Gaza

 I don't think Gaza led to Harris' defeat, but there will be those who feel that way.

However, news from Israel that Netanyahu has fired Yoav Gallant, his Defense Minister, suggests that Netanyahu might be ready to embrace an extreme response now that his ally, Trump, will be in the White House. Biden has been working to both support Israel and restrain Netanyahu, and I would wager that Netanyahu is feeling unconstrained at the moment.

As the piece notes, there are a number of reasons why Gallant was fired. Some of them are unique to internal Israeli politics, like exempting the Ultra Orthodox from the draft. Gallant, though, was an advocate for empowering the Palestinian Authority in Gaza. That's another red line for Netanyahu, whose primary goal is preventing the emergence of a Palestinian state.

It will be interesting to see if Netanyahu takes the leash off before or after Trump's inauguration, but it is coming. It will be tragic. It will be a dark foreshadowing of Trump's foreign policy that will countenance any oceans of blood, as long as it benefits him.