From swift deals with Jordan to a globetrotting foreign minister, Israel’s new government is on a mission to mend international ties that were strained under former leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Only days before the Israeli elections in March, the steep decline in relations with Jordan came to the fore when Amman temporarily banned Mr Netanyahu from transiting its airspace.
It's been too long. There is a new government, a new energy, let's have a new start
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid
Israel had just prevented a senior member of the royal family from visiting Al Aqsa Mosque with his full security detail, despite Jordan serving as custodian of the holy site.
The incident proved deeply embarrassing for Mr Netanyahu, who had to cancel his visit to the UAE to celebrate a landmark deal reached last year with the Emirates.
Since the new Israeli administration led by led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took office on June 13, it has moved quickly to ensure such mistakes are not made again.
At the end of June, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was sent to the border, where he described Amman as “an important partner” and signed a deal with his Jordanian counterpart to increase water exports to the kingdom.
“The Foreign Ministry will continue to hold an ongoing dialogue in order to preserve and strengthen the relationship,” said Mr Lapid, a centrist leader and architect of Israel’s coalition government.
While Mr Bennett has held calls with presidents, like Egypt’s Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and Russia's Vladimir Putin, Israel’s top diplomat has had a busy travel agenda.
After flying to Rome to meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June, Mr Lapid travelled to Brussels to address his EU counterparts.
"It's been too long. There is a new government, a new energy, let's have a new start,” he told the European foreign ministers, highlighting their shared values.
Brussels had watched while Mr Netanyahu courted far-right EU leaders in a bid to prevent unified censure of Israel. Along with Jordan, the bloc had also firmly opposed Israeli plans last year to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
Oded Eran, an Israeli former ambassador to Brussels and Amman, described Mr Lapid’s visit as significant after an “almost total freeze” in relations with the Europeans.
“This is a very important step in the process of resuming the dialogue which has been broken at the highest political level for a decade now,” said Mr Eran, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.
“In spite of the achievements of the previous government, such as the Abraham Accords which should not be underestimated, there were lingering problems,” he said, referring to the normalisation deals signed with Arab nations.
As well as the UAE, Israel under Mr Netanyahu forged diplomatic ties with Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
“Clearly the new government wanted and rightly so to try and change the equation” regarding its alliances abroad, said Mr Eran, particularly with Jordan, because the relationship remains strategically important for both sides.
“They will make an effort to maintain it,” he said. “The two sides already passed the threshold of the test of 25 years of the [peace] agreement.”
Despite the high-level diplomacy, the Israeli government is not expected to make any significant shifts on foreign policy. With eight parties from across the political spectrum, the fragile coalition could collapse if some within the government push for change, particularly regarding the Palestinians.
Nonetheless, thawing ties with Jordan could spark an opportunity, according to Merissa Khurma, director of the Middle East programme at the Wilson Centre in Washington.
“It’s very difficult with Jordan in particular to solely look at the relationship through the bilateral prism, because there’s a larger aspect to it with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said Ms Khurma, who previously worked at the Jordanian embassy in Washington.
The water deal “was certainly a good step in the right direction in order to reset the bilateral relationship, but also to try to see if there’s a window of opportunity of new talks on the Israeli-Palestinian track”, she said.
There have been no substantial peace talks for more than a decade and, Ms Khurma cautioned, improved communication is only an initial step towards renewed negotiations in the long-term.
A new US leadership under President Joe Biden could also foster greater dialogue between Israel and its neighbours, after his predecessor Donald Trump largely favoured Mr Netanyahu and sidelined the Palestinians and Jordanians.
But while Mr Trump showed great interest in Israeli politics, it remains to be seen whether his successor will have similar priorities.
“Now it’ll be a watch and see, whether the Biden administration is going to move forward with the Palestinian-Israeli issue or bump it up on its foreign, or Middle East, policy agenda,” Ms Khurma said.
Malcolm & Marie
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Starring: John David Washington and Zendaya
Three stars
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
MATCH INFO
England 241-3 (20 ovs)
Malan 130 no, Morgan 91
New Zealand 165 all out (16.5ovs)
Southee 39, Parkinson 4-47
England win by 76 runs
Series level at 2-2
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
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Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
Trolls World Tour
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake
Rating: 4 stars
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
TEAMS
US Team
Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth
Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger
Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler
Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed
Matt Kuchar, Kevin Chappell
Charley Hoffman*, Phil Mickelson*
International Team
Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day
Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen
Marc Leishman, Charl Schwartzel
Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim
Jhonattan Vegas, Adam Hadwin
Emiliano Grillo*, Anirban Lahiri*
* denotes captain's picks
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
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.
