London, February 09, 2024 Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) has today downgraded Government of Israel's foreign-currency and local-currency issuer ratings to A2 from A1. … The outlook is negative. … The main driver for the downgrade of Israel's rating to A2 is Moody's assessment that the ongoing military conflict with Hamas, its aftermath and wider consequences materially raise political risk for Israel as well as weaken its executive and legislative institutions and its fiscal strength, for the foreseeable future. While fighting in Gaza may diminish in intensity or pause, there is currently no agreement to end the hostilities durably and no agreement on a longer-term plan that would fully restore and eventually strengthen security for Israel. The weakened security environment implies higher social risk and indicates weaker executive and legislative institutions than Moody's previously assessed. At the same time, Israel's public finances are deteriorating and the previously projected downward trend in the public debt ratio has now reversed.
Good to know Israel is doing so well financially, and that they have a debt-to-GDP ratio that many nations would envy. Something to think about when this nation, with it's less enviable debt-to-GDP ratio, gets asked for billions more to finance Israel's war.
"Israel’s effort to erase the Palestinian question by brute force" ? Israel's stated effort is to erase Hamas, not the Palestinian "question" (whatever that is) or people. Rather it is Hamas that calls for the genocide of Israeli Jews. Article 11 of Hamas' doctrine states: "The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [endowment] consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day." Article 15 says: "In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised." You are sadly misinformed.
Israel would not be engaged in a "violent and costly" campaign had Hamas not engaged in a genocidal rampage on October 7th, cheered on apparently by a majority of Palestinians.
I would have liked to also see some preliminary comments to the "what if" (albeit it looks more like "when") Israel will be found guilty of Genocide by ICJ. WHat will be the impact the subsequent lawfare that will be going on against Israel and all governments supporting Israel on economy and finaces??
I literally cannot find what that $14.5 billion is supposed to go for other than making the US feel good that Israel needs certain advanced military technology. Also it is meant to make the Republicans feel good about supporting Ukraine aid so a) NOTHING may pass and b) depending on what happens in Ukraine and the 2024 election it cannot be counted on forever.
Provide a reason for your claim and maybe I’ll agree with it. But as you’ve done nothing of the kind in any of your responses, it makes any discussion difficult.
Prof. Tooze has in his various public statements and writings displayed a peculiar blind spot, arising out of a strange almost willed historical illiteracy, about Israel. Even when Hamas, whose raison d’être is spelled out for all to see in its Charter, is the aggressor, the focus is on Israel.
Most recently, and relevant to his non-economic asides here, he attached his name to a petition at Columbia that was viewed as supporting the Hamas terror group in the immediate aftermath of the October 7th massacre and before Israel began its response. To the general faculty’s credit, that petition was overwhelmingly rejected by a counter-petition that garnered over four times as many signatories.
But even here, what to make of his characterizations of Israel’s “relentless onslaught”, as if the IDF were acting in response to nothing in particular. A simple question is whether he believes that Hamas should remain an actor in Gaza after its barbarity of October 7, one which it has publicly announced it will repeat as often as necessary until Israel is destroyed. And if so, how does he imagine this end will be brought about?
War is an ugly business, always. The extent of the damage we’ve seen in the news is more of a testament to the extent Hamas turned Gaza, both above and underground, into a terror fortress. Nevertheless, while Hamas claims some 28,000 dead, this includes its and PIJ members (Israel estimates at around 12,000), civilians killed from the 15-20% of misfired Palestinian rockets and those killed by boot traps and IEDs meant for the IDF. Once those numbers are taken into account, the civilian to combatant ratio is far better than any achieved by any Western army in far less complicated battlefields.
The quickest way to end the most recent war Hamas started is for Hamas to surrender and release the remaining hostages (the taking of whom is a war crime per se). But, for people like Prof. Tooze and some of the commenters, the Palestinians are to be infantilized and deprived of their agency, because whatever the facts, it’s somehow always Israel’s fault.
Prof. Tooze’s views on economics, art and literature are always incisive and thoughtful. So too are his historical analyses - with this one glaring exception. Then again, if you rely on sources such as Haaretz, a now post-Zionist paper with a minuscule circulation and little to no influence in the public discourse, one is bound to misunderstand what is happening in Israel.
Good to know Israel is doing so well financially, and that they have a debt-to-GDP ratio that many nations would envy. Something to think about when this nation, with it's less enviable debt-to-GDP ratio, gets asked for billions more to finance Israel's war.
"Israel’s effort to erase the Palestinian question by brute force" ? Israel's stated effort is to erase Hamas, not the Palestinian "question" (whatever that is) or people. Rather it is Hamas that calls for the genocide of Israeli Jews. Article 11 of Hamas' doctrine states: "The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [endowment] consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day." Article 15 says: "In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised." You are sadly misinformed.
Israel would not be engaged in a "violent and costly" campaign had Hamas not engaged in a genocidal rampage on October 7th, cheered on apparently by a majority of Palestinians.
I would have liked to also see some preliminary comments to the "what if" (albeit it looks more like "when") Israel will be found guilty of Genocide by ICJ. WHat will be the impact the subsequent lawfare that will be going on against Israel and all governments supporting Israel on economy and finaces??
I literally cannot find what that $14.5 billion is supposed to go for other than making the US feel good that Israel needs certain advanced military technology. Also it is meant to make the Republicans feel good about supporting Ukraine aid so a) NOTHING may pass and b) depending on what happens in Ukraine and the 2024 election it cannot be counted on forever.
Provide a reason for your claim and maybe I’ll agree with it. But as you’ve done nothing of the kind in any of your responses, it makes any discussion difficult.
Prof. Tooze has in his various public statements and writings displayed a peculiar blind spot, arising out of a strange almost willed historical illiteracy, about Israel. Even when Hamas, whose raison d’être is spelled out for all to see in its Charter, is the aggressor, the focus is on Israel.
Most recently, and relevant to his non-economic asides here, he attached his name to a petition at Columbia that was viewed as supporting the Hamas terror group in the immediate aftermath of the October 7th massacre and before Israel began its response. To the general faculty’s credit, that petition was overwhelmingly rejected by a counter-petition that garnered over four times as many signatories.
But even here, what to make of his characterizations of Israel’s “relentless onslaught”, as if the IDF were acting in response to nothing in particular. A simple question is whether he believes that Hamas should remain an actor in Gaza after its barbarity of October 7, one which it has publicly announced it will repeat as often as necessary until Israel is destroyed. And if so, how does he imagine this end will be brought about?
War is an ugly business, always. The extent of the damage we’ve seen in the news is more of a testament to the extent Hamas turned Gaza, both above and underground, into a terror fortress. Nevertheless, while Hamas claims some 28,000 dead, this includes its and PIJ members (Israel estimates at around 12,000), civilians killed from the 15-20% of misfired Palestinian rockets and those killed by boot traps and IEDs meant for the IDF. Once those numbers are taken into account, the civilian to combatant ratio is far better than any achieved by any Western army in far less complicated battlefields.
The quickest way to end the most recent war Hamas started is for Hamas to surrender and release the remaining hostages (the taking of whom is a war crime per se). But, for people like Prof. Tooze and some of the commenters, the Palestinians are to be infantilized and deprived of their agency, because whatever the facts, it’s somehow always Israel’s fault.
Prof. Tooze’s views on economics, art and literature are always incisive and thoughtful. So too are his historical analyses - with this one glaring exception. Then again, if you rely on sources such as Haaretz, a now post-Zionist paper with a minuscule circulation and little to no influence in the public discourse, one is bound to misunderstand what is happening in Israel.