Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu conferred with Russian dictator Putin and came away feeling he would get support from Russia for Israel in the Gaza conflict. But then Russian foreign minister Lavrov made a statement condemning Israel for “collective punishment” of Palestinians. One cannot help but wonder what he thinks his own country’s behavior toward Ukrainian civilians is.
Iran has been calling for the destruction of Israel ever since the Ayatollahs came to power. It is also trying to build a nuclear weapon. The Iranian government has been bending over backwards to avoid any direct involvement in the Gaza War. They provide aid and direction from a position of plausible denial, but it seems clear to most of the western world that Iran is actually deeply involved. Iranian directions are behind the attacks on Israel from Lebanon by Hizbullah, and from Yemen by the Houthis. Houthi attacks aimed directly at Israel have been unsuccessful. But their attacks on merchant shipping at the southern end of the Red Sea have resulted in damage to ships that they justify by claiming the vessels are connected to Israel in some way. One ship was actually seized by them. That is pure piracy in my book. It occurs only a few months after an international force to protect shipping (primarily against Somali pirates) was disestablished after succeeding in its’ mission. Missiles and drones launched by the Houthis have been intercepted and destroyed by U S Navy ships more than once. Yesterday a new player joined in the game. A French frigate shot down two Houthi drones.
A lot of ships have been diverted to other routes because of the Houthi threat. A very large percentage of world commerce goes through the Suez Canal. When they take alternate routes delivery takes longer (often as much as a month) costs rise, and there are some additional side effects. Suez Canal revenues go down. That hurts the struggling Egyptian economy. And the extended shipping times and costs hurt the biggest user of the route, China. The Chinese also get a big part of their own oil imports from Iran, so any Chinese complaints may not be made publicly.
The US appears to still be aiming at preventing the war from spreading, and has limited the American reaction so far to adding sanctions and diplomatic efforts (that do include public condemnation and defining the actions as piracy).
Wetherhorn 