A girl stands in front of destruction in Gaza from Israeli aerial attacks (AFP/Getty)

EA on Monocle Radio: Amid Gaza and Ukraine, US Reaffirms Commitments in Asia

I joined Poland’s TVP World on Monday for a 15-minute discussion of the G7 Summit in Japan as Israel’s mass killings continue in Gaza, and of the suspension of Ukraine’s 2024 Presidential election amid Russia’s 20 1/2-month invasion.

The other guest is Sergej Sumlenny of the European Resilience Initiative Center in Berlin.

Watch from 14:46:

The Israeli leadership made their decision a week and a half ago. They’re going all in, and civilians and hostages are expendable.

The question is whether Israel’s international ties are expendable. Even if the G7 issued a strong statement calling for Israel to halt or limit military operations, Benjamin Netanyahu is too invested in this to listen to anyone except maybe his War Cabinet.

And on Ukraine:

The Zelenskiy Government needs to show that it can continue to conduct military, economic, and political affairs with the priority of liberating territory from the Russians. And the G7 will offer political support for that, asking the Ukrainians to fulfil the conditions for a strategic framework.

If the G7 and European Union can encourage Ukraine to make these reforms, then we are looking at a future with Ukraine inside the EU rather than outside it.