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Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's caretaker prime minister, is preparing to squeeze every last drop of personal advantage from a local and global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. He has needed to move fast.
Following this month’s election, Mr Netantyahu’s efforts to establish a governing coalition appeared to have been thwarted yet again – for the third time in a year of elections. His ultra-nationalist bloc fell short by just three seats of winning a majority in the Israeli parliament.
And looming large has been his trial for corruption, which was due to start on Tuesday. His main opponent, former general Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party, vowed during the campaign not to sit in a government with Mr Netanyahu as long as he faces criminal charges.
But the coronavirus crisis appears to be coming to Mr Netanyahu’s rescue.
Last week he ordered a raft of emergency measures, including the effective closing of the country’s borders, and the shutting of schools and colleges, and large parts of the economy. Tens of thousands of Israelis have been required to quarantine themselves at home, and gatherings of more than 10 people are banned.
If the pair do not agree a unity government, Israel is most likely heading for a fourth election – and one in which an exasperated public might punish the Blue and White leader for refusing to compromise
Given Israel’s self-proclaimed status as a sanctuary for Jews, following the trauma of the Holocaust, these precautions have been readily accepted by the public.
But they are also playing to Mr Netanyahu’s talent for manipulating a crisis.
On Sunday his trial was postponed for at least two months, after the justice minister, his appointee, declared new powers and effectively shuttered the courts.
Now pressure is mounting on Mr Gantz to set aside “petty politics” and support Mr Netanyahu in a unity government embracing the main Jewish parties. The prime minister told his rival: “Together we will save tens of thousands of citizens."
Mr Gantz is struggling to resist. The election – and the resulting political impasse – was bad for him, too: his party won three fewer seats than Mr Netanyahu’s Likud.
If the pair do not agree a unity government, Israel is most likely heading for a fourth election – and one in which an exasperated public might punish the Blue and White leader for refusing to compromise.
Mr Gantz should be sitting pretty, given that he heads a bloc that commands a 62-seat majority in the 120-member parliament. But deep internal tensions in his bloc are already bedevilling efforts to oust Mr Netanyahu.
The cause is the record 15 seats won by the Joint List, a faction comprising parties that represent Israel’s Palestinian minority, a fifth of the population. Mr Gantz has no hope of forming a government himself unless he allies with the Joint List, the third largest party in the parliament.
But during the election campaign, Mr Gantz promised not to rely on the Palestinian parties, after relentless goading from Mr Netanyahu that, if he did, he would be bringing “supporters of terrorism” into government. The former general fears that a chunk of his right-wing voters might desert him as a result.
Mr Gantz’s bind precisely illuminates the conundrum of Israel’s constitutional set-up as a so-called “Jewish and democratic” state.
No party representing Israel's Palestinian citizens has ever been invited to participate in government. As Ahmed Tibi, a legislator from the minority, once neatly observed: "Israel is a democratic state for its Jewish citizens, and a Jewish state for its Arab citizens."
But by shunning both Mr Netanyahu and the Joint List, Mr Gantz has painted himself into a corner. Now he is keen to find a way out.
Last week, in a bold move, he began negotiations with Joint List leaders, asking them to support him as head of a minority government. They would recommend him as prime minister but would not serve in the government.
Aware that this might be the only way to avoid a catastrophic fourth election, most of Mr Gantz's allies, including former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, a hawkish settler, agreed in principle.
The aim, Mr Lieberman made clear, was to strong-arm Likud into ousting Mr Netanyahu. Then Mr Gantz could ditch the Joint List and create a strong unity government with a Netanyahu-free Likud.
But this skullduggery was almost immediately sabotaged from within. Some of Mr Gantz’s bloc could not stomach any partnership with the Joint List, even of the treacherous kind being proposed.
And further, the Joint List demanded an impossible price from the Zionist parties: the overturning of the worst of discriminatory laws oppressing the minority, as well as abandonment of the Trump “peace” plan allowing Israel to annex much of the West Bank.
Several legislators recoiled at the legitimacy such a deal might confer on the Palestinian parties and their demands for equal rights.
A partnership of the type contemplated by Mr Gantz has occurred once before – in the early 1990s. Then Yitzhak Rabin headed a minority government that depended on outside backing from Palestinian parties, as the only way to pass legislation to implement the Oslo peace process.
The opposition leader at that time was a younger Mr Netanyahu. He railed against the deal, implying it was treason, just as he is doing now. That incitement was widely seen as spurring on a right-wing extremist, Yigal Amir, who assassinated Rabin in 1995, derailing the Oslo process.
Mr Netanyahu has learnt no lessons, it seems. He has continued to demonise Palestinian citizens, last week claiming that they were “not part of the [political] equation – this is the will of the people”.
Such statements earned him a rare rebuke from the Trump administration last week. The US State Department’s annual global human rights report castigated Mr Netanyahu’s party for its repeated “messages promoting hatred against Arab citizens”.
Read More from Jonathan Cook
Predictably, Mr Gantz – like Rabin 35 years ago – is being inundated with death threats from Mr Netanyahu’s supporters. Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency has had to issue him a special bodyguard.
In the current febrile atmosphere, the Blue and White leader has warned of a “political murder around the corner”.
But Mr Gantz is not just in physical trouble. If Mr Netanyahu can prise away legislators in Mr Gantz’s bloc who vehemently oppose any dealings with the Joint List, he can form a government. Then he might free himself from his trial.
Mr Gantz has responded to Mr Netanyahu’s plea for an emergency unity government by calling for it to include “all parts of the house” – a cautious reference to the Joint List.
But in typical fashion, Mr Netanyahu replied that he did not want “terror supporters” in the government, even in an emergency.
What does Mr Gantz fear most: Mr Netanyahu exploiting the coronavirus crisis to evade justice and stay in power, or damaging his own public image by seeking temporary assistance from the Joint List? The next few days should provide the answer.
Jonathan Cook is a freelance journalist in Nazareth
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The years Ramadan fell in May
The years Ramadan fell in May
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
11 cabbie-recommended restaurants and dishes to try in Abu Dhabi
Iqbal Restaurant behind Wendy’s on Hamdan Street for the chicken karahi (Dh14)
Pathemari in Navy Gate for prawn biryani (from Dh12 to Dh35)
Abu Al Nasar near Abu Dhabi Mall, for biryani (from Dh12 to Dh20)
Bonna Annee at Navy Gate for Ethiopian food (the Bonna Annee special costs Dh42 and comes with a mix of six house stews – key wet, minchet abesh, kekel, meser be sega, tibs fir fir and shiro).
Al Habasha in Tanker Mai for Ethiopian food (tibs, a hearty stew with meat, is a popular dish; here it costs Dh36.75 for lamb and beef versions)
Himalayan Restaurant in Mussaffa for Nepalese (the momos and chowmein noodles are best-selling items, and go for between Dh14 and Dh20)
Makalu in Mussaffa for Nepalese (get the chicken curry or chicken fry for Dh11)
Al Shaheen Cafeteria near Guardian Towers for a quick morning bite, especially the egg sandwich in paratha (Dh3.50)
Pinky Food Restaurant in Tanker Mai for tilapia
Tasty Zone for Nepalese-style noodles (Dh15)
Ibrahimi for Pakistani food (a quarter chicken tikka with roti costs Dh16)
The five pillars of Islam
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The years Ramadan fell in May
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.
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MATCH INFO
Tottenham 4 (Alli 51', Kane 50', 77'. Aurier 73')
Olympiakos 2 (El-Arabi 06', Semedo')
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
J%20Street%20Polling%20Results
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Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227 for four at the close.
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
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2024%20Dubai%20Marathon%20Results
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THREE
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
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