Netanyahu’s misjudgment

Time is running out for Israel’s great survivor [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Benjamin Netanyahu, long known as the great survivor of Israeli politics, [may be finally losing]( his grip. The 74-year-old’s failure to prevent the savage Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed 1,400 Israelis and led to the kidnapping of 240 others is putting the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history under rising pressure to quit. Critics accuse Netanyahu and the security establishment of ignoring the Palestinian militant group’s ambitions after it became clear that preparations for the cross-border assault took place over a period of years. He effectively undermined the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank in a divide-and-conquer approach, they say. And he allowed the arrival of hundreds of millions of dollars in Qatari aid for Gaza, which may have permitted Hamas to spend intensively on military training. Netanyahu sparked furor this week when he rejected responsibility for the massacre, laying the blame on the security services in a late night social media post that he deleted a few hours later with a rare apology. His opponents went so far as to question Netanyahu’s ability to wage the war in the Gaza Strip, which many in Israel see as an existential struggle for the country. At a press conference yesterday, the Israeli leader dismissed the calls for his resignation, vowing to fight “until the battle is won” against Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union. Still, the controversy frayed the wartime unity with opposition leader Benny Gantz, who’s joined an emergency government, swiftly demanding Netanyahu retract the criticism. While Netanyahu and his extreme right-wing government successfully faced down months of protests against efforts to weaken the judiciary, his chances of staying in power once the war with Hamas concludes look considerably diminished.— [Henry Meyer]( Anti-Netanyahu stickers on a billboard in Tel Aviv on Oct. 27. Photographer: Yahel Gazit/AFP/Getty Images Global Must Reads Saudi Arabia’s military is on high alert after deadly clashes [with Iran-backed rebels]( in the mountainous southwestern Jazan Province on the border with Yemen, sources say. Four Saudi soldiers died in the battle last week with the Houthi fighters, the first known casualties for the country’s forces since a tentative truce was reached in April last year. WATCH: Saudi Arabia’s military is on high alert after deadly clashes with Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Sam Dagher reports. Source: Bloomberg President Emmanuel Macron will travel to energy-rich Central Asia this week as part of a drive both to [boost France’s electricity security]( and tempt the former Soviet republics to look beyond their own dependence on Russia. He’s visiting Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, two suppliers of the uranium that powers French nuclear reactors. China’s leading Communist Party mouthpiece called for improving ties with the US, the latest sign the relationship between the world’s largest economies is steadying ahead of a possible meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden. The People’s Daily newspaper said in a commentary today Beijing hopes relations with Washington will “[stabilize and improve](” rather than slide into “conflict and confrontation.” Biden will host almost a dozen leaders from the Americas as his administration sets up a new forum to bolster regional competitiveness, address migration and its causes, and offer the US as a geostrategic alternative to China. Friday’s meeting of the [Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity]( will focus on deepening trade and financial relationships. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is planning to hold a [live-streamed conversation]( with billionaire Elon Musk after his artificial intelligence summit wraps up Thursday. He’s hoping to use the meeting to show the UK is still a global player after leaving the EU. But with Italian premier Giorgia Meloni the only other Group of Seven leader due to attend the gathering of about 100 officials and executives this week, it’s proving difficult. Labour leader Keir Starmer will seek to [clarify his position]( on the Israel-Hamas conflict in a speech today as the UK’s main opposition party continues to face internal splits over its response. Venezuela’s electoral court said it’s suspending “all effects” of the opposition primaries days after President Nicolás Maduro [called the vote a fraud](, potentially souring a US-brokered deal. Washington Dispatch Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee today as part of the Biden administration’s campaign for approval of a $106 billion measure that includes emergency [assistance for Israel](, Ukraine and Taiwan as well as funds to reinforce the southern US border. The legislation, which has become ensnared in American partisan politics, collided yesterday with other Washington disputes — over the Internal Revenue Service and spending. House Republicans, led by new Speaker Mike Johnson, put forth a separate $14.3 billion aid measure for Israel. Their proposal would be paid for by taking the money from the part of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that provided additional funding for the IRS. Congress typically doesn’t cut other programs to pay for emergency spending, and Democrats condemned the Republican approach. At the same time, the Senate has been proceeding with Biden’s request, and the calendar is forcing both chambers to focus on Nov. 17, when the US faces another government shutdown deadline. One thing to watch today: The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee convenes for a two-day meeting to decide on interest rates. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day The commitment to eventually switch to the euro was a key condition of the Czech Republic joining the EU. But after almost two decades — like all the largest post-communist members — it isn’t anywhere close. Instead, executives are [increasingly taking the matter into their own hands](, gradually nudging the economy to a place where politicians and monetary policymakers seemingly don’t want to go. And Finally Conservatives in a number of US states are [overhauling school courses and rules]( to fit their right-wing agenda — such as teachers being discouraged from using the word slavery in history class. As Charley Locke writes, the educational culture war is prompting an increasing number of liberal families to remove their children and instead school them at home. A home-schooling mom and her child work through their curriculum. 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