May 5, 2025 (EIRNS)—Today’s different zones of strategic crisis are in various phases of escalation, or temporary de-escalation, in Ukraine, in the Pakistan-India conflict, and in Southwest Asia, with the warfare and horror in Gaza the most urgent to be stopped.
This world situation points up the role of the Schiller Institute conference in three weeks, titled, “A Beautiful Vision for Humanity in Times of Great Turbulence,” and the vital process of the International Peace Coalition, which now has met for 100 weeks straight.
In Ukraine, the support for unending war continues from leading European figures, who simply oppose peace, especially those of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing.” They do not want it. Some of them will promote their perpetual war theme at the May 7 meeting in Warsaw of European Union foreign ministers, in “informal format,” along with Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative of Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Today in London, at the military parade of 1,300 people commemorating VE Day, before the Royals, 11 Ukrainian soldiers, and NATO forces participated, signifying continuing war. Threats continue against any European leader intending to be in Moscow on May 9 to commemorate humanity’s victory over Nazism.
In the case of the friction between Pakistan and India, since the April 22 terrorist murder of 26 Indian tourists in disputed territory in Kashmir, the situation remains tense, though without grave incident. Today Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Islamabad for meetings. Pakistan officials have initiated an appeal to the UN Security Council for an emergency meeting. Araghchi, after a return home, will then go to New Delhi on May 7, for pre-scheduled meetings there. His visits can be expected to support de-escalation, as Iran has volunteered its offices to mediate normalized relations, if desired. Russian President Vladimir Putin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke today by telephone, on many topics, reported by the President’s website as confirming their nations’ mutual support and concern for stability in Eurasia.
The situation in Southwest Asia is in acute crisis. Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu hit out in all directions yesterday with unhinged statements and initiatives. Speaking after the Houthi missile hit on the Tel Aviv airport complex over the weekend, Netanyahu announced that Israel regards Iran as responsible, and there will be retaliation from Israel—and from the U.S., he added. Tonight, 20 Israeli fighter jets bombed multiple sites in Yemen, including just east of the port of Hodeida. The Israeli airstrikes were the first in months.
Regarding Gaza, Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet late last night approved plans to “conquer and hold” the territory of the Gaza Strip. “No more in and out” Netanyahu declared. There is to be complete takeover. The call-up of Israeli reservists is underway. The Cabinet also ratified IDF-controlled logistics for food control in the future, for a time unnamed. Only Israeli-approved commercial or other food vendors would operate inside IDF-controlled hubs. Meantime, it has been over 60 days since the last food and humanitarian supplies from outside have been allowed into the Gaza Strip. There are 3,000 UN trucks outside the borders, awaiting approval to enter, which now seems permanently denied.
A ghoulish aspect of the Netanyahu plan, evident in Israeli media reports, is that it will wait to go into effect until after President Trump completes his visit to the region, now scheduled for May 13-17, to include Qatar, the U.A.E., and Saudi Arabia, whose purpose is said to include discussing business deals. Netanyahu today struck the theme of rosy business deals ahead in the greater region, through IMEC—India-Middle East-Europe-Corridor. Netanyahu met with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides today. They spoke of deals to lay an electricity cable between Cyprus and Israel; and to agree on boundaries for offshore gas rights in the Eastern Mediterranean. Netanyahu boasted of having spoken with Prime Minister Modi on IMEC.
The protest and counter-statements within Israel are significant. It is reported that many reservists are refusing the call-up. The Hostage and Missing Families Forum issued a statement today denouncing the new plan to conquer Gaza, calling it the “Smotrich-Netanyahu Plan” for giving up on the hostages, and signifying “abandonment of national security resilience.”
Ami Ayalon, former head of Israel’s domestic Shin Bet security agency, last week publicly accused Netanyahu. “The truth is that our hostages in Gaza have been abandoned in favor of the government’s messianic ideology, and by a prime minister in Benjamin Netanyahu who is desperate to cling to power for his own personal gain.” In an April 29 op-ed in Britain’s The Guardian, Ayalon reported that 70% of the Israeli public supports “a comprehensive end to the war in return for bringing our hostages home, and an election as soon as possible so that this government can be replaced.” He pointed to some 150,000 Israelis, who have signed petitions and letters demanding an end to the Israeli war, including thousands of military and intelligence personnel. Ayalon is a former commander-in-chief of the Israeli navy.
This review of just the latest twists and turns in conflict zones, and the horror of the genocide in Gaza, make it anguishingly clear that fighting for a new paradigm in international relations is a must. Nothing less will do: No balance of interests, no attempted conversions, no taking ideological stands.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and leader, has insisted on the point of approaching all crises from the highest level. She said today that we have to “create a world to solve issues through development.” The dynamic is in motion and gathering force. The BRICS summit will take place in July in Brazil.
Zepp-LaRouche put forward the task of mobilizing for the next five weeks for the Oasis Plan approach, in the countdown to the June 2-4 UN meeting in New York City, on the two-state mandate for Gaza and a reconstruction plan. In the course of this mobilization, the May 24-25 two-day Schiller Institute conference in the Metropolitan New York area is the place to confer on the principles involved. Register now. Join up with the International Peace Coalition, beginning this Friday.
