Mike Johnson's Excellent Adventure

MIDDLE EAST BRIEFING FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS: House Speaker supports West Bank settlements; Israel threatens total war in Gaza; and a debate on the merits or demerits of Western recognition of Palestine.

Much happening in the Middle East this week, meriting a special briefing for Paid Subscribers, who are, of course, among our favorite people in the world.

In the short term, there is potential for a major escalation in Gaza as Israel threatens to occupy all of it — which, though this may surprise some readers, it has refrained from doing. This would mean direct Israeli control over 2 million people, many of whom are hopeless, a probably long-term insurgency, and the possible sacrificing of Israel’s remaining hostages.

Meanwhile, Europeans (plus Canada) are considering recognizing Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly next month, in a complex move that we have argued against (because it would be credited by Palestinians to Hamas — which must in fact be removed from the landscape for any progress to be possible. I debate it with Dan DePetris, a skeptic of the two-state solution.

And in a move with longer-term implications, US House Speaker Mike Johnson visited a major West Bank settlement and signaled the US administration’s support for Israel’s permanent control of the territory. That’s a departure from US policy, puts the Americans at odds with the other “recognizers,” and could badly undermine Israel, which needs to actually unload the West Bank to survive.

Complicated, you say? We pull it all together below the paywall.

Here, then, is the full briefing: