Israel’s other war

The conflict has united divided Israelis and delayed international efforts to end Gaza's humanitarian crisis. View in browser Donald Macintyre and Xavier Greenwood • 19 June 2025 Dear friend, Welcome to today's Sensemaker. Long stories short Donald Trump said he "may" or "may not" bomb Iran. Scientists warned the Earth could breach the 1.5C warming limit in three years. 61 per cent of UK universities dropped down the world rankings. Israel's other war France and Saudi Arabia were due to convene a UN conference on a two-state solution this week. One of the goals was to increase the number of countries recognising a Palestinian state, a notion that Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently rejected. So what? The meeting was cancelled. The Iran-Israel conflict is not just taking lives and raising fears of a wider war. It has sucked attention away from the other conflict in the region. Divisions over Gaza have turned to broad unity over Iran, which has not only deferred a conference but given Netanyahu domestic breathing room just as his position looked vulnerable; sidelined a proposal to review political and economic ties between the EU and Israel; and left ongoing a nearly two-year war in which more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, 53 Israelis are still in captivity, and every day brings news of more deaths. Inside Israel. A week ago Netanyahu narrowly survived a no-confidence vote that would have triggered new elections. On Monday a second vote submitted by the United Arab List, made up of Palestinian citizens of Israel, got nowhere. What changed. In between Netanyahu attacked Iran, a decision widely supported by Israelis, his allies and many of his opponents too, including Yair Lapid, the opposition leader, who has repeatedly called for Netanyahu to resign but said on Monday that "it's not the right moment to do politics"; and Benny Gantz, who resigned from Netanyahu's war cabinet last year but said that on Iran there was "no right or left" but only "right or wrong". The other war. More than 400 Palestinians have reportedly been killed at food distribution points in recent weeks while trying to access aid. Most deaths have occurred near sites administered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, run by US contractors, backed by Israel and led by an evangelical Christian and former Trump adviser. Fear factor. The deadliest such incident since March was on Tuesday, while the world focused on escalating strikes between Iran and Israel. According to local medics, Israeli tanks killed at least 59 Palestinians in Khan Younis as a crowd waited for food rations from a UN convoy. View from the ground. Ashraf Al Masri, a former taxi driver crammed into a tent with 30 family members, told The Observer that since his brother had been shot in a similar incident in Rafah this month he thought it was no longer safe to travel to hubs for food. "The world is thinking about Iran, not Gaza," Al Masri said. "But we need a ceasefire now – not tomorrow." Still waiting. This view is shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of Israeli hostages and this week claimed that efforts to reach a deal on their return had "disappeared" from the government agenda. Put on ice. The war against Tehran is consuming bandwidth in Europe too. President Macron said last week that he was determined to reschedule the postponed UN conference as soon as possible and suggested one reason for the deferment was that it would be logistically difficult for Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Bin Salman to get to New York in the midst of Iran-Israel hostilities. Diplomatic retreat. Original plans for the summit were for several major countries, including France and the UK, to announce immediate recognition of a Palestinian state. This had already been put on hold, but a pre-summit document leaked to Haaretz suggested that the idea that "Palestinian statehood should not be a result of peace, but rather its prerequisite" would have been under discussion. This would represent a strong divergence from Netanyahu, who told Macron in April that the establishment of a state would "reward" terrorism. That debate will have to wait. So too the EU's review of its free trade agreement with Israel. The foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas told lawmakers yesterday that Israel had used "disproportionate use of force" in Gaza. It is thought the report will show Israel breaching the terms of its agreement. But sources told Euronews the EU was still unlikely to suspend the deal due to slowing momentum. What's more… That would be to do with Iran. France and the UK have both described Tehran's nuclear programme as a threat to Europe in recent days, which shouldn't preclude either country from continuing to push for a lasting peace in Gaza. But Netanyahu, as so often, has bought himself time. The Observer News Matrix The Nibs Capital Economy, business and finance War premium The insurance premiums for ships heading to the Persian Gulf have risen by more than 60 per cent since Israel first struck Iran. That means extra costs of $75,000 for each ship worth $100 million. For vessels visiting Israeli ports the increase has been even steeper, rising from 0.2 per cent of their value a few days ago to as much as 1 per cent yesterday. Attacks against shipping, particularly oil tankers, were a prominent feature of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. No vessels have been hit so far in the current conflict between Israel and Iran, but as they are for climate change, premiums can be a canary in the coalmine for military risks. Israel has struck Iran's energy facilities and there are fears the war could close the Strait of Hormuz, a bottleneck for oil tankers from Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Oil prices rose by 13 per cent as a result. Technology AI, science and new things Pick me ChatGPT's Sam Altman has accused Meta of trying to lure his top developers with sign-on bonuses of $100 million. If true, it would be another sign that Meta is desperately trying to close the gap between itself and competitors after its own AI model, Llama 4, was delayed due to poor test results. Last week it announced a $15 billion investment in Scale AI and hired its founder to lead a "super-intelligence" team. Meta is not the only big tech firm trying to poach staff from rivals in Silicon Valley, where a billion dollar war for AI talent is being waged. Google's DeepMind is offering $20 million compensation packages to the hottest developers, while Altman reportedly enticed one target by offering to play poker with him. He said none of his researchers have been tempted by Meta's enticements yet. The 100-year life Health, education and government World leader Australia is lifting HIV-era rules that banned sexually active gay and bisexual men, trans women and sex workers from donating blood and plasma. Other countries have previously taken similar measures, but Australia will be the first to remove all sexual activity-based restrictions on plasma donation. It's about time: plasma, which is used to manufacture immunoglobulins and medicines for treating rare diseases and immune deficiencies, can only be obtained through donations. It is in increasingly high demand, not least down under, with most countries depending on imports from the US. Australia's new rules could expand the plasma donor pool by 625,000 people. Our planet Climate and geopolitics People power A former defence lawyer who once defended El Chapo, the jailed leader of the Sinaloa cartel, has been elected as a judge in Ciudad Juárez on the US-Mexico border. Silvia Delgado was among 20 or so candidates in Mexico's judicial elections that campaigners have identified as "high risk" for their alleged links to drug lords, corruption and violence. One spent five years in a US jail for smuggling meth; another was allegedly part of a plot to kill journalists. With the vote, Mexico has become the only country in the world where citizens elect their judiciary. The government says this will improve accountability. But critics claim it politicises the justice system, making it more vulnerable to the influence of organised criminals and threatening outside investment. Turnout was 13 per cent, a record low for a Mexican federal election. Culture Society, identity and belonging Cheery news Spoiler alert: the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders have received a 400 per cent pay rise. A central point of tension in season one of the Netflix show America's Sweethearts was the disparity between the time and talent required to be an NFL performer and the paltry compensation for it. The 2024 cohort worked second jobs as florists, preschool teachers and nurses. One cheerleader told the NYT she was paid $500 for each appearance and $15 an hour outside of that – roughly the salary of a barista in Dallas. Now after years of fighting, season two ends with the reveal of a bumper raise. Efforts can't have been harmed by the show itself, which gave a platform to the cheerleaders, got millions of viewers on side and led to Cowboys exec Charlotte Jones making herself the villain of the piece. Perhaps the show will be less interesting now. Thanks for reading. Please tell your friends to sign up and tell us what you think. Donald Macintyre Xavier Greenwood xavier@tortoisemedia.com Additional reporting by Fred Harter, Serena Cesareo and Xavier Greenwood.     More from The Observer Listen The Wargame: Russia knows our weaknesses – but do you? A fictional crisis. Former decision makers. Sky News and Tortoise bring you a gripping portrayal of how the UK might respond to a Russian attack. Built on real government practice – and terrifyingly plausible. • Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Follow The Observer on social media on your preferred platform:   The Observer     The Observer Food Monthly The Observer Magazine The Observer New Review   Listen Listen for free in the Tortoise app or wherever you get your podcasts: Want to change how you receive these emails? Update email preferences Copyright © 2025 Tortoise Media. All rights reserved. Did this email get caught in your spam filter? Add editor@newsroom.tortoisemedia.com to your address book to never miss an email again. No longer want to receive this newsletter? Unsubscribe here.