Attention to the Unseen

Politico reports: Democratic lawmakers are furious with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for rejecting the idea of creating an independent Palestinian nation after fighting in the Gaza Strip ends. Netanyahu was blunt about his intentions during a news conference on Thursday, saying that Israel “needs security control over all territory” west of Jordan after the war, he said. “This collides with the idea of sovereignty.” A two-state solution has been a key goal of the Biden administration as it plans…

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Politico reports: A group of European parliamentarians who are in Washington to drum up more support for Ukraine have a message for lawmakers and the White House: Get your act together. The group is wrapping up a frustrating week spent meeting with policymakers and lawmakers, and is ready to leave town unsure of America’s place in European security after finding their U.S. counterparts unable, or unwilling, to act on important issues. The parliamentarians spent the week “pleading with Americans to…

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The Intercept reports: Bucking pro-Israel lobby groups, the top three members of House Democratic leadership endorsed Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., on Wednesday. Like other progressive members of the Squad, pro-Israel groups are seeking to oust Lee in 2024. Members of the House Democratic leadership have mostly remained close to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee even as it sought to unseat Democratic incumbents. On Wednesday, though, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., bucked AIPAC, a major donor, and endorsed Lee….

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BREAKING: Netanyahu just declared “Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea.” Ruling Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza forever, until they’re killed or driven out. Endless occupation, apartheid, and genocide. Will this be your legacy @JoeBiden? pic.twitter.com/e2DcSaIhTK — IfNotNow🔥✡️ (@IfNotNowOrg) January 18, 2024 The New Republic reports: Invoking a phrase that has recently touched off moral panics whenever it’s been uttered by a college sophomore, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday promised…

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HuffPost reports: Democrats in the House of Representatives are discussing asking President Joe Biden for the resignation of Brett McGurk, his deeply controversial Middle East adviser, according to a Democratic lawmaker and a senior congressional aide. Led by progressives who see McGurk as driving a counterproductive Middle East policy with an unacceptable human rights toll, the effort would take the form of a letter to Biden from a group of House Democrats, they said. A draft has already been written…

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  As the U.S. launches a fifth round of missile strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, Walter Isaacson digs into the roots of this crisis with Elisabeth Kendall, a Middle East specialist and author who also is Mistress of Cambridge University’s Girton College.

RFE/RL reports: Iran has condemned what it called a “disproportionate and unacceptable” attack by Pakistan on its territory, which came in response to an Iranian strike, raising fears of escalating military exchanges between the two neighbors. While criticizing Islamabad for the scale of the attack, Iran’s Foreign Ministry also appeared to try and allay concerns of rising tensions, striking a conciliatory tone in its statement on January 18 by referring to Pakistan as a “friend and brother.” Pakistani warplanes launched…

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