanyahu vows to defy Biden’s ‘red line’ and invade Rafah,” Politico, March 10, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-netanyahu-says-he-will-defy-bidens-red-line-and-invade-rafah/

Roya News, “Exposé reveals list of essential aid items banned by ‘Israel’ from entry into Gaza,” March 10, 2024, https://en.royanews.tv/news/49795/2024-03-03

Eric Lutz, “Joe Biden’s Delicate Dance With Netanyahu Can’t Go on Forever,” Vanity Fair, March 11, 2024, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/joe-biden-benjamin-netanyahu-rift

Nataliya Vasilyeva and Tony Diver, “Israel could see Netanyahu ousted from power, US predicts,” Telegraph, March 11, 2024, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/11/israel-could-see-netanyahu-ousted-from-power-us-predicts/

Adam Taylor, “Biden has huge leverage on Israel. He hasn’t really used it yet,” Washington Post, March 12, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/12/israel-united-states-military-aid-leverage/

Illiberalism

Hungary

I’m not quite sure what to make of the European Parliament suing the European Commission over aid to Hungary,[6] but I’m noticing the lawsuit comes after the Commission got the vote it wanted from Viktor Orbán on Ukraine funding[7] and after Sweden acceded to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,[8] which Orbán had opposed,[9] in other words, after European politicians had gotten what they’d wanted and as European politicians had signaled a loss of patience for Orbán’s negotiating tactics.[10]

I guess what I’m thinking about here is what this means for future such deals. The pattern we’ve seen here again and again is that while the European Union withholds money, seeking to compel Hungary to roll back its illiberal changes, weakening the “rule of law,” meant to keep its ruling coalition in power, Orbán simply becomes an obstacle to the unanimity European institutions often require, holding out to get at least some of the money released. The parliament is saying rather explicitly that such deals must stop.[11] Conflict is on the horizon here, and certainly not just in the courtroom.

Hungary remains a problem. Hungary remains a illiberal regime. Hungary will undoubtedly seek to continue to use its leverage to free up as much money as it can get from Europe. Like Binyamin Netanyahu, Orbán likely counts on Donald Trump returning to the presidency, at which point, Ukraine may well be forced to capitulate as the U.S. permanently cuts off aid and the global illiberalism movement, which is at least soft on Vladimir Putin, gets a gigantic boost. A lot of shit can go wrong here.

Jakob Hanke and Claudia Chiappa, “Brussels vs. Brussels: EU Parliament to sue Commission over Hungary cash,” Politico, March 12, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/parliament-sues-commission-over-unfreezing-of-hungary-funds/

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Housing


Fig. 1. Once upon a time this was a Whole Foods Market. The store is part of a complex that replaced the Penn Plaza Apartments.[12] Whole Foods has now relocated to a larger location a few blocks away. Photograph by author, August 23, 2023.

Mark Belko, “Rescuing Downtown Pittsburgh: City councilman pitches a plan for broader tax relief to aid in building conversions,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 12, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2024/03/11/downtown-pittsburgh-councilman-bobby-wilson-tax-abatements-assessments-seiu/stories/202403110072

  1. [1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
  2. [2]Peter Hoskins, “Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg agree to hold cage fight,” British Broadcasting Corporation, June 22, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65981876↩
  3. [3]Paul Ronzheimer and Carlo Martuscelli, “Netanyahu vows to defy Biden’s ‘red line’ and invade Rafah,” Politico, March 10, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-netanyahu-says-he-will-defy-bidens-red-line-and-invade-rafah/↩
  4. [4]Nataliya Vasilyeva and Tony Diver, “Israel could see Netanyahu ousted from power, US predicts,” Telegraph, March 11, 2024, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/11/israel-could-see-netanyahu-ousted-from-power-us-predicts/↩
  5. [5]Eric Lutz, “Joe Biden’s Delicate Dance With Netanyahu Can’t Go on Forever,” Vanity Fair, March 11, 2024, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/joe-biden-benjamin-netanyahu-rift; Adam Taylor, “Biden has huge leverage on Israel. He hasn’t really used it yet,” Washington Post, March 12, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/12/israel-united-states-military-aid-leverage/↩
  6. [6]Jakob Hanke and Claudia Chiappa, “Brussels vs. Brussels: EU Parliament to sue Commission over Hungary cash,” Politico, March 12, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/parliament-sues-commission-over-unfreezing-of-hungary-funds/↩
  7. [7]Gregorio Sorgi, Barbara Moens, and Elisa Braun, “EU approves €50B Ukraine aid as Viktor Orbán folds,” Politico, February 1, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-gets-eu-aid-as-orban-folds/↩
  8. [8]Radina Gigova, Christian Edwards, and Jennifer Hansler, “Sweden officially joins NATO, becoming alliance’s 32nd member,” CNN, March 7, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/07/europe/sweden-join-nato-official-intl↩
  9. [9]Stephen Collinson, Caitlin Hu, and Shelby Rose to Meanwhile In America list, “Strongman in the Mirror,” CNN, March 8, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/newsletters/meanwhile-in-america↩
  10. [10]Barbara Moens et al., “EU threatens to silence Hungary if it blocks Ukrainian funds,” Politico, January 26, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-threatens-silence-hungary-orban-if-blocks-ukrainian-aid-funds-article-7/↩
  11. [11]Jakob Hanke and Claudia Chiappa, “Brussels vs. Brussels: EU Parliament to sue Commission over Hungary cash,” Politico, March 12, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/parliament-sues-commission-over-unfreezing-of-hungary-funds/↩
  12. [12]Bob Bauder, “Pittsburgh settles court battle over Penn Plaza Apartments,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 27, 2017, https://archive.triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/pittsburgh-settles-court-battle-over-penn-plaza-apartments/↩

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