Ben Gvir reminds me in some respects of Raynald of Châtillon (c. 1124 – 4 July 1187) the most bigoted, aggressive and uncompromising of Crusader leaders, who also claimed Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem as belonging to his side alone, and who did all he could to outrage the Muslims of the

Excellent thread on the limitations Russian forces face on the Kharkiv front and a compelling contrast to the assessment offered recently by The Economist.

Israel has recalled its ambassadors from Ireland, Spain, and Norway following their recognition of Palestinian statehood. Ireland’s leader said that additional European countries would soon follow the example of these three countries.

Hi All, Mykola Bielieskov and I are back with the latest episode of the Ukraine-Russia War Talk Podcast. We start with a discussion of the Russian offensive in Kharkiv, which cause real panic in some places. We tried to put what is happening in perspective buzzsprout.com/2279186/151111…

UK defence secretary Grant Shapps said new US and British intelligence indicated that ‘lethal aid’ was ‘now flowing from China to Russia and into Ukraine’ on.ft.com/44TVJEr

Ukraine claims it destroyed the Russian Karakurt-class corvette Tsiklon (Cyclone)—equipped w/ Kalibr & Oniks cruise missiles—in Sevastopol, Black Sea Fleet HQ. This follows recent destruction of the Fleet’s Natya-class Kovrovets minesweeper. Both likely hit w/ US-made ATACMs.

Gen Ivan Popov, a critic of Gen Valery Gerasimov (Chief of the Gen Staff) & Sergei Shoigu (former Def Min) has been arrested on fraud charges. Before he was relieved of command in 7/2023 & reassigned to Syria Popov commanded the 58th Combined Arms Army in Zaporizhizhia province.

Europe cannot completely discredit the ICC because the ICC is one of the legal institutions it is using to defend itself right now against Russian aggression. Now other people are laying claim to the same universal principles and there is a wedge between Europe and the U.S.

Ce serait l’abdication de toute prétention à défendre le droit international, un incroyable cadeau à toutes les autocraties que cette administration prétend combattre, une démarche dont la France devrait fermement se désolidariser.

.Haaretz.com on the reaction in Israel and beyond to ICC prosecutor#KarimKhan’s application for an arrest warrant for PM Netanyahu and Def Min Gallant. Worth reading.

us18.campaign-archive.com/?e=2f19dbbf39&…

Blinken is like Kissinger if Kissinger looked like he was crying all the time and played guitar at public events in an effort to appear more relatable. Kissinger for the therapeutic era.

. #VolodymyrZelenskiy ’s Monday interview with The New York Times. Transcript:

nytimes.com/2024/05/21/wor…

Realists oppose Israel's war on #Gaza (and US support for it) on both moral and strategic grounds. This shouldn't surprise you. Latest FP column here: foreignpolicy.com/2024/05/21/why…

Terrific analysis👇 My deduction: IDF have failed to eliminate Hamas and are now caught up in a long term counter-terrorist campaign. Which is what I advocated from the start. But without a parallel political and socio economic track this will just be a forever war. Fail.

UKRAINE’S ARTILLERY SHORTAGE EASING:
In some parts of the front Russia has had as much as a 1O: 1 advantage in the artillery exchange ratio in recent months.That helped its army advance. But now, Western artillery shells are reaching
Ukraine’s frontlines in increasing
volumes.

We need a reality check on the whole U.S.-Saudi-Israel deal conundrum.

Motivating this initiative is China. The Biden administration wants to discourage Saudi Arabia from locking arms with Beijing & thinks the best way to do it is through incentives and security guarantees. 🧵