Military strikes alone won’t stop the Houthis without direct pressure on Iran
March 20, 2025 | Oved Lobel
If the US Administration’s rhetoric is not simply bluster and does reflect the intent of the Administration to restore freedom of navigation through the Red Sea – including via direct strikes against Iranian assets, a much more devoted interdiction campaign and orchestrating a ground component – there are reasons to hope this operation in Yemen could succeed where previous ones have failed.
Peace first, then statehood
June 3, 2025 | Bren Carlill
Recognition would be a no-brainer if Palestine was a state. The 1938 Montevideo Convention provides the definition of statehood, and Palestine doesn’t meet it (and never has). Which means recognition is about messaging: a country recognises Palestine to reward it; punish Israel; and/or signal its virtue.
The hypocrisy of international outrage
May 30, 2025 | Justin Amler
A recent joint statement from the UK, France, and Canada, along with a similar one by 24 countries including Australia, criticising Israel’s military operations and humanitarian efforts, is just the latest example of manufactured indignation.
Nine reasons premature recognition would be bad for Palestine
May 28, 2025 | Bren Carlill
France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting a UN conference this month about creating a Palestinian state. Before or during the conference, France will likely recognise Palestine as a state, and is urging other countries to join it. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong keeps indicating she is considering similar recognition.
Biblio File: Israel and the pathologies of the West
May 28, 2025 | Peter Berkowitz
In On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, Douglas Murray excoriates the Western hypocrisy, mendacity and malignancy that fuel enthusiasm for Hamas’ butchery of Jewish civilians and antipathy toward Israel’s exercise of its right to self-defence.
Scribblings: Interpreting Hamas’ casualty numbers
May 28, 2025 | Tzvi Fleischer
The Hamas statistics show that combat-age men are far more likely to be killed, compared to their proportion of the population, than women, children or the elderly. Hamas data doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians, but the only sensible explanation for these numbers is that Israel is doing its best to target combatants.
