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Changing governments and loss of the vision of the labor movement in the early decades after independence has led Israel to this impasse. Benny Gantz of the wartime Unity government calls for new elections in September as demonstrations for a new government take place in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. US president Biden tells Netanyahu on Thursday that US support hinges on treatment of civilians in Gaza. Biden says he "outraged and heart broken" at the airstrikes on aid workers vehicles in Gaza. Gantz, a former general and prime minister of Israel, said- “This agreed-upon date for elections will leave us time to continue the security effort, and it will allow Israeli citizens to know that we will soon need to renew the trust between us,” he told a news conference. “It will prevent the rupture among the people.”  One of the problems Israel faces is the political fragmentation, many parties and frequent elections leading to changes in government unlike the early decades after independence when the Labor party offered effective leadership. The social Labor and agriculture farms movement is how Israel started and prime ministers till 1980's were from this Labor and farms movement including David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir. As Israel evolved into a more technology oriented state this aspect was lost leading to a great measure of inequality, and changing governments without a clear vision for the future.   ...

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Map showing most deprived neighborhoods bordering least deprived neighborhoods in the UK in 2025.  In 2019 there were 65 such neighborhoods with posh-poor side by side, in 2025 this has jumped to 119 such neighborhoods. Shown on this map are the familiar areas around New Castle on Tyne and Leeds/ Nottingham in the North and in the Midlands. With fewer such neighborhoods in the south near London. Years of austerity policies of the Cameron/Osborne conservatives and Conservative administrations since have led to a growing divide in the UK. This is also more reason for the Labour Party to get its work together to take strong action similar to the socialist party in Denmark to cut illegal migrants, so that it can focus its efforts to deliver and build a better stronger economy for all people in Britain

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With a win in the Kingswood byelection, a Tory stronghold, Britain's Labor party is now seeing a real shift of voter sentiment for a large majority in parliament in the coming general election. Britain entered a recession in Feb 2024 and the Conservatives have no solutions for the economy after many years in power, and 4 prime ministers in a constant change of leadership. Britain also lacks the resources that make it possible to have the kind of investment and scale of investment in the US that president Biden has launched.

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This analysis in The Guardian says prime minister Sunak's strategy in Britain to water down net zero goals and gasoline car phase out deadlines is not likely to prove popular with voters. Mr. Sunak is looking for ways to revive Conservative fortunes after 13 years in power and Labor under Keir Starmer 15-20 percentage points ahead in polls for much of the year. It also comes as Liz Truss is gaining some support inside the Conservative party, leaving Conservatives divided after Boris Johnson's departure.

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Young people form different parts of UK give their views in The Guardian. Contrarian youth form 9% of the Reform UK base in recent analysis shown here. It is not the key to Reform winning as most of the voters are disillusioned with Conservatives and Labour parties, some may not vote others may split vote between many parties. 

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After the German election the next election in France in 2022 will provide new direction for Europe. As in Germany with Olaf Scolz of the Social Democrats, in France an alternative is emerging with Xavier Bertrand of the Les Republicains. Like Scholz Bertrand was Labor Minister working to tackle difficult problems of increasing employment in the French economy going back a decade. In recent elections the party French president Emmanuel Macron created as a member of Francois Hollande's government has floundered. Macron hastily put together the En Marche in Amiens on April 16, 2017, when he was minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs in the government of president Hollande. During the eight year period in which the centre right Christian Democrats CDU and center left Social Democrats SPD had ruled in a coalition government in Germany some version of centrist politics and government had also prevailed in France. After the Sarkozy years 2007-2012 under the centre right Les Republicains party  France turning to the centre left Socialists under Francois Hollande. As a young minister 39 years Macron lacked experience, and the initial enthusiasm that helped him win the 2017 presidential election is now missing. As in Germany voters are looking for change not just in slogans but in substance in a new Trans Atlantic partnership of US, Germany and France to tackle the may problems that were neglected in the last two decades of changing administrations in US and France and the Merkel administration in Germany- problems of social cohesion, of income inequality, division of country into rural and urban, eastern and western in Germany, southern and northern in the US, neglect of infrastructure, and failure to invest in the future.  France is now turning to the Les Republicains party in recent elections, and away from Le Pen's far right party and Macron's party.  Both Macron and Le Pen did very poorly in recent regional elections. This report in FR24 points out that the candidate for the Les Republicains party will be chosen at a convention, and not at a primary as happened in 2017 leading to the elimination of former Republicains president Nicholas Sarkozy. The president of the Haute France regional council Xavier Bertrand is the leading candidate from the regional election results. Bertrand was Sarkozy's minister of Labor and Solidarity from 2007 to 2009, and Minister of Labor, Employment and Health in 2009. Today Olaf Scholz, winner of the German elections in September 2021 was also Minister of Labor- in the Social Democrats/ Greens government under Gerhard Schroeder 1998 to 2005. Voters now realize that it is important to value experience, stability, combined with humility and a determination to get things done, compared to charismatic leaders with little to show in results, and tangible improvements in the quality of life, in national renewal.      ...

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Iran War and rescue of pilot of downed F15-E in mountainous terrain in southern Iran April 4 2026. CSAR or Search and Rescue Missions become a critical part of the war. The pilot was a colonel trained for the mission and spent 24 hours in mountainous terrain which was monitored by US forces, after intelligence located him in a mountain crevice. For this to be possible unlike in the Vietnam War and Korean War other nations are not involved as in the earlier Cold War.  The US under DJT as president has shifted to respecting Russia as a Northern European power that it can talk with (meetings with Putin in Alaska 2025) and China as a trade partner (planned meeting in Beijing in April 2026) that it can talk with unlike with previous administrations of Biden, Obama and Bush where China had afree hand in economic matters and global trade and Russia was shut out of the world economic system by elites who ran the government in the US at that time. Russia seeks reintegration in the world political and economic systems, and China seeks acceptance as an economic power which the US respects, both points in which the US has offered to accept. US has also repeated the line to China that it was not going to do the job of keeping Hormuz open for China and Japan to get 90% of oil imports, and in oding so risk losing its soldier's lives, while China and Japan can quietly watch doing nothing to help free navigation of international waters. Note that the narrowest strip of water of 13 miles separates Oman from Iran so that a part of these waters are on the Omani side and not on the Iranian side making free use of that Omani part under international law possible- in which sense Iranian hostile activity closing the Omani side also is a violation of free navigation. This is not pointed out by Iran or Japan or even Britain who are benefitting from US action and remaining silent or being ambivalent or accusing US of being interventionist even when everyone knows MAGA base rejected Bush in the Republican party and the elites and embraced DJT for great part because they want nothing to do with interventionist adventures in the Middle East for certain. US is getting a bum rap from European allies and from China, India, Japan and the media inside the US and in those countries as if the US seeks oil from the Middle East. It was Britain where a lot of the posturing goes on about non intervention that started this oil based intervention since 1900 in Iran itself, and in artificial states of Iraq, Syria, that it created out of the collapsed Ottoman Empire in World War 1. Sykes and Picot were the US and French diplomats who set that up. US under DJT has accomplished self sufficiency in oil and US has no need for anything from the Middle East, no desire to even get involved, and MAGA well grasps that fact and wants to keep it that way. Only nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles with long range to hit US and EU are reason for US action, which is reason enough for EU, China, Russia to set their own goals so that non proliferation in dangerous areas is prevented. So that the people of China, Russia, India, Europe and the rest of the world can enjoy the fruits of their own labors after a century of severe hardships and struggles which the American people if not their elites respect, and the fruits of peaceful cooperation which the American people extend to the World, and to China, Russia and India. ...

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Britain's parliament voted 328 to 301 to take control of the agenda on Brexit. This includes 21 rebel Conservative Party MP's including Mr. Hammond and Ken Clarke. This means parliament can now set the January 2020 new date to replace October 31, 2019, as the date for Brexit. A new general election would also be called in the event that Labour party cannot form a new unity government under Mr. Corbyn. A no confidence motion on the minority government of Mr. Johnson would be the next step after putting off Brexit to January 2020.

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Prime minister Johnson of Britain is calling for a general election on December 12. This will be debated in parliament on October 28, and is expected to be rejected a third time. Mr. Johnson faces opposition from the Labour Party which wants to delay the election till it is certain that there is no Brexit without an acceptable deal with the European Union. Mr. Johnson heads a minority government that depends on the support of the Democratic Unionist party, the DUP, of Ireland. He also dismissed 23 Conservative rebel MP's from the Conservative Party headed by Mr. Hammond, a former finance minister under Theresa May who are leery of Mr. Johnson's willingness to go with a no-deal Brexit, if parliament does not back him. This puts Mr. Johnson 45 votes short of a majority in parliament. The new deal Mr. Johnson negotiated with the EU was done with concessions on Ireland and an open border, which was rejected by the Unionist party of Ireland. This deal passed in parliament but was rejected on its short timetable of less than a week giving MP's little time to look at the details.  The Labour party is also divided on going into an election before it is ready because it is behind by 10 points in the polls.  The reason the Johnson deal was initially passed in parliament was because 18 Labour MP's decided to support it pursuing a strategy of getting it rejected by passing amendments during final passage.    ...

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Brexit Agreement between Britain and the European Union is finally reached. Labour party supports the agreement making it certain that this will win passage overwhelmingly in parliament. Boris Johnson's persistence works for Britain.

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As part of the European Union Brtiain could not shape its own trade deals since the 1970's. The current Brexit standoff leaves little option of changing this. The new Department of International Trade is unlikely to accomplish much even with 400 staffers and a new trade negotiator hired from New Zealand. Britain is likely to remain in the EU trading bloc customs area for many years under the standoff with EU. Countries will wait till Britain finalizes its trade deal with the EU under Brexit. It took Canada 7 years to achieve a trade deal with EU. 

Brexit uncertaintly, split in Conservative Party and Labour Party's agreeing to a second referendum on Brexit mean little progress on trade deals for Britain.

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The Labor Department reports that there is no U.S. productivity growth in the 4th quarter of 2014 over the prior year. U.S. productivity growth is about 1.3% for the period since 2009, showing a weak expansion. Job gains of 295,000 in February 2015 show an improving jobs picture, yet wage gains are tepid. This is partly due to slack in the labor market not reflected in the official unemployment rate of 5.5% for Feb. 2015, with a large number of part time workers who do not have full time work. The low productivity growth is another reason for low wage gains in this economic recovery. Economic growth is also weak with economists estimating GDP growth for the 1st quarter 2015 at 1.5% annualized. GDP growth is in the 2-2.5% growth range since 2009. Hourly wages are up less than 2% since 2009, with hourly wage growth in Feb. 2015 at 2% over the prior year. Weak business investment is part of the reason for the sluggish economic growth. Macroeconomic Advisors estimates the capital investment for equipment software and buildings is seeing growth of only 0.3% in the last decade, much lower than in the last forty years. With most of the gains from the internet technology advances already made there is less prospect of a sudden increase in productivity....

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The Liberal Democrats lost badly in the May 2011 local elections in Britain. Voters also overwhelmingly rejected the alternative voting system that the Liberal Democrats supported. The vote on an alternative voting system was one of the key conditions put up by the Liberals when they joined the Conservatives in a coalition government. About 69% voted to keep the current voting system supported by the Conservative party. In local races Labor and the Scottish National Party made gains at the expense of the Liberals. The Liberals lost 695 of their 1,751 seats in local councils, 12 of 17 seats in the Scottish parliament, and one of six seats in the Welsh assembly. Tory support remained steady, but voters turned away from the Liberals to show they do not support the austerity cuts of the Cameron led government. This will pose problems for Liberal leader Nick Clegg's continued participation in the coalition.

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Imagine UK general elections July 4, France now set for June 30 July 7 for National Assembly, and the US on November 5. The French election is now set after EU elections showed a now unpopular Macron party losing badly to Marine Le Pen's National Rally party in EU elections. Macron created En Marche in 2017 as his way of renergizing French parties by bringing in younger people that contested and won 2 presidential elections. On economic issues of fairness for workers and dignity France is deeply divided as working class has suffered as in the US with some of the disaffected moving to Le Pen and some to Socialist parties led by Melenchon. Melenchon supporters helped Macron win in the last presidential elections even though his policies have veered to continue policies that did not favor the working class. Macron hopes to bring the Republican right party back into French politics for the Assembly election. France has a presidential system so the July 7 assembly election would give Macron a chance to appoint a prime minister from the Republican party of Nicholas Sarkozy. A similar situation exists in the UK after Conservatives failed and a big shift to Labor is seen for July 4th. ...

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The Observer newspaper in Britain says in this editorial opinion that Keir Starmer's first speech at Labour conference gives a glimmer of hope for Labour. He put behind him antisemitism in the party from the Corbyn period, and showed that he understands the concerns of voters on issues ranging from education to crime, such as too many children growing up in areas where there is not a single good primary school, and the issue of rape victims denied justice. He also affirmed his idea of patriotism. He still faces Labour's steady decline in working class support, Labour's decline in Scotland, and the lack of a unifying vision to attract British voters.

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This piece in the Economist magazine points out why people in Portugal, Spain and Italy resent the remarks of Dutch finance minister, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, current head of the Eurogroup council of finance ministers, In an intervew with Germany daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he said he was proud of the solidarity shown by northern European countries with the southern ones, but solidarity he said means obligations- " I cannot spend all my money on schnapps and women, and then ask for your support."  It also points out that Dijsselbloem's Labor Party lost three fourths of its seats in the recent Dutch elections and so is an unrepresentative presence in the Eurogroup. By supporting austerity policies in a coalition with a centre right party the Labor Party lost most of its seats. Dijsselbloem did this in the EU with strict rules for Italy for injecting money to recapitalize its banks and increase growth that have hurt Italy, and earned the resentment of Mr. Renzi, says the Economist magazine.He may even be replaced by an official from Spain or another southern European country, says the magazine. In any case it does little for EU unity at a sensitive time, and was a serious mistake. The timing was even worse, as the EU faces a test in elections in France and Germany, after Netherlands, and needs popular perceptions to be positive about what has been achieved since the dark days of 1945. ...

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The U.S. unemployment rate drops from 5.8% in Nov. 2014 to 5.6% in Dec. 2014, according to the Labor Department. But hourly earnings failed to register growth. Average hourly earnings declined in Dec. 2014 from the prior month, and increased by only 1.7% over the prior year, just a little bit above the inflation rate of 1.3%. Overall 2.95 million jobs were created in 2014. Yet 8.7 million Americans looking for a job could not find one. The U.S. Federal Reserve officials see tepid wage growth as a sign of slack in the labor market. The Dec. 16-17 Fed meeting minutes show that "most participants saw no clear evidence of a broad based acceleration in wages." The labor force participation rate is also stuck at a low level- 62.7% in Dec. 2014. The U-unemployment rate that includes involuntary part time workers and workers marginally attached to the labor force was at 11.2% in Dec. 2014. This includes workers too discouraged to look for work and people working parttime because they could not get full time work. It is steadily dropping from 16.6% in 2010 to 14.4% by 2012, 13.1% by 2013, and now 11.2% in 2014, showing steady improvement but still high....

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Tory MP's rebels in the southern part of England are opposed to prime minister Boris Johnson's second lockdown for the whole of England. This report in The Times of London looks at how Johnson's conservative government might have to get Labor party support to pass the lockdown measures in parliament. Or Labor may decide to abstain from the vote. Mr. Gove says the NHS risks being overwhelmed if the lockdown does not take place. Responding to the statements that southern England does not have high or has falling rates of coronavirus Mr. Johnson says it has been shown that a low rate catches up in one area when it is next to a high rate area for coronavirus so that the result is the spread of the virus to the point where the NHS cannot cope.  The NHS like the French health system and other health systems in the European Union, U.S.  India, and other countries are strained to the limit. Most healt care workers in hospitals have felt severe strain on themselves and their families during the first wave. Most are exhausted and are in a situation of fatigue with the added factor of some healthcare workers on leave from the virus illness. This puts additional burdens on the system. Without the action taken the health system may be overwhelmed in many countries leading to disaster.   ...

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This Economist essay looks into the splits in the Conservative Party that leaves it much weaker under Theresa May. Differences within the Conservatives on Brexit have led to a broken party with leadership challenges further weakening the party. This leaves Britain with a fragile economy, higher uncertainty and Labour with a strong economic agenda to meet the challenge.

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Britain's Labour party will now back a motion in parliament supported by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and Tories for a general election December 9 or December 12. This is the first December election since 1923, almost one hundred years. December elections in winter could have uncertain turnout, but the high turnout in the election in 1950 with Labour's Clement Attlee shows that when major issues are involved voters do turnout.

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Though tens of thousands of workers in the French rail network are protesting in the streets about changes in the labor laws, the atmosphere in the National Assembly where president Macron has an absolute majority is different. In the National Assembly most of the legislators are young, inexperienced and there for the first time after the recent elections. Most owe allegiance to president Macron and his party En Marche. The labor code changes were passed without much discussion and on a thumbs up or down vote.  Legislators from Mr. Macron's party are seen by older surviving legislators from an earlier period in French politics as arrogant and do not consult with older legislators. The entire sociology of the National Assembly is overturned and presents a complete culture shock, says a leader of Macron's party who selected members for seats in parliament. Three fourths of members are here for the first time, 60% in Macron's party En Marche. About one third never held public office before. These members spend a whole week in parliament instead of the few days during the earlier Assembly. Yet for all the work and enthusiasm these members act as more of a rubber stamp for Macron's policies instead of offering healthy discussion so that policies can be modified where needed to better accomplish the goal of changing the French system where it can be improved. The result is a form of government that critics increasingly see as autocratic. For Macron this means the lack of a process of consultation that could improve legislation and increase consensus, creating larger support for the changes to the labor laws and the pension system. ...

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Stephen Lezak of Oxford looks at the costs of mining for lithium, cobalt and other minerals needed for EV's. There is the danger of the EV transition happening at the increbible cost to producing countries in Africa and Asia. In the Congo the problem of child labor and in Indonesia the problem of destroying huge parts of tropical forest. Can the EV transition happen on the backs of environmental destruction of forest or child labor?  Lezak suggests bringing mining for lithium, cobalt, back to the US with strict controls and for Apple, and EV makers to have a passport that shows where their EV battery materials come from, the responsible sourcing of materials and the controls in place. This is a problem that won't go away and will require serious solutions for green to mean something entirely positive.

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Some Republicans are saying that it is time to give up the conceit that increasing the incomes of the upper classes will bring benefits to all Americans, and whether making individual tax cuts the priority is a policy that no longer works and can even bring disaster as it did for British prime minister Liz Truss recently. In this camp are Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and think tank American Compass. Others including Marc Rubio no longer favor globalization and see it important for the US to bring back American manufacturing at every opportunity with incentives and government action as the Biden administration is currently doing. This is creating new faultlines in the Republican party between the people who support the party of Reagan and its priorities and others who are questioning whether Reagan is relevant anymore. The fight that delayed the election of Speaker McCarthy also brought out some of these fissures as a subsection of the party felt strongly that it was important to go after entitlement programs and other social spending by the Biden administration. This is creating a new situation in American politics and in world trade and economics as the Biden Administration is not meekly accepting the detours of so called Third Way Democratic and Labour politicians of the US and Britain such as Tony Blair, Clinton and Obama who let the traditional backing of the Democratic Party in the working class wither with ties to Big Tech and acceptance of Reagan type free trade policies for manufacturing that ignored American working class communities. Biden's recent success in fighting for railway trade unions in restoring fairness in vacation and sick leave is only one of the battles that Biden has shown he can fight for American workers. Republicans now face the prospect of appearing divided and ambiguous in their support of working class, and overdependent on cultural issues for working class support. A recent British study on Labour's prospects showed that a slight shift on cultural issues can create a strong shift and have a large impact in Labour forming a new government with a secure majority in parliament.   ...

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Labour Party's strategy in the coming British election is to tie Boris Johnson to Trump. This resonates especially on the issue of the National Health Service, with Labour saying a trade deal with the U.S. planned by Johnson is likely to raise costs of NHS with costly U.S. priced drugs. Mr. Trump says he sees little chance of the Johnson negotiated trade deal with the European Union allowing for a trade deal with the U.S. negating Conservatives plan to make Brexit work by negotiating trade deals independently. 

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Even though Brexit is seen as bad for the British economy from a a loss of trade with the EU of as much as 40% and the gains from Brexit that were expected from free trade deals and deregulation too small or illusory, the pro Brexiters soldier on unswayed by this. Prime minister Theresa May is seen as being able to take this deal with the EU through parliament in a second vote after losing the first vote. Behind this thinking are thoughts about how the opposition under Labour and gains made by Labour in a future election could bring together disparate parts of the Conservative party to get this through parliament. The abolishing of free movement between the EU and Britain, is cited as a gain from Brexit. Yet it is this loss of free movement and losses in trade with the EU that are expected to lead to a loss of 3% in GDP per head for every British person, making ordinary British people poorer. In the absence of a Brexit vote Britons would have an additional 2% of GDP per head, according to the Centre for European Reform, a think tank.    ...