Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán issued a stark warning this weekend, declaring that next year's European elections represent nothing less than a choice between peace and war. Speaking at anti-war rallies across Hungary, Orbán framed the coming political contest as a referendum on Europe's direction, even as developments across the Mediterranean and Middle East underscore the fragility of the current order.
The Hungarian leader's admonition arrives as Israel finds itself at the center of multiple diplomatic flashpoints. The Arab League convened an emergency meeting Sunday at Somalia's request to address Israel's unprecedented recognition of Somaliland—making Jerusalem the first nation worldwide to formally acknowledge the self-proclaimed republic that seceded from Greater Somalia in 1991. The strategic calculus appears tied to Somaliland's advantageous position near Yemen's Houthi-controlled territories, though reports of discussions regarding population transfer from Gaza have added fuel to regional concerns. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, and Turkey all participated in the emergency session, signaling the breadth of opposition to Israel's diplomatic gambit.
Meanwhile, beneath the streets of Jerusalem itself, an extraordinary journey through three millennia of Jewish history unfolded as Mosab Hassan Yousef—the son of Hamas co-founder Hassan Yousef—walked the ancient tunnels beneath the Western Wall alongside Knesset Member Ohad Tal. Thirty feet underground, where 2,000-year-old ritual baths still hold water and massive Herodian stones testify to Jewish sovereignty, the unlikely pair examined archaeological evidence that challenges competing claims to the holy city. The prophet Zechariah wrote of Jerusalem becoming 'a cup of trembling unto all the people round about,' and the current convergence of diplomatic tensions and archaeological revelations suggests that ancient prophecy continues to find contemporary expression.
The Gaza conflict continues to exact its toll, with a winter storm claiming the life of 30-year-old Alaa Marwan Juha when a wall collapsed onto her tent in the Remal neighbourhood west of Gaza City. Nearly 900,000 Palestinians now live in tents across the devastated coastal enclave, and heavy rains and strong winds since Saturday evening have flooded and destroyed thousands of makeshift shelters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travels to Mar-a-Lago Monday to meet with President Donald Trump, with Washington pressing to complete the first phase of a Gaza truce even as strategy gaps between the allies grow more apparent.
In Italy, intelligence information transferred by Israel helped expose Hamas's terrorist infrastructure across Europe, resulting in the arrest of seven operatives including Mohammed Hannoun, identified as Hamas's head of European operations. The exposure of this network demonstrates the increasingly transnational nature of the conflict, while France condemned Israel for violating its Lebanon cease-fire after IDF forces fired twice near UN peacekeeping positions, leaving one soldier with an ear concussion.
The financial realm shows its own signs of shifting foundations. Institutional cryptocurrency investors have accumulated $350 million in Ethereum since December 26, even as retail investors remain on the sidelines—a divergence that mirrors broader patterns of consolidation and uncertainty. Ethereum's 2026 roadmap centers on expanding rollup data capacity while pushing base-layer execution higher, technical developments that will shape the architecture of digital finance in years ahead.
As solar activity approaches near M-class flare levels and earthquakes continue to register from Peru to Russia's Kuril Islands, the natural world provides its own backdrop of instability. Orbán's warning about the choice between peace and war may prove prophetic in ways extending far beyond Hungary's borders. The prophet Isaiah spoke of a time when nation would rise against nation, but also of those who would 'beat their swords into plowshares.' Which path prevails may well be decided in the elections and diplomatic negotiations of the coming year.