Israel's tax plans are scuppering efforts by the UK government to raise funds dedicated to building peace through prosperity-focused schemes for Palestine.
Israeli authorities tightened restrictions on foreign aid after Prime Minister Keir Starmer voiced support for the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy was expected to host a conference in spring this year that would seek to raise the funds for the initiative from international donors.
But those plans have been thrown into turmoil by an Israeli effort to pass a law that would tax foreign funding to local Israeli NGOs by 80 per cent. Hopes were raised in December last year that the UK could make a contribution to a future peace process by directing the initiative, but a leading member of parliament fears the effort has now run aground.
“It is unresolved. How can it be done if the Israelis are going to impose an 80 per cent tax on foreign state funding of NGOs?” said Dame Emily Thornberry, a veteran Labour MP and chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
“We keep asking the government, but we get no straight answer,” she told The National.
The fund was launched in 2018 with the support of Labour Friends of Israel, a group in the UK Parliament, and seeks to support civil society organisations in Israel and Palestine.
Its key organisers are the Alliance for Middle East Peace, a network of 160 Israeli and Palestinian civil society organisations.
Questions about when the conference would go ahead have been raised for weeks, with the government’s Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer promising on Wednesday he would “come back with further details of our approach”.
"We too are committed in to playing our part in trying to build up the connections between the two societies that could allow for the kind of moderate leadership. At the very most local level that is so necessary for making peace," he said.
The FAC's own inquiry into the Israel-Palestine conflict has also spoken to organisations involved in the peace fund, including the Alliance for Middle East Peace.
As a former shadow foreign secretary, Ms Thornberry thinks the UK must acknowledge the role of the US as the key intermediary to changing the dynamic between Israel and Palestine. She said London must demand America lean's on Israelis.
Washington should be pushing for a wider regional deal that recognises that Israel won’t get lasting peace by complete domination. For this regional peace deal to happen the Palestinian issue must be resolved and to her the only thing that makes sense to many in UK politics is a two-state resolution of the conflict.
Speaking in a personal capacity and not representing the views of the committee, Ms Thornberry urged America to put pressure on the Israelis to negotiate.
"It was to be part of a wider regional deal. Israel won’t get lasting peace by complete domination. This is mutual, they need to play their part in the region," she said.
"You can’t get a regional peace deal without the Palestinian issue resolved. The only thing that makes sense has to be two states."
There are political incentives for Mr Starmer to back a successful peace initiative as the UK seeks to play a role in the conflict to patch up community tensions at home.
The Labour Party has struggled to convince its support base of its commitment to peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and lost four seats to independent candidates running on a Gaza ticket in the general election last year.
Critics of the party's stance on the conflict, including former British diplomats, have called on the government to recognise Palestine and comply with the International Court of Justice advisory opinion, which found Israel's occupation of Palestine to be illegal.
The IFIPP is expected to be modelled on the International Fund for Ireland, which worked by improving societal and political conditions to pave the way for the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 aimed at ending three decades of violence in Northern Ireland.
Former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak also gave cross-party backing to the IFIPP in 2022.
Company%20profile%20
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
1971: The Year The Music Changed Everything
Director: Asif Kapadia
4/5
The specs
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 180hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto
Price: From Dh139,995
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
RESULTS
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Rajeh, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi (trainer)
6.35pm: Oud Metha Stakes – Rated Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Get Back Goldie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill
7.10pm: Jumeirah Classic – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Sovereign Prince, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
7.45pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 2 (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Hot Rod Charlie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill
8.55pm: Al Bastakiya Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Withering, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
9.30pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Creative Flair, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
2019 ASIAN CUP FINAL
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETwin-turbo%2C%20V8%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20automatic%20and%20manual%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E503%20bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E513Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh646%2C800%20(%24176%2C095)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2
Vinicius Junior (71') Mariano (90 2')
Barcelona 0
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE SQUAD
Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).
