| In today’s edition, Evan Osnos on Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the Presidential race and his “step to protect the system to which he has devoted his life.” But first, Dexter Filkins’s in-depth report on the escalating violence in Lebanon and Israel. Plus: • J. D. Vance’s empty economic populism
• A painter flowering in her nineties
• Memories of the 1900 Paris Olympics | | | |
| Months of fighting at the border threaten to ignite an all-out conflict that could devastate the region.  Photograph by Diego Ibarra Sánchez In remarkable reporting for this week’s issue, Dexter Filkins provides a dispatch from both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border, where escalating violence between Hezbollah and Israeli forces has led to mounting civilian casualties and mass evacuations. Filkins has reported in the region for decades, and for this story he goes to great lengths—including having clandestine meetings with Hezbollah officials and commanders—to share an insider account of a conflict that may soon spiral out of control. Here is some of what he learned. - Hezbollah—which is backed by Iran—has been in conflict with Israel since the group’s inception, in the nineteen-eighties, but in the past year the fighting has grown dangerously intense. “We do not seek to wage a new war, or expand the war,” Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general tells Filkins, “but, rather, to make the Israelis worried about continuing the war in Gaza.” Yet the ultimate decision may be out of the group’s hands. “The Iranians want us to escalate, so we are escalating,” a Hezbollah field commander says. “The Iranians control every bullet we have.”
- Political and economic destabilization in Lebanon has left the country shattered, with some citizens expressing frustration that Hezbollah might be provoking war. “I think if the Israelis attacked Hezbollah, a lot of people would cheer,” a member of Lebanon’s Christian community tells Filkins. A Lebanese columnist notes that “the social contract in Lebanon is broken—none of the communities coöperate anymore,” and adds, “If the Israelis attack, and they destroy Lebanon, I think there’s a good chance Lebanon will never come together again.”
- Although some political and military leaders in Israel have signalled wariness of an all-out conflict, others think a full-scale battle with Hezbollah is inevitable. “We will go to war with them one day—maybe a year, maybe two years,” a senior Israeli official says.
Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » | | | |
|  Source photograph by Anna Moneymaker / Getty In his speech at the Republican National Convention, the Vice-Presidential candidate J. D. Vance announced that the G.O.P. was done “catering to Wall Street,” and said, “We’ll commit to the working man.” But how does this rhetoric fit with Vance’s anti-union voting record, and with the disjointed economic ideas of his running mate, Donald Trump? Read more » John Cassidy’s column, The Financial Page, publishes every Monday. | | | |
|  Illustration by João Fazenda When the writer Michael J. Arlen’s great-grandmother came in third place in the golf competition at the 1900 Paris Olympics, her prize was a bouquet of flowers. First place, meanwhile, was given a “not ungenerous” bottle of perfume. Read more » | | | |
| P.S. Maya Rudolph has portrayed Kamala Harris as “America’s cool aunt” during past appearances on “Saturday Night Live.” It seems likely, now, that she’ll be reprising her role this fall. Rudolph recently spoke to Michael Schulman about the diva flair she brings to her impersonations. 🥥 | | | |
Today’s newsletter was written by Ian Crouch. | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment