Netanyahu’s Spartan Legacy

Hello, everyone. Today at WPR, we’re covering the case for strategic ambiguity over Taiwan and the challenges facing Guyana following President Irfaan Ali’s landslide reelection.

But first, here’s our take on today’s top story:

Israeli forces started pushing into Gaza City on Tuesday as part of a renewed military offensive into an area where famine was declared last month. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shrugged off a rising chorus of domestic and international condemnation, arguing that it is necessary to retake the city to prevent Hamas from reconstituting its forces.

The operation was preceded by days of devastating airstrikes in Gaza City that leveled whole apartment blocks. While Israeli forces have ordered everyone in the city to evacuate, residents and aid groups say there is nowhere safe to go.

“There is not a single day without bombings and deaths in the south, even in the so-called humanitarian zones,” Fatima al-Zahra Sahweil, a media researcher based in Gaza City, told the Guardian. “So, would I just be running from death to death?”

Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, which started in response to the brutal Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, is approaching the two-year mark with prospects for a ceasefire dim as ever. The humanitarian disaster in the enclave has resulted in findings of genocide—most recently this week by a U.N. commission of inquiry—and Netanyahu’s government continues to annex large parcels of land in the occupied West Bank. All this has taken a steep toll on Israel’s international standing, even in Western countries that historically lent their unconditional support.

The most recent sign came from the European Union, Israel’s biggest trading partner. The bloc’s executive branch, the European Commission, confirmed this week that it will propose suspending free trade provisions with Israel in response to the ongoing war in Gaza and human rights violations in the West Bank.

The measure still requires approval by a “qualified majority” of the EU, including member states representing at least 65 percent of the population. That is currently a long shot, as Germany and Italy—which together account for almost one-third of the population—are widely seen as opposing it.

Still, the fact that this is even being discussed is a flashing red warning for Israel, given 29 percent of its exports go to the EU. And the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, hinted on Tuesday that even if Brussels stops short of a full reimposition of duties, it could still impose alternative measures. Major European countries—including Italy and Germany—have already imposed full or partial arms embargoes on Israel.

Netanyahu acknowledges Israel’s deepening isolation, even if he remains defiant about it. Speaking at a conference Monday, he warned that Israel’s economy would need to become more self-sufficient, akin to “super Sparta”—essentially a high-tech version of the ancient Greek city state known for its militaristic culture.

Those remarks triggered a stock market sell-off in Tel Aviv and drew widespread condemnation from the country’s private sector. “Israel isn’t Sparta, such vision will make it difficult for us to survive in an evolving global world,” said the Israeli Business Forum, a coalition of the country’s 200 largest companies, in a statement. “The government must urgently promote ending the longest war in Israel’s history, the release of all hostages, and a date for elections.”

Business leaders are not the only ones demanding a ceasefire. Mass protests have intensified in Israel in recent weeks amid fears that the renewed military operations in northern Gaza will doom any remaining hopes of recovering the Israeli hostages believed to be still held there. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out on a single day last month—one of the largest demonstrations since the war began.

Netanyahu clearly appears willing to tolerate indefinite hostilities and economic isolation. The question is whether Israelis are willing to bear the associated costs—and for how long.

Under former President Joe Biden, the U.S. crept close to forsaking its longstanding policy of strategic ambiguity in Taiwan, by which it has committed itself to supporting the island's defense without explicitly guaranteeing it will intervene directly should a conflict erupt between Taiwan and China. While in office, Biden himself stated on multiple occasions that the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese invasion. Under Trump, the U.S. now appears to be moving in the opposite direction. WPR columnist Mary Gallagher argues that both of these approaches are flawed.

Guyana's incumbent president, Irfaan Ali, cruised to reelection earlier this month and was sworn in for a second five-year term. The election was largely peaceful, as voters approved of Ali's leadership amid an economic boom prompted by the country's status as the world's newest petrostate. On the surface, everything is coming up roses for Guyana. But it still faces several deep challenges that could threaten its stability in the future, Benjamin Gedan and Jana Nelson write.

The United Kingdom has proposed a Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines that would allow closer cooperation between the two countries’ militaries. The deal would resemble arrangements the Philippines already has in place with the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan,.

In response to China’s increasing aggression in the South China Sea and its refusal to offer any concessions to the Philippines on territorial disputes there, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government has recalibrated its foreign policy away from Beijing and toward the West and Japan. However, it is also hedging against the risk of abandonment by the U.S. by expanding its security partnerships, avoiding “overdependence on Washington in order to preserve the Philippines’ strategic autonomy as well as to dispel accusations of acting as a U.S. puppet,” Richard Javad Heydarian wrote in WPR in August 2024.

Thirteen people have been indicted in Serbia for their alleged roles in the reconstruction of a railway station whose roof collapsed last year, killing 16 people. The incident triggered nationwide student-led protests against government corruption, which was widely blamed for the collapse, putting President Aleksandar Vucic under immense political pressure.

Vucic’s government initially took credit for the reconstruction of the station, but attempted to wash its hands of responsibility after the collapse. It was only the latest in a series of fatal incidents that have fed public outrage over corruption and negligence in Vucic’s government, Stefan Antic wrote in WPR in May.

China on Tuesday announced a number of measures to stimulate its economy, including policies to expand tourism and increase consumer spending. The measures are part of President Xi Jinping’s larger effort to boost domestic consumption and move away from export-oriented manufacturing. However, as Mary Gallagher wrote in March, the new efforts won’t lead to greater consumption unless the central government opens its wallet and takes on more responsibility for directly creating demand in the economy.

Japan’s agriculture minister and its chief government spokesman announced their candidacies to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the wake of Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru’s announced resignation earlier this month.  WPR Editor-in-Chief Elliot Waldman looked at the factors that led to Ishiba’s downfall in the Sept. 8 Daily Review.

More from WPR

• Josh Kurlantzick and Annabel Richter on China’s rising arms exports.

• James Bosworth on why Argentina’s voters are running out of patience with Milei.

• Paul Poast on Xi’s aspirations for China in the global order.

• Shemuel London on the Caribbean’s balancing act between fossil fuels and climate change.

Read all of our latest coverage here.