Israel’s crisis is Biden’s problem to solve

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a bucket brigade of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Biden [must intervene in Israel](. - [Don’t pay cyber-ransoms](. - Some of us are [thinking about inflation wrong](. - Some of us are [investing for inflation wrong](. Israel’s House Is Burning Israelis have been living in something like a slow gas leak for a while now, feeling cozy even as the risks of a deadly conflagration grew. All it took was a spark. There’s the increasingly [deadly]( [fighting]( with Hamas, which has killed 120 Palestinians and nine Israelis at last count. And then there’s the fighting of neighbor against neighbor in Israel’s streets, spurred by Arab and Jewish extremists. This is [more alarming to the average Israeli than yet another skirmish with Hamas](, writes Daniel Gordis. Until just days ago, Israeli Arabs were set to help pick a new government, and Israel had made peace with some key Arab states. It seemed to be the dawn of a new era. So much for that. Israel’s leadership, long preoccupied by Benjamin Netanyahu’s relentless clinging to power, let the dangers accumulate. Now civil war is a possibility. Israeli and Palestinian leadership don’t bear all the blame. The Trump administration and Arab allies basically abandoned the Palestinians, giving Iran an opening it’s now trying to exploit. The [Biden administration has been no better in its neglect](, writes Bloomberg’s editorial board. It has the power to convince Israel and Hamas, through Egypt and Qatar, to stand down. And once the immediate threat of violence has passed, President Joe Biden must rededicate the U.S. to finding lasting peace before we’re all consumed in the flames. Bonus Editorial: Colombian unrest is a reminder [the U.S. must help Latin America]( or find more Venezuelas on its doorstep. Paid Post The power of PayPal online, now in person. Give your small business an easy way to accept touch-free, in-person payments. Create a unique QR code with the PayPal app and display it on your device or as a printout in store. [Download the app.]( Customer must have PayPal account and app to pay. PayPal Don’t Be Like Colonial Pipeline Us geniuses who know math real good understand that $5 million will always be less money than, say, $10 million. And $76,000 is way, way less money than $18 million. You can look it up. But at the same time, Tim O’Brien reminds us it’s likely [cheaper in the long run to spend $10 million to upgrade your cybersecurity]( systems than to pay $5 million in ransom to a [cyber-pirate](, as Colonial Pipeline just foolishly did. The [Gallant]( to Colonial’s Goofus is the city of Baltimore. When faced with a $76,000 ransom, Baltimore gave the hackers only an invitation to perform an obscene act on themselves and then spent $18 million cleaning up the mess and preventing future attacks. That took [Omar Little]( levels of guts, but it was the right move. Paying ransoms only encourages more ransomware and more pirates. Further Cyberpiracy Reading: - [Russia gives safe harbor to cyber-pirates](, and the U.S. needs an aggressive international response. — James Stavridis  - America’s manufacturers [don’t pay enough attention to cybersecurity](. — Brooke Sutherland Open Your Mind: Inflation Edition Hey, have you heard inflation might be a problem? Ha ha, just kidding. [Everybody]( is [panicking]( about inflation, of course. As we’ve [written](, 2020’s demand shortage has become 2021’s supply shortage. Those of us geniuses who know economics real good know what that means. Prices rise, of course, but also everybody clings to their prior convictions. It’s transitory, insists the Fed, which keeps the stimulus pumping. It’s government spending’s fault, insist conservatives, who call for less of that. Mohamed El-Erian suggests [everybody needs to be more humble and flexible, starting with the Fed](, which at some point must recalibrate policy to account for a supply shock. As for government spending, Biden’s infrastructure plan will actually address our supply shortages, Mohamed notes, from clogged rivers and pipelines to a lack of qualified workers. Further Inflation Reading: - [Soaring food costs are an economic and political nightmare]( for the developing world. — John Authers - The [only reason Treasury yields aren’t rising]( is because short-term borrowing costs are zeroed and Treasuries yield much more than alternatives. — Richard Cookson Telltale Charts When inflation is high, [it helps to invest like the late David Swensen](, writes Shuli Ren, ditching the old 60/40 model and going for equity-like investments. Reopening [helps Disney by getting people into theme parks](, but hurts it by pulling them away from Disney+, writes Tara Lachapelle. Further Reading The [CDC’s new mask rules leave kids out](. — Faye Flam Elon Musk’s Bitcoin shenanigans are [just a chapter in a far more serious governance drama](. — Liam Denning [Private equity keeps copying Warren Buffett](, putting more money into buy-and-hold-forever investments. — Anjani Trivedi The [India variant is now loose in the U.K.](, but there’s reason to hope it won’t cause another runaway wave. — Therese Raphael The [Bangladesh garment industry is heading for another disaster]( if brands don’t help improve safety conditions. — Adam Minter What could [Republican governors be thinking by cutting off unemployment]( benefits? — Jonathan Bernstein Thinking of retiring early? Be warned [you may have less income than you expect](. — Allison Schrager ICYMI The [CDC based its new mask guidance]( on real-world vaccine trial data. Maintaining “[Covid zero” turns out to be costly](. New York [may not be dead forever](, it turns out. Kickers How a [milkshake vending machine]( saved a Welsh dairy. (h/t Scott Kominers) Wild boars corner woman, [take her groceries](. Why we [speak differently at home]( than at work. Most men [think they can beat a goose]( in a fight. Notes: Please send milkshakes and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](.  Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](.  You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. 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