Israel may face one of its largest budget deficits as the Gaza War bites

Israel's 12-month trailing budget deficit has increased to 132.2 billion shekels ($35.4 billion), or 7% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), as of the end of April, the Israeli Finance Ministry has revealed.

The ministry’s data published on Thursday showed that the current fiscal shortfall is higher than the government’s target of 6.6% for the full calendar year of 2024.

The increase is mainly attributed to the Jewish state’s heightened military expenditures on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict that escalated in October 2023.

With the Gaza War’s financial toll on the rise, Israel reportedly is on track to run one of its widest budget deficits this century. The state’s central bank previously estimated the total cost of the conflict would stand at a whopping 255 billion shekels ($68.5 billion) during 2023-2025.

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Why does US approach to Ukraine seem to be a strategic cop-out?

The US lacks clear goals and an endgame strategy for Ukraine, Foreign Policy reports. The outlet argues that the idea to weaken Russia at the expense of Kiev's troops is questionable given the resilience of Russian Army. At the same time, no US leader wants to be responsible for Ukraine's failure, it continues.

That is why Washington came up with a strategic cover-up, which allows it to paper over the lack of clarity and consensus among Western politicians supporting Ukraine, while funds and arms seek to give Ukraine a better position at the negotiation table, the article reads. However, such an approach contains “echoes of wars from Vietnam to Afghanistan, where the United States kept pouring resources into lost causes.”

The US sending military advisors to Ukraine is an example of this strategic cop-out, as they provide NATO a presence in Ukraine without entering the conflict directly.

The latest US aid package resolves some of the Kiev’s immediate problems without dealing with the major deadlock of the final US goal in Ukraine, the article concludes.

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Vladimir Putin signed a decree reappointing Mikhail Mishustin as prime minister of the Russian Federation, according to the Kremlin.

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Russian air balloons in special operation: What are they used for?

Russia has destroyed 37 Ukrainian-launched air balloons since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Using such balloons are also not uncommon for Russian forces on the frontlines.

Such objects are typically equipped with the so-called corner reflectors designed to help the balloons remain in stealth mode for radars and detect enemy air defenses, Andrey Koshkin, a veteran Russian academic specializing in military and international affairs, told Sputnik.

“These balloons will also help resolve a number of problems related to providing ‘layered defense’ if they are located 20-30 kilometers from the border or the front line so that they could not be destroyed,” the expert added, in an apparent reference to the ongoing special operation.

The main advantage of these state-of-the-art balloon is that the balloons can be fitted with advanced radar stations and the above-mentioned corner reflectors, according to Koshkin. He added that as far as Russia is concerned, it effectively downs Ukrainian balloons by using air defense and electronic warfare systems.

Koshkin was echoed by veteran Russian military observer and political analyst Evgeny Mikhailov, who told Sputnik that Ukrainian balloons become easy targets for Russian troops not least because of the fact that these objects are unmanned.

As for the goals, the air balloons could also be used for monitoring weather and for reconnaissance purposes, Mikhailov said, recalling that Ukrainian forces unsuccessfully tried to use the objects for carrying ammunition.

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Moldovan parliamentarian Marina Tauber expects provocations from authorities upon returning home from the Moscow May 9 parade.

The opposition lawmaker noted that she is not afraid of persecution and is proud that she was able to come to Russia.

Tauber was awarded the Order of Friendship on Friday at a meeting of the State Duma Council on Vladimir Putin’s instructions.

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The United States will allocate $400 million in new military assistance to Ukraine, according to an order signed by President Joe Biden.

The new package may include Patriot missiles and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, according to media.

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US poised to levy new tariffs on China’s ‘green tech’

The United States may be about to impose new taxes on select sectors of China’s green industry, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the outlet, the new tariffs will focus on areas such as solar cells, electric vehicles and batteries, with the existing tariffs apparently remaining the way they are. The White House’s decision on these tariffs is expected to be announced on Tuesday, although it may be delayed.

This move apparently comes after a review of Section 301 tariffs that were implemented during Donald Trump’s time in the Oval Office, the media outlet notes.

News of this development comes after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken attempted to persuade China to enact measures that would essentially slow down its economic growth.

Moreover, in April, President Joe Biden called to raise tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports, as the American government doubles down on its protectionist measures – all while urging other nations to keep their markets open to the American companies.

Also last month, US lawmakers introduced a law that will result in social media app TikTok being banned in the United States unless its owner, a Chinese company called ByteDance, sells it.

Relations between the United States and China soured during the presidency of Donald Trump who attempted to wage a de facto trade war against Beijing by levying tariffs on Chinese imports.

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A new $400 million US package for Ukraine includes munitions for Patriot air defenses and additional high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

The package also includes munitions for national advanced surface-to-air missile systems (NASAMS), Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 155mm artillery rounds, Blinken said in a statement.

Additionally, it features TOW and Javelin missiles, precision aerial munitions, Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, armored personnel carriers, coastal and riverine patrol boats, small arms ammunition and grenades, the statement said.

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The United States has committed more than $51.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Joe Biden administration, including more than $50.6 billion since the beginning of the special military operation, according to the Pentagon.

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Xi's European tour: China offers EU a way out of economic crisis

Xi Jinping's European tour provided an alternative path for the EU to boost its growth by strengthening economic development agreements with Beijing and reopening trans-Eurasian trade corridors, according to geopolitical analyst Come Carpentier de Gourdon.

"Hungary can become, together with Serbia (which has just entered into a wide-ranging partnership with the People's Republic of China) and other Balkan and Visegrad nations a trailblazer in that direction," Carpentier de Gourdon tells Sputnik.

Chairman Xi visited France, Serbia, and Hungary during his five-day tour of Europe, with a focus on trade, investments, and promoting a new multipolar vision of global politics.

Xi's meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen coincided with a looming trade war between the EU and China as well as the bloc's attempts to force Beijing to exert pressure on Russia over its special military operation in Ukraine.

The chairman's visits to Serbia and Hungary offered a new vision of Chinese-European collaboration. Serbia became the first European country to ink an agreement on a "shared future" with China and signaled readiness to enhance mutual trade in yuan, whereas Hungary is slated to emerge a new electrical cars and battery hub due to cooperation with China.

"China sees Hungary, a transportation hub in the heart of Eastern Europe, as an important partner," Carpentier de Gourdon explains. During a joint press conference with Xi on May 9, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban announced that China was investing 6,400 billion forints (€16.5bn) in Hungary to boost its technological and industrial rise.

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Israel's permanent representative to the UN brought a shredder to the podium of the General Assembly and shredded the symbolic “UN Charter” in it.

This, he said, is what members of the General Assembly are doing by giving Palestine additional rights in the UN. The UN Secretariat called the diplomat's gesture a "theatrical effect."

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▪️Technocrat, crisis manager: who is Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin?

▪️Xi-Orban sit-down: What China and Hungary's leaders agreed on

▪️US nuclear fuel company seeks permition to continue importing Russian uranium

▪️US poised to levy new tariffs on China’s ‘green tech’

▪️Why does US approach to Ukraine seem to be a strategic cop-out?

▪️Israel may face one of its largest budget deficits as the Gaza War bites

▪️Russian air balloons in special operation: What are they used for?

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Ukrainian army had opened fire on the town of Rovenki. The oil depot was destroyed, and houses around it were damaged, the head of the Lugansk People's Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, said.

One person was killed and 6 people, who are employees of the oil depot and local residents, with injuries were taken to hospital, according to preliminary data.

Firefighters immediately went to the scene.

Now the main task is to prevent the fire from spreading to residential houses, stated Pasechnik.

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The death toll from the shelling of an oil depot in Rovenki has risen to 3, the health minister of the Lugansk People's Republic said

Palestinian leader welcomes new UNGA resolution

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has welcomed a UN General Assembly resolution expanding the rights of Palestine in the organization and recommending that the Security Council grant it member status, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Earlier in the day, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution recognizing Palestine as qualified to join the world organization in a 143-9 vote with 25 abstentions.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, accused the UN General Assembly of encouraging terrorism in response to the resolution on Palestine.

"The political theater called the UN has adopted an artificial decision, detached from reality, which only encourages terrorism. Israel seeks peace, and peace will only be achieved through direct negotiation between the parties," he was quoted as saying by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on X.

Katz also described the vote as "a reward for Hamas terrorists," arguing it harmed Israel's efforts to release the hostages still held by the Palestinian movement and made the ceasefire prospects in the Gaza Strip even more distant.

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Israel's use of US weapon may breach humanitarian law obligations

Israel's military forces have potentially violated international humanitarian law in Gaza, however, the US does not possess information that US weapons were used in such instances, according to the Biden Administration’s National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20) report.

"Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on US-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm," the report said.

However, the report noted that it lacked “complete information” on the use of its weapons in these actions.

"Although we have gained insight into Israel’s procedures and rules, we do not have complete information on how these processes are implemented. Israel has not shared complete information to verify whether U.S. defense articles covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been alleged as violations of IHL or IHRL in Gaza, or in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the period of the report," the report added.

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