The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer

  By James M. Dorsey The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking on the subscription button at http://www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of the subscription options. Thank you. To watch a video version of this story or listen to a n audio podcast click here . Gaza’s population of 2.3 million are pawns in a cynical battle for control of post-war Gaza. Israel’s refusal to lift restrictions on the unfettered entry into Gaza of food, medical supplies, and other desperately needed humanitarian goods, has less to do with a stand-alone starvation policy and more with who controls distribution in the Strip. Both Israel and Hamas see control of aid distribution as a building block of who comes out on top once the guns fall silent. The struggle for control explains...

  By James M. Dorsey The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking on the subscription button at http://www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of the subscription options. Thank you. To watch a video version of this story or listen to a n audio podcast click here . Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s walls are caving in. Mr. Netanyahu’s multiple battles fall into two categories: keeping his increasingly fragile government in place and fighting a war he has already lost in the court of public opinion and possibly on the ground in Gaza if measured by the prime minister’s war goals. On Monday, Israel suffered its most significant international setback since 2016 with the US allowing the United Nations Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire in G...

  By James M. Dorsey The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking on the subscription button at http://www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of the subscription options. Thank you. To watch a video version of this story or listen to a n audio podcast click here . The besieged Gazan city of Rafah is Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s yo-yo. A brilliant but ruthless politician, Mr. Netanyahu is in campaign mode. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters,FILE “The man is in the midst of an election campaign, Rafah is a marketing tool and (the Americans) are the whipping boy,” said Israeli columnist Yossi Verter. Mr. Netanyahu made that clear when he insisted after talks on Friday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that I...