Election brings Israeli collapse closer

Whichever parties form the government in the aftermath of Israel's unprecedented fifth election in less than four years, these just cannot whitewash the reality that the political deadlock in Israel is getting more complicated. Coupled with its genocidal approach toward Palestinians, this indicates that the Zionist regime’s demise may be near.

Exit polls suggested the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing several corruption charges with one trial alone, hearing from over 300 witnesses, is taking the lead with a very narrow majority. A final result is not expected until later in the week.

Israel's longest-serving premier is poised to form government with rightwing extremist religious Zionist party, which may spell defeat for his rival war criminal Yair Lapid. But Israeli elections tend to take weeks of negotiations for a cabinet formation and the chances of another political stalemate triggering yet another election are high. Many exhausted Israelis are already bracing for a sixth election next year.

It reflects the state of the Israeli internal and political crises that has existed for years, with the intensification of competition and the sharp polarization between the camp of Netanyahu and the camp opposed to him. This is accompanied by the internal divisions of the Israeli parties alongside settlers who are illegally squatting on people's indigenous land.

Should an Israeli war cabinet be formed by a difference of one vote, it will be another weak ruling regime that can collapse at any moment, as was the case during the Lapid era when it took only one cabinet member to withdraw from the ruling system to fall apart.

Recent Israeli opinion polls show how the trend of Israeli society is heading further to the extreme far-right. This means more Palestinian ethnic cleansing efforts in the face of a growing armed resistance movement in the occupied West Bank.

But as has been seen before the Netanyahu camp may struggle to form a cabinet and other smaller parties have not decided on supporting either Netanyahu or Lapid, which keeps the Israeli political scene in a state of instability. It has been proven difficult for one of the two camps to obtain an absolute majority to resolve the political crisis that has been in place for years.

Netanyahu is seeking the surging power of the far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir to bring him back to power. The so-called "lawmaker", as the Western press like to refer to him, casted his vote in one of the many West Bank settlements where he squats on. 

Ben-Gvir is a reflection of how much more authoritarian the occupying regime has become. His regular hate speech against the Palestinians is a stain on the regime's Western backers.

Whatever results the Israeli political scene produces in this election, any cabinet that may be formed will remain one that is brutal to the Palestinian people and will continue to deny them their most basic human rights.

This hostility to the Palestinians, the murder of civilians including children, demolition of homes, expansion of illegal settlements extends to the settlers’ crimes of desecrating holy sites most important of which is the flashpoint al-Aqsa Mosque.

This is the dire Israeli reality that works to reproduce more and more far-right extremism towards the Palestinians with every new election.

Another issue is that the electoral alliances of the two competing camps will not be able to offer anything new to the Israeli voter, and the deep political division and sharp polarization between two competing racist camps will continue to undermine the longevity of any Israeli cabinet that can be formed. The Israeli political system will remain in a state of instability and will continue to suffer.

The cost of living has been a hot issue in this election as Israelis, having long endured high prices, are feeling the pinch even more amid economic turmoil linked to the Ukraine war.

Another realistic scenario, which is strongly possible, is that if neither camp is able to form a cabinet, the Israelis are likely to return to the polls for the sixth time after only six months, in light of a state of severe polarization and political instability. It is a real political nightmare that may fall upon the regime once more.

There are both internal and external challenges to the election. On the foreign front, one of the most prominent challenges that constitutes a great concern for Israel and disturbs all its political and security levels, from its extreme right to its extreme left, is the Islamic Republic of Iran in particular, which is a top priority in Israeli foreign policy, and is an obstacle in the face of all parties that struggle for power and call for a military strike on Iran to undermine its influence in the region, yet are unable to do so.

This approach collides with the calculations of the US administration, which does not like the hawkish Netanyahu to return to the political scene. Washington is more in favor of a diplomatic solution when it comes to the Iran nuclear deal, knowing a military option of toppling the Islamic Republic on behalf of the Zionist lobby is off the cards. 

Israel's strongest ally, the United States is facing its own crisis of losing its hegemony over the region as a result of Russia and China's influence in West Asia that could end the state of American control and rule in the region. At the end of the day, no matter how close the American President Joe Biden is to "BiBi", American mentality takes precedence over the interests of Israel, at times when US hegemony is at risk.

This was reflected in the OPEC Plus decision to slash its oil production target over US objections, drawing anger from Washington which accused the organization of siding with Russia. Reports of Saudi Arabia being in active talks with Beijing to price some of its oil sales to China in the yuan currency instead of dollar suggest the regional allies of the US are becoming less trustworthy of Washington than before.

The end of American hegemony in West Asia spells the end of the Israeli apartheid regime. Internally, there are basic challenges that face any Israeli cabinet arising from the latest election that pose many difficult dilemmas. Aside from the economic insecurity there is, more importantly, the personal security of the Israelis, and the state of internal instability experienced by the Israeli society, which is dominated by bribery, corruption, organized crime, and the inaction of the judiciary. These are challenges that the Israeli rulers have been unable to find a solution to.

The most prominent and latest problem facing Israel at this stage is the security challenge in the occupied West Bank after the growth of the Palestinian resistance and the emergence of new military formations in the West Bank cities such as the Jenin Brigade, the Lion's Den Brigade and others, and their progress in carrying out successful and sophisticated retaliatory operations against occupation soldiers and settlers have imposed new equations on the military occupation.

Around 30 Palestinians and three Israelis were killed across the occupied West Bank in October alone. Scores of others have been injured from both sides.

In the face of increased insecurity, Israel stands bewildered and helpless and has witnessed a catastrophic failure, which has created an insecure environment, from which no weak or fragile future cabinet will be able to find a solution.

This election may do nothing to end Israel's brutal ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, but the growing strength of the resistance will deal heavy blows to the future of the apartheid regime.

Courtesy: The Tehran Times

 

Cosco orders 12 methanol fuelled boxships

Cosco Shipping Holdings announced a massive newbuild order for 12 methanol-fuelled, 24,000 teu containerships from Dalian Cosco KHI Shipping Engineering and Nantong KHI Shipping Engineering. 

Orient Overseas International Limited (OOIL), a subsidiary of Cosco Shipping Holdings, and affiliated company of Cosco Shipping Lines, have entered into shipbuilding construction contracts with Cosco KHI Shipping Engineering’s yards in Dalian and Nantong at a cost of US$240 million per vessel.

The orders see Cosco Shipping join a growing number of owners that are opted for methanol as a green fuel to decarbonize operations. AP Moller – Maersk placed the pioneering order for methanol-fuelled very large containerships and has been followed CMA CGM, which has already made a strong commitment to LNG as an alternative fuel.

Nantong KHI Shipping Engineering will build seven vessels for OOIL which are due for delivery between the third quarter of 2026 and the third quarter of 2028.

Dalian KHI Shipping Engineering will build the other five vessels for affiliated company of Cosco Shipping Lines which are scheduled for delivery during February 2027 and June 2028.

“It is a new move of our group to promote clean energy application on our fleet. The new order for twelve super large containerships highlights multiple energy saving, emission reduction and intelligent vessel technologies, which will strength core competitiveness of our group,” said Cosco Shipping Holdings.

Pakistan Stock Exchange benchmark index posts 1.74%WoW increase

Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed an overall volatile week as the political instability raged on, dampening investors’ confidence. Participation in the market remained lackluster, with daily trading volume averaging 240 million shares. The benchmark Index gained 716 points during the week ending November 04 2022, depicting a 1.74%WoW rise in the index.

The PKR continued to lose value against the US$, depreciating by 0.25% over the course of the period. CPI once again came in higher on Wednesday, rising to 26.56%YoY for October 2022 as spikes from the unwinding of relief from fuel tariff adjustments and rising food prices impacted. Trade deficit for October 2022 was reported at US$2.3 billion, down 42%YoY. Foreign exchange reserves held by SBP were reported at US$8.9 billion on October 28, 2022.

On the international front, US FED increased its rates by 75bps on Thursday, which pushed the oil
back, as the global commodity continued to rage upwards due to lower than expected US inventory data and reports of Chinese pullback on COVID curbs.

Other major news flows during the week were: 1) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday announced Rs1,800 billion relief package for farmers, 2) PM arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to meet Chinese leaders and discuss plans for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), 3) The country's power sector's circular debt is reportedly touching PKR2.6 trillion mark at present as against PKR2.252 trillion at the end of last financial year, 4) Former Prime Minister Imran Khan was shot in the shin on Thursday when his anti-government protest convoy came under attack in the east of the country in what his aides said was a clear assassination attempt.

Company-wise, amongst main boards, BNWM, TRG and SNGP companies were amongst the top performers. AICL, NESTLE and IGIHL were amongst the worst performers.

Flow wise, substantial net selling was recorded by Insurance companies and Mutual funds totaling US$4.63 million. Individuals absorbed most of the selling with a net buy of US$4.68 million.

Top performing sectors were: Wollen, Tobacco, OMCs, Tech & Communication and Sugar, while laggards included: Vanaspati, Food & personal care, Leasing, Investment Banks/Investment Companies and Commercial Banks.

The market is expected to remain range-bound in the near future, as pressure on the PKR continues to be a cause of concern. The long march, and the ensuing political uncertainty, is expected to keep market movement in check. Moreover, the economic slowdown in the country, an intended outcome of the SBP's contractionary policies and the adverse effects of the floods are likely to keep corporate earnings subdued going forward. Analysts advise investors to remain cautious while building new positions.

US crude oil exports to Asia to hit record high

According to a Reuters report, deliveries of US crude oil to Asia are set to touch a record 1.8 million barrels per day in November, 2022, as demand climbs on a widening discount to global oil price.

Refiners in China, India and South Korea are emerging as big buyers of US crude oil after several months of scooping up cheap Russian barrels. Asia's renewed buying reflects soaring demand for crude to produce diesel fuel and comes as Europe continues to stock up in the aftermath of Western sanctions on Russian purchases.

Overall, US crude exports last week touched a weekly record of 5.1 million barrels per day (bpd), boosted by higher shale production. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at a nearly US$9 a barrel discount to Brent, as compared to a US$6 discount at the start of September. A wider discount makes US oil more affordable to foreign buyers.

South Korea is set to import a record 619,000 barrels per day (bpd) of US crude oil, according to Refinitiv, becoming the month's top Asian importer of US crude.

China will draw at least 450,000 bpd, its highest since December 2020 while India's demand is forecast to be the highest since March this year. Imports of both the countries are rising in the face of higher tanker rates up about 40% on some segments in October.

China's refineries are stepping up production with the end of maintenance overhauls and receipt of higher fuel export quotas to lift sagging merchandise exports.

There is also strong global demand for diesel that is encouraging refiners across the region to add production runs, said Matt Smith, analyst at data firm Kpler.

"With Asian refiners set to ramp up refinery runs, with China's sizeable product export quota, and with OPEC's core producers dialing back on output, demand for US crude is strong," he said. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies this month began cutting output by 2 million bpd on fears of lower demand amid slowing economies.

US oil production was 11.98 million bpd in August, as producers raise activity after pandemic cutbacks.

"Despite rising freight costs, US crude is still economical for Asian buyers, and the buying interest would remain as long as the arbitrage window is still open," a trader said.

 

Pakistan needs food grains storage facilities

This year Pakistan is anticipated to face a shortfall of wheat. The estimated shortfall will require the country to import 2.5 million tons of staple food grain. This will cost the country US$1.3 billion, besides handling charges to be paid in local currency.

The need to import wheat has once again highlighted the importance of attaining self-sufficiency in the production of wheat, introducing efficient storage facilities and trading systems. In this article an effort has been made to explore ways to overcome the shortages and contain outflow of precious foreign exchange.

Wheat is an agricultural commodity and its production is dependent on a number of factors. This year the crop size is relatively below the target. Therefore, to avoid any price volatility the Government has to import wheat. 

Pakistan doesn’t have modern grain storage silos and a large quantity is stored in flat-bed warehouses. It is estimated that around 20% of the produce goes stale before reaching the market. If this quantity is saved from going stale, there may not be a need to import wheat. On the contrary, country may also earn foreign exchange by exporting the saved quantity.

The Government of Pakistan has introduced warehouse receipt financing system in collaboration with commercial banks. The accredited warehouses have started issuing receipt electronically. The encouraging news is that local warehouses have issued receipts worth one billion rupees. The landmark achievement is that out of these financing has been obtained up to 80% of the total amount of receipts issued.

The strength of electronically issued warehouse receipts hinges upon making agricultural output, eligible good quality collateral, for availing financial credit, particularly benefiting the small farmers who find it difficult to approach banks for credit to do non availability of basic collateral requirement of banks. This system has the capability of transforming the agriculture sector in the following manner:

(a) The System will be utilized by banks to extend financing, as it has enabled banks / lenders to create a charge on the commodity balances through the depository; the charged collateral is then immobilized in the warehouse till the lien is lifted.

(b) Real time access to the location and quantity of the commodity and providing a comfort that the commodity of a stated type, quality and quantity through the Warehouse Receipt system does exist duly charged to it for its financing /credit flow.

(c) The revenue streams will be generated by enabling financial institutions to lower their spreads due to the lower risk attached to individual deals, and therefore necessitating less set-aside from the financiers. This will liberate more capital for the banks, and enable them to increase their business volume, contributing therewith to the global growth of Pakistan’s economy.

(d) Markets transparency is another crucial element that comes along the proposed scheme. Through the development of secondary market, all players will be able to know and act on the National Spot Prices. In the future, and with the development of complex derivative products, actors will likely use future pricing, options management and other technical trading tools.

The other element is to separate the physical handling of commodities from their financial and accounting aspects. Banks / lenders could rest assured that a responsible entity is taking care of the physical aspects of the commodity while they need to look after only the financial and accounting aspects. This approach elevates commodities to the same plane as bonds, currencies or stocks and securities and then could be dealt with as such.

When farmer receives EWR, he gets two options: 1) obtain cash by using the produce as collateral or 2) sell it to those interested in acquiring physical delivery of the produces. The trading of EWR can be done at technology driven trading platform of Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX), the only multi commodity futures exchange operating in the country.

State Bank of Pakistan, like central banks of other developing countries, is introducing schemes to increase access of small farmers to the formal credit channels, to save them from exploitation by informal money lenders.

The SBP recently launched the electronic warehouse receipt (EWR) system for maize crop in Kasur district, almost a year after the scheme was introduced for paddy crop in Hafizabad.

The EWR enables the depositor, whether a producer or dealer, of an agriculture commodity to use it as collateral for obtaining bank loans or trade it at the local commodity exchange.

This will reduce the pressure on farmers to sell their produce immediately after harvests when prices are normally low. This will ensure a better return to farmers and also help stabilize market prices. The biggest advantage will be reduction in post-harvest losses.

This will not only reduce the pressure on farmers to sell their produce in panic immediately after harvests, but also allow the agriculture commodities to be used as collateral for bank loans

However, the insufficient number of accredited warehouses complying with the preservation norms, lack of awareness among farmers and their limited business skills, and little incentives for buyers to purchase commodities from the warehouses are identified as some of the stumbling blocks in making this system a norm.

The EWR system can only be beneficial for the community if it includes developing adequate infrastructure, comprising of warehouses and logistics facilities.

According to the inform sources there is an acute shortage of accredited warehouses and logistic facilities. The experts demand incentivizing construction of infrastructure so that investors are attracted to invest more and more in the sector.

Ironically, the purchase of the biggest crop, wheat, is done by the government, which uses its own/rented warehouses which are not suitable for the storage of staple food grain.

It is also necessary to remind that besides wheat, large quantities of rice and maize are produced in the country. This offers round the year demand for modern warehouses, particularly grain storage silos. 

Is Netanyahu-Itamar Ben-Gvir alliance a good omen?

Israel Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu on his election victory as final results confirmed the former premier's triumphant comeback at the head of a solidly right-wing alliance.

Netanyahu's victory is set to end an unprecedented stalemate in Israel after five elections in less than four years.

This time Netanyahu, the dominant Israeli politician of his generation, won a clear parliamentary majority, boosted by ultranationalist and religious parties.

Tuesday's ballot saw out the centrist Lapid, and his rare alliance of conservatives, liberals and Arab politicians which, over 18 months in power, made diplomatic inroads with Turkey and Lebanon and kept the economy humming.

With the conflict with the Palestinians surging anew and touching off Jewish-Arab tensions within Israel, Netanyahu's rightist Likud and kindred parties took 64 of the Knesset's 120 seats.

Netanyahu still has to be officially tasked by the president with forming a government, a process that could take weeks.

"The time has come to impose order here. The time has come for there to be a landlord," tweeted Itamar Ben-Gvir of the far-right Religious Zionism party, Likud's likely senior partner.

He was responding to a stabbing reported by Jerusalem police. In the West Bank, troops killed an Islamic Jihad militant and a 45-year-old man in a separate incident, medics said. Queried on the latter death, the army said it opened fire when Palestinians attacked them with rocks and petrol bombs.

Later in the evening, air attack sirens went off in southern Israel after militants in Gaza fired a rocket that was apparently intercepted by missile defences, the military said.

A West Bank settler and former member of Kach, a Jewish militant group on Israeli and US terrorist watchlists, Ben-Gvir wants to become police minister.

Israeli media, citing political sources, said the new government may be clinched by mid-month. Previous coalitions in recent years have had narrower parliamentary majorities that made them vulnerable to no-confidence motions.

With coalition building talks yet to officially begin, it was still unclear what position Ben-Gvir might hold in a future government. Since the election, both he and Netanyahu have pledged to serve all citizens.

Ben-Gvir's ascendancy has stirred alarm among the 21% Arab minority and centre-left Jews - and especially among Palestinians whose US-sponsored statehood talks with Israel broke down in 2014.

While Washington has publicly reserved judgment pending the new Israeli coalition's formation, a US State Department spokesman on Wednesday emphasized the countries' "shared values".

"We hope that all Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open, democratic society, including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups," the spokesperson said.

US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides said he spoke with Netanyahu and told him he looked forward to "working together to maintain the unbreakable bond."

 

Netanyahu-Ben Gvir government may bring Israel economic sanctions

On Tuesday, voters turned out in record numbers in order to have their say in the democratic process, resulting in the election of a government led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and including outspoken political extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, if its campaign promises are fulfilled, could radically impact the nation’s economy.

The economy that Netanyahu government stands to inherit is actually doing pretty well, compared to other developed countries. Israel currently boasts the second-lowest inflation rate in the OECD and one of its highest growth rates. As such, the country’s incoming leaders will have more economic degrees of freedom than other nations may have.

With that in mind, “The promises made by these parties are such that they can very quickly lead Israel down the rabbit-hole,” said Prof. Dan Ben-David, Head of Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research and an economist at Tel-Aviv University. According to him, the threat posed to Israel’s economic well-being by the nation’s new leadership is both present and substantial.

“In terms of straightforward economics, they are promising tons of money to various sectors. Netanyahu has promised free education from the age of zero, he talked about freezing interest rates and arnona (municipal tax payments), he promised to give full funding to all of the Haredi schools,” Ben-David said. “That’s going to cost a lot of money, not to mention the fact that it’s completely going to mortgage Israel’s future.”

Basic economics aside, there is a critical political factor in play. If Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party manages to reform the country’s judicial and political systems as it intends to do, it could lead to severe ramifications on the world stage.

“Those actions can basically bring down the developed world’s wrath on us,” Ben-David warned. “When you have Jewish supremacists in leading political cabinet positions, what does that say about Israel’s ability to defend itself against accusations of apartheid elsewhere? All you need to do is look at what happened in South Africa to get a glimpse of the kind of economic sanctions that we may get hit with if this government follows through with even a part of the things that they promised to do.”

A sufficient amount of serious economic turmoil from mishandling or severe sanctions could in turn lead to the evacuation of Israel’s largest economic contributors, Ben-David warned.

“It could happen way before the international community wakes up. The entire hi-tech industry, all of the physicians and the entire senior faculty in all of the research universities in Israel make up less than 4% of the population,” he said. “If a critical mass of the young, educated and skilled people in Israel reach the conclusion that it’s game over and leave in the next few years, then the game ends a lot quicker than it would have otherwise.”

It is still uncertain which of the many promises made by the entering parties will come to fruition, but if Israel’s new leadership doesn’t tread carefully, those who put them there could be in for even more change than they asked for.