The US wants to reign everywhere.
Whether or not it wants to rein in the Israelis is a completely different matter. 
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Autocorrect caught me out.
Damn.
If Harris wins I think the current relationship with Israel will change for the better. Not wholesale changes, not satisfactory or even close to being fair, but I do see a little dialing back of some of the extremism under a President Harris.
She will be jumped all over by the GOP for being antisemitic, but if she is in power she will be able to lead, rather than walk the current thankless tightrope as a Presidential candidate. All she can say now is Israel has the right to defend itself, but how it defends itself is important. This last part is more than you will hear from the GOP, and if she becomes President, I expect her to be more forthright with that side of the messaging.
Ultimately Israel will do what it wants, especially with the extremist leaders they have, but if they persist, I expect a Harris Presidency to not be so brazenly complicit as weâve seen, and stopping the supply of offensive weapons would be a good start.
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to be fair, lots of stuff from 1899 wouldnt translate very well in 2024âŚ
better to concentrate on the here and the now, and maybe not what the âconference of zionistsâ were able to freely discuss in 1899
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Not sure how to pose the question so apologies for the clumsiness and/or if reading the situation badly.
Why is there so much restraint by the other countries in the neighbourhood to Israelâs actions? Particularly in light of the awful suffering inflicted upon civilians.
From a distance, it looks as if there is a bit of a âsoftâ green light from the surrounding countries to Israel to take the actions it has and continues with. Even Iranâs âshow of forceâ appeared a bit meh. Is it solely the threat of the US or is there a level of complicity also?
Obviously the whole situation is tragic but the carte blanche Israel has appears odd.
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I think the answer is pretty simple - they cannot actually do anything about it. The only regional power with a chance of fighting a conflict with Israel to at least stalemate is Turkey, and while they are something of a rogue member they are still NATO members. Most of them have militaries not fundamentally built to fight other militaries but to exert force over their own populations.
Syria is scarcely capable of controlling its own territory. One could hardly say they have been giving a âsoft green lightâ, Syria has been a partner with Hezbollah for a generation. Jordan is a regional lightweight that merely wants to stay out of trouble. Egypt is in a much different class, but internal politics are precarious and their military is painfully aware that any sort of conflict will be one-sided. Saudi Arabia is not very different. Even if all of them came together, it is unlikely the results would be any better than 1967 or 1973, and probably worse - even without US intervention, which in that scenario would be a near certainty.
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Biden and his administration want to curtail Israel, especially with the upcoming elections; they just have no meaningful way to affect that. Apart from the fact that an embargo, even if it somehow came to pass, would almost certainly result in a Trump win, it wouldnât make much difference in Israelâs military ability, at least in the short term.
The reality is that Netanyahu has a free hand and he knows it. He is fully committed to making Gaza and probably South Lebanon uninhabitable by killing and destroying as much as he can. Short of ostracizing Israel to the same tier as Russia, Iran, etc, and forming a coalition against it, events which sound at the very least fanciful, thereâs nothing to stop him.
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I agree that military options seem limited/impossible but economically they could do something that may bite. Iâm thinking of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and TĂźrkiye. Even there I guess the US looms large. The âsoft greenâ is then wrong and this is merely a reflection of the utter one-sidedness of situation.
In a way Israel has called everyoneâs bluff - the Americans included.
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My two cents
- None of the countries in the region wants the Palestine to be liberated. Look at the way these leaders treat their own people. Palestine distracts any focus (in more ways than one) on own atrocities.
- Most of these countries are under US/Western influence (domination?) and we all know to what length the US/West will go to protect Israel.
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Israel has almost no economic ties with Saudi Arabia or Qatar, and Egypt is minimal. Turkey is more significant, but Israel imports from Turkey - so Turkey could cut off ties, but Israel would likely be able to import from elsewhere, while Turkey would be the primary loser. For economic pressure to become telling it would have to come from the West and/or China. Regionally, Israel is about as isolated economically as it is politically.
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I guess I meant against the US, that is a pipe dream and a half.
There could have been a case where Jordan took over West Bank territories. PLOâs coup or attempted coup has put paid to that as well. Jordan right now is comfortable staying away
The worst enemies of the Palestinians are their leaders.
Saudi crown prince said he personally âdoesnât careâ about Palestinian issue | Middle East Eye
Itâs a click-bait (Atleast the title). But, Itâs not very far off how the richer Arab countries are seeing Palestine.
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Not the enemy that is currently exterminating them?
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Yeah. They are just behaving like the war criminals they are.
Hamas/Fatah etc etc are making money claiming to serve Palestinian purposes but in fact harming them.
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This is the point I want to keep making. Itâs not just the Israeli government. Although given that the Israeli government has been funding HamasâŚ
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Ultimately, money talks.
See Starmers rebuke of his transport ministers comments about P&O.
Got to keep the money onside at all costs, principles and âthe right thingâ go out the window when wealth is threatened
The submissive and collaborative nature of the PA/Fatah/Abbas (itâs basically the same) is definitely helping Israel continue it genocidal war, just as it helped Israelâs encroachment on Palestinian land for the last THREE decades. The PA has a 30,000 strong security forces. What security have they provided to the Palestinians? The fact that the Western governments view it positively is the testament that itâs not a deterrent to Israeli aggression. Itâs been over a year since Israel attacked Gaza. During this time Blinken has visited the region 6-7 times (to ensure his muppets are holding the line), but how many times did the PA Foreign Minister visited the regional players?
I donât think itâs practical to expect Marwan Barghouti to be released in the near future. But I think Riyad Mansour, the Palestine Ambassador to the UN, would be a good alternative.