Trump administration defends new US-backed aid system in Gaza
The launch of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was marred by disorder as thousands rushed fences to get food
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The National
30 minutes ago
- The National
Who are the main players in Iraq's upcoming parliamentary elections?
On November 11, Iraqis will head to the polls in their country's sixth parliamentary elections since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein 's regime. These elections are expected to be highly competitive amid growing stakes surrounding their outcome. A radical change to the structure of the existing political system, which has been in place since 2003, is not expected. Rather, the outcomes are likely to recalibrate the weights of the traditional political parties and therefore the distribution of power and influence within the ruling structure. The polls will be governed by an electoral law that was amended in March 2023 despite objections from protesters and independent politicians. These amendments could make it harder for independent candidates and small parties to compete against bigger parties and to reach the legislative body. There is no indication whether or not the powerful Shiite cleric and political leader Moqtada Al Sadr will take part in the elections. Mr Al Sadr withdrew from the political process when he failed to form a majority government with only Sunni and Kurdish parties after winning 73 of the 329 seats in parliament in the 2021 polls. Iran-backed armed factions are seeking political clout after coming under unprecedented pressure since the start of the war on Gaza. They are either standing in the elections alone or within coalitions. According to the Independent High Electoral Commission, there are 343 registered political parties in the country, and another 60 are being formed. Of those, 118 parties and 25 coalitions have confirmed their participation in November's elections, according to the commission. The nature of these coalitions reflects the divisions among the main three ethnic and religious groups: Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. They also reflect the desire of the powerful political players to reduce their rivals' influence within each group and exclude them from the decision-making centres. What are the main coalitions? The Reconstruction and Development Coalition This coalition is led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, who is attempting to create a new equation in the competition among the Shiite parties, setting his eyes on a second term in office. The coalition consists of several political groups, as well as political and economic figures. Among his main allies are the US-sanctioned chairman of the paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) Falih Al Fayyadh, and the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ahmed Al Asadi, who also leads Kataib Jund Al Imam armed faction. Others are the National Coalition led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi, the National Alliance of Solutions led by one of the PM's advisers, Mohammed Sahib Al Daraji, Karbala Creativity Alliance and The Generations Gathering. The biggest challenge facing Mr Al Sudani's coalition is lack of support from key factions within the Coordination Framework, an umbrella group of Iran-backed political parties and militias which controls the majority of seats in parliament. Top among them is the State of Law Coalition led by former prime minster Nouri Al Maliki. State of Law Coalition This is considered one of the most prominent Shiite alliances. It has grassroots support in central and southern parts of the country, relying heavily on the weight of Mr Al Maliki, who served two terms in office from 2006 to 2014 and still has significant influence within state institutions. One of Mr Al Maliki's strategies is to form or support lists in Sunni and Sunni-dominated areas to expand his influence and weaken his rivals. For the first time in years, Mr Al Maliki announced he is running in the elections, in a move seen as an attempt to counter Mr Al Sudani. Badr List It is led by senior politician Hadi Al Amiri, who heads the Badr Brigade, one of the oldest Iran-aligned militias, which dates back to 1980s Iraq-Iran war. Other medium-sized and small militia groups have joined the list in some parts of the country. Like the head of the State of Law Coalition, Mr Al Amiri is running for the first time in years. Al Sadiqoun List This is affiliated to the influential Asaib Ahl Al Haq armed faction led by Shiite cleric Qais Al Khazali. AAH is one of the main backers of Mr Al Sudani's government and its members hold senior government positions. In December 2019, the Treasury Department blacklisted Mr Al Khazali, along with two militia leaders. The National State Forces Alliance The coalition is led by Shiite cleric Ammar Al Hakim. One of his main allies is former prime minister Haider Al Abadi, who oversaw the fight against ISIS from 2014 to the end of 2017 when he announced that the group had been defeated. The coalition presents itself as a moderate and a reformist political group that seeks to move beyond the sectarian divisions. It relies heavily on the symbolic stature of Mr Al Hakim, who is from a prominent Shiite religious family. The Hoquq Movement A political group backed by Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful armed faction within the Axis of Resistance – an Iran-backed umbrella group for militias in the region. It sent fighters to Syria after civil war broke out in 2011 to support president Bashar Al Assad and launched attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria. Takadum Coalition This is led by former parliament speaker Mohammed Al Halbousi, who has emerged as a prominent Sunni political leader in recent years. Most of his support comes from his home province of Al Anbar, in western Iraq, where he formerly served as governor. The alliance also includes independent politicians, technocrats and tribal leaders from Al Anbar and other Sunni-dominated provinces. Siyada Coalition The coalition is led by Sunni tycoon Khamis Al Khanjar. In 2021, it emerged as the largest Sunni coalition but it quickly disintegrated when Mr Al Halbousi broke away. Mr Al Khanjar enjoys tribal support mainly in Al Anabr and Salaheddin provinces as well as regional support from countries such as Turkey and Qatar. Azem Alliance Led by Sunni politician Muthana Al Samarraie, this coalition emerged in 2021 following deep disagreements and political divisions between Mr Al Khanjar and Mr Al Halbousi. The Kurdistan Democratic Party One of the two major parties in the Iraq Kurdish region, it is led by prominent Kurdish politician Masoud Barzani. KDP dominates the provinces of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan Region, and Dahuk, maintaining control over the regional government and presidency. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan This is the KDP's main rival, which is led by Bafel Talabani and controls Sulaymaniyah and Halabja provinces. Both KDP and PUK, who have a delicate power-sharing arrangement to run the region, used to run national elections in one list along with other small Kurdish parties, but in recent years they have participated separately. The New Generation Movement It is the newest and most dynamic opposition political party in the Kurdistan region, led by businessman Shaswar Abdul Wahid. It was established as a popular reaction to what was widely perceived as corruption and monopolisation of power by the two traditional parties KDP and PUK. October 2024 parliamentary elections in the region.
Middle East Eye
7 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel has sold record amount of debt in US since war on Gaza erupted: Report
Israel has sold a record amount of debt in the US since its war on Gaza erupted on 7 October 2023, according to a report by Bloomberg on Friday. The government of Israel's US-based bond broker, Israel Bonds, says it has sold $5bn worth of debt in the last twenty months. The level of bond issuance is more than double that raised by Israel Bonds, in similar time periods previously. Israel's war on Gaza started after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel killed around 1,200 people. Israel responded by pummelling the Gaza Strip and invading it. More than 54,000 people, mainly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli attacks, and the population is facing "imminent famine", the United Nations says. Israel Bonds is affiliated with Israel's finance ministry and sells bonds inside the US to both retail and institutional investors. The starting price for non-tradable retail Israeli bonds is as low as $36. A five-year Israeli bond has a yield between 4.86 percent and 5.44 percent, according to the Bloomberg report. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Along with its war on Gaza, Israel fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and launched widespread strikes on Syria. In 2024, it engaged in two rounds of direct missile and drone attacks with Iran. Israel's financing needs have soared as it looks to fund its military. Local Israeli creditors, including deep-pocketed institutional ones, account for about 80 percent of the government's lending overall. That leaves just twenty percent to come from international debt sales and what Israel Bonds sells in the US. According to the group, local US governments at the state and county level are big buyers in places like New York, Texas, Ohio, and Illinois. Palm Beach County in Florida became one of the world's largest investors in Israeli Bonds in 2024, with about $700m of its $4.67bn portfolio invested there. Israel has faced widespread criticism for its war on Gaza. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes. Meanwhile, public opinion on Israel has turned sharply negative from France to Japan. However, in March 2024, Israel saw strong demand for its debt among international investors. It sold $8bn in international bonds. Israel enjoys investment-grade ratings from major credit ratings agencies.
Middle East Eye
7 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Trump-Musk fight creates unprecedented elite power struggle in the US
It is hard to find a historic or contemporary precedent for the battle raging between Donald Trump, the president of the United States, and Elon Musk, the world's richest man. There may be a couple of examples that come close, but nothing that quite captures the current moment. For instance, in 2017, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman rounded up his profligate cousins and businessmen at the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton for a royal shakedown. They got into line quickly. And almost two decades before, Russian President Vladimir Putin managed to bend the oligarchs who got rich off post-Soviet capitalism to his will. On its surface, the Trump-Musk feud seems to be over policy. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The Tesla chief and former head of DOGE attacked Trump's tax bill this week as a 'disgusting abomination'. Musk was channelling the concerns of deficit hawks in the US, who worry the bill will add trillions to the US debt pile at a time when the dollar has weakened and demand for more US debt is looking stretched. Trump, who has positioned the bill as a do-or-die piece of legislation, said on Thursday during a meeting in the Oval Office with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, that 'I'd rather have Elon criticise me than the bill,' adding later, 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore.' Then it got nasty. Within hours, Musk was on X calling for Trump's impeachment, to be replaced by Vice President JD Vance. The vice president himself was catapulted to power in part by Peter Thiel, a billionaire tech entrepreneur who mentored and groomed Vance's career in politics. He threatened to form a new political party and stop ferrying Nasa astronauts into space. He said Trump would have lost the US presidential election without his endorsement. And for good measure, insinuated that Trump was linked to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Trump fired back. He suggested Musk was attacking the bill, not out of patriotic fervour, but because he had snatched away perks for electric vehicles from which Tesla benefits. 'Elon was wearing thin,' Trump said. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!' Trump said in another post on Thursday night, threatening to leverage the power of the presidency against Musk's business empire, which includes Tesla and SpaceX. Tesla shares dropped about 14 percent on Thursday amid the spat. According to Bloomberg's billionaires index, Musk's net worth plunged $34bn that day. Tesla was trading up around five percent on Friday. Silicon Valley vs 'America First' nationalists The Trump-Musk feud is a decidedly American affair - partly performative, very populist, and made for social media. And on that note, Musk has been posting on X, the social media platform he bought before the US election, and Trump has been posting on Truth Social - owned by Trump Media & Technology Group - that was purposely built as a right-leaning competitor to X before Musk bought it. Of course, the US is no stranger to elite power struggles capturing the public's attention, particularly during its rambunctious, early years as a republic. Aaron Burr, a former vice president, famously killed Alexander Hamilton, the one-time treasury secretary, in a dual in 1804. A century later, Teddy Roosevelt rode a populist 'trust busting' wave that pitted him against the gilded elite, making men like JD Rockefeller his foe. But the Trump-Musk feud has key differences. JD Vance's mentor co-founded company that helps Israel generate 'kill lists' of Palestinians in Gaza Read More » The two men had forged an unprecedented alliance that, to a point, symbolised a broader one between Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs and crypto bros on one side, and working-class "America First" nationalists on the other. While some media reports say that allies of the two men are urging both to reconcile, the standard bearers of "America First" nationalism appear to be egging Trump on and savouring Musk's fall from grace. Steve Bannon, a former Trump advisor whose podcast WarRoom advocates for "America First" positions, called on Trump to seize Musk's company SpaceX and examine the billionaire's immigration status. Musk was born in South Africa. Bannon himself was critical of Trump's tax bill, but he was one of the few supporters who called for tax hikes on the wealthy. 'You're going to have a few of the tech bros and the crypto crowd stick with Elon because you have the cult of Elon. But MAGA will 100% back Trump. You aren't going to have a person in MAGA who will buy a Tesla,' Bannon said. But Musk donated over $250m to Trump's 2024 campaign and has made clear he has no qualms about deploying his cash against those who turn on him within the Republican Party. On Thursday night, Musk wrote, 'some food for thought as they ponder this question: Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years…' Do Musk and Trump have options? Trump has a history of engaging in brutal public spats, only to mend fences later. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vance both lambasted Trump during his 2016 run for the White House. But the key difference here is that neither of these men had the deep pockets of the world's richest man to endure a battle with the president. To an extent, Musk is a country unto himself. His technology, like Starlink, is hovering over battlefields in Ukraine, while his company ferries Nasa astronauts into space. The knowledge he has gained of Trump's family and the inner workings of the White House would make him a valuable catch for any foreign leader, including US allies. More broadly speaking, the feud is likely to reaffirm a perception among American friends and foes that something within the US system is cracking. In less than one day, the president of the US threatened on social media to use the power of his office against a comrade-turned-foe, while the world's richest man called for his impeachment. Elon Musk: How a tech nerd became Trump's 'first buddy' Read More » Many observers said the bonhomie between Trump and his former 'first buddy' was bound to implode eventually, given both men's power and outsized egos. Musk also felt his investment in Trump's campaign wasn't paying off, reports suggest. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk tried to block OpenAI from building one of the world's largest artificial intelligence data centres in Abu Dhabi. Trump and his aides rejected Musk's bid to cancel the deal in favour of his AI company. On Wednesday, Jared Isaacman, a tech billionaire friend of Musk, suggested Trump pulled his nomination to run Nasa because of his ties to Musk. Things could get ugly if the feud refuses to die down, and the president has several institutions that could be weaponised against Musk and his businesses. Trump has not been shy about using state leverage to settle old scores since his return to power. However, Musk has pockets deep enough to make mid-term elections an uphill battle for Trump and his loyalists. If the gloves come off, the world will have a front row seat to an unprecedented battle between the world's most powerful politician and the world's richest man, as it all plays out in real time on social media.
