Month: June 2024

Background Briefing: June 17, 2024

Netanyahu Dissolves the War Cabinet as Tensions on Israel’s Border With Lebanon Intensify

We begin with PM Netanyahu dissolving Israel’s war cabinet as the danger of a war breaking out on the border between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies. Joining us from Israel is Asher Kaufman, Director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and a professor of History and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Prior to that, he taught at Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He was a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, and headed its Middle East Unit and his latest book is Contested Frontiers: Cartography, Sovereignty, and Conflict at the Syria, Lebanon, Israel Tri-Border Region.

 

Trump’s Gaza Policy Would Be So Much Worse Given Who He Put in Charge of Israeli/Palestinian Issues During His Presidency 

Then we speak with Bob Dreyfuss, an independent investigative journalist who specializes in politics and national security and a contributing writer to The Nation. We discuss his article at TomDispatch “Biden’s Middle East Policy is Horrific. Trump’s Would Be Even Worse” and investigate Trump’s record on Israeli/Palestinian issues and the kind of people who advised him during his presidency including Jason Greenblatt, a real-estate lawyer who he appointed as a senior White House official who used to do guard duty at an illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank armed with an M-16 assault weapon.

 

The U.S., the U.K. and Canada Warn Putin is Actively Sabotaging Upcoming Elections in Moldova

Then finally, with the U.S., the UK and Canada warning that Putin is actively trying to sabotage the upcoming elections in Moldova to oust the pro-Western president and prevent a majority vote on a referendum to join the E.U., we speak with Rachel Schmalz, who was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in Moldova in 2021 and 2022. She recently received a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship to study Russian language and the changing political landscape of Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union and is currently studying for her master’s degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.