Through its intervention in Syria’s civil war, the Kremlin has acquired a significant foothold in the Middle East. Its regional adventures also include a close alliance with Iran, building a nuclear power plant in Egypt, providing support for one side in the Libyan civil war, and much else. Russell Berman suggests that Moscow may now have its sights on Lebanon, a country sinking into ever-deeper economic and political crisis:

Along the highway that leads from Beirut north to Baalbek, the ancient city of Heliopolis and the site of the spectacular ruins of the temple of Zeus, you reach a point where suddenly a series of billboards lines the road, and the familiar face of Vladimir Putin stares down at you as you drive past. It would be hard to describe his expression as friendly exactly, but the Arabic-language text on the signs conveys a warm greeting from Russia. . . . Three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia is actively trying to reacquire its former spheres of influence, returning as a major player in the Levant. This assertion of power on the part of Putin poses a direct challenge to the network of U.S. partners in the region.

Most obvious, the further collapse of Lebanon would unleash a new wave of refugees, presumably traveling into Cyprus or Greece or otherwise into Europe. . . . An influx of refugees from Lebanon will inevitably pose a threat to the political stability of America’s European allies. In order to avoid far-right electoral victories in Europe—far-right and therefore pro-Russian—the challenges in the Middle East and especially Lebanon need attention. The Biden administration’s diplomats should be worrying about this connection.

Those billboards of Putin on the road to Baalbek are clear indications of Russian ambitions and a direct challenge to American influence. Lebanon is a front in the war with Russia: at this point, Lebanon may not be an active theater like Ukraine, but it is an important piece in the puzzle of the Russian strategy to expel the U.S. from the region.

Stephen Daisley writes about the slaying of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim:

Yaron and Sarah were murdered in a climate of lies and vilification and hatred. . . . The more institutions participate in this collective madness, the more madness there will be. The more elected officials and NGOs misrepresent the predictable consequences of asymmetric warfare in densely populated territories, where much of the infrastructure of everyday life has a dual civilian/terrorist purpose, the more the citizenries of North America and Europe will come to regard Israelis and Jews as a people who lust unquenchably after blood.

The most intolerant anti-Zionism is becoming a mainstream view, indulged by liberal societies, more concerned with not conflating irrational hatred of Israel with irrational hatred of Jews—as though the distinction between the two is all that well defined anymore.

For years now, and especially after the October 7 massacre, the call has gone up from the pro-Palestinian movement to put Palestine at the heart of Western politics. To pursue the struggle against Zionism in every country, on every platform, and in every setting. To wage worldwide resistance to Israel, not only in Wadi al-Far’a but in Washington, DC. “Globalize the intifada,” they chanted. This is what it looks like.