Only weeks ago, Benjamin Netanyahu was a hair's breadth from being ousted from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office in disgrace, after 11 years of continuous rule. But after a dramatic turnaround in fortunes last week – that saw him signing a pact with Benny Gantz, his chief political rival – Mr Netanyahu has begun to rapidly consolidate his power.
In what many critics fear amounts to a power grab, he began pushing through changes on Thursday to Israel’s basic laws, the equivalent of a constitution. The move was described as “terrifying” by Elyakim Rubinstein, a conservative former supreme court judge.
Another commentator warned that, under cover of forming an "emergency government" to deal with the coronavirus epidemic, Mr Netanyahu had driven Israel into the early stages of totalitarianism.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, President Reuven Rivlin, centre, and Benny Gantz during a meeting in Jerusalem. EPA
What has especially alarmed observers is the apparent ease with which Mr Netanyahu has manoeuvred Mr Gantz, a former general, into rubber-stamping the new arrangements.
Mr Gantz led a bloc of parties whose anti-corruption platform expressly promised to bring down Mr Netanyahu, who is due to stand trial on bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges in a month's time. After an election in March, the third in a year, Mr Gantz vowed to use his bloc's 62-seat majority to pass a law making it impossible for a criminal defendant to serve as prime minister.
Mr Netanyahu was on the backfoot, too, fearful of a fourth election in the late summer when he risks being blamed for the expected collapse of the Israeli economy after more than a month of lockdowns.
Instead, Mr Gantz has caved. He has not only secured Mr Netahyahu at least another 18 months in office but, in the words of one Israeli commentator, has offered to serve as his "bodyguard".
The coalition agreement means Mr Gantz cannot dislodge Mr Netanyahu during the government’s three-year term. The two stand or fall together. That gives Mr Netanyahu a solid advantage in his court proceedings, as he fights the case not only with the authority of a prime minister but with Mr Gantz’s complicit silence.
Even if Mr Netanyahu is found guilty, Mr Gantz’s faction is barred from ousting him or voting to bring down the coalition, leaving Mr Netanyahu free to launch an appeal from within the government. Likewise, under a rotation agreement, Mr Gantz must let Mr Netanyahu serve out the second 18-month period as his deputy. Assuming, that is, that Mr Netanyahu steps back.
Despite some two-thirds of Israelis supporting the emergency government, a poll shows more than 40 per cent doubt Mr Netanyahu will honour his commitment to hand over power. In any case, even as Mr Gantz’s deputy, Mr Netanyahu will have the allegiance of the vast majority of the governing coalition’s legislators. He could still be in the driving seat.
Most expect him to use his position to intensify his long-running campaign to demonise the courts, accusing them of overseeing an undemocratic, “leftist” plot to unseat him.
Israelis demonstrate against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under strict restrictions made to slow down the coronavirus spread, on Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel April 19, 2020 REUTERS
A man wearing a protective face mask holds an Israel's flag as Israelis demonstrate against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under strict restrictions made to slow down the Covid-19 spread, on Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel April 19, 2020 REUTERS
Israelis hold up their mobile phones as they demonstrate against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under strict restrictions made to slow down the coronavirus spread, on Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel April 19, 2020. REUTERS
Israelis hold posters with the picture of Benny Gantz, head of the Blue and White party, that read: "I would not sit in a government under a man with criminal indictment", as they protest against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under strict restrictions made to slow down the coronavirus spread, on Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel April 19, 2020. REUTERS
Israelis protest at a rally in Rabin Square on April 19, 2020 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Getty Images
Israelis light flash lights as they protest at a rally in Rabin Square on April 19, 2020 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Getty Images
Thousands of Israelis gather at an Anti-Corruption rally under coronavirus restrictions. Getty Images
Israelis protest at a rally in Rabin Square on April 19, 2020 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Getty Images
Thousands of Israelis gather at an Anti-Corruption rally under coronavirus restrictions, decries proposed unity government talks between Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Blue and White Party leader, Benny Gantz. Getty Images
To an increasing number of Israelis, the country’s political system looks broken. Several thousand of Mr Gantz’s former supporters defied Israel’s lockdown at the weekend – as they did the week before – to attend a rally in central Tel Aviv.
Standing on marked positions to maintain two metres' distance, they protested Mr Netanyahu's increasing accumulation of powers. Carmi Gillon, a former head of Israel's domestic spy agency, the Shin Bet, told the crowd the courts were now all that left to "defend Israeli democracy before it is finally crushed".
Critics note that the Shin Bet have already been given an unprecedented right – previously available for use only against Palestinians – to track Israeli citizens.
Combined with anti-coronavirus restrictions, opponents fear Mr Netanyahu is establishing a security regime at home that can be used to oppress dissenters. They point to his imminent trial, noting that most of the charges relate to his alleged efforts to intimidate or bribe major Israeli media outlets into becoming little more than his personal cheerleaders.
A man sits in front of closed shops in Jerusalem's Old City, amid measures to stem the spread of coronavirus, on March 27, 2020. AFP
Ultra-orthodox Jewish members of the religious burial organisation Hevra Kadishah wear protective suits as they prepare to carry the coffin of 72-year-old French rabbi Masoud Hamu, who died from Covid-19, at a funeral home in Jerusalem, on March 26, 2020. EPA
Palestinian health ministry workers check the temperatures of men crossing the Tarqumiya checkpoint, near Hebron, West Bank, on March 27, 2020. EPA
A Jewish ultraorthodox man looks onto a local billboard with instructions related to coronavirus in the Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Jerusalem on March 27, 2020. Reuters
Palestinian security forces attempt to arrest a shop owner who did not abide by a national lockdown, in Hebron, West Bank, on March 28, 2020. EPA
Ultra-orthodox Jews practice social distancing while praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. AP Photo
Coptic priests hold a mass outside a closed Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, on March 28, 2020. AP Photo
A man feeds pigeons at an empty parking lot in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 28, 2020, as the country largely shuts down to avoid the spread of coronavirus. AP Photo
Ultra-orthodox Jews, wearing traditional prayer shawls, pray outside their closed synagogue, following instructions to stop the spread of coronavirus by keeping a distance of two meters from one another, in Jerusalem on March 29, 2020. AFP
A picture taken on March 27, 2020 shows a view of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem amid measures to stem the spread of coronavirus. AFP
Israel fears little in the way of repercussions. And Mr Gantz now appears on board. As defence minister, he will be responsible for crushing any Palestinian resistance to Israel's annexation moves
Meanwhile, other checks on the executive branch he heads are being sacrificed on the altar of the emergency government.
Despite being a criminal defendant, Mr Netanyahu will have a veto on the appointment of the two most senior law-enforcement officials – the state prosecutor and attorney general – who are supposed to oversee the case against him at trial.
Mr Netanyahu has already installed an acting prosecutor considered loyal to him who, according to the coalition agreement, cannot be removed for many months. Israeli commentators have expressed little faith that he will prosecute Mr Netanyahu with full vigour.
Mr Netanyahu will also continue to wield control over the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, which has been drifting ever further rightwards after more than a decade of Mr Netanyahu’s influence.
Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a meeting of the right-wing bloc at the Knesset in Jerusalem. AFP
In these circumstances, the courts may baulk at the prospect of inflaming a constitutional crisis – and possibly civil war – by trying to remove a sitting prime minister. With the judicial and legal branches increasingly enfeebled, the coalition agreement also strips the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, of any meaningful oversight. The government will be able to strangle legislative proposals at birth, before they can be debated. Unusually the main parliamentary committees will be under the governing parties’ control, too. And again unusually, a Netanyahu loyalist will be the Knesset Speaker.
But the coalition agreement does allow for one emergency legislative move unrelated to tackling the virus: annexation of swaths of the West Bank in violation of international law but under licence from the "vision for peace" published earlier in the year by US President Donald Trump.
The government can set forth an annexation plan from July – well before Mr Trump faces a re-election contest in the US in November. Mike Pompeo, his Secretary of State, offered what appeared to be Washington's blessing for fast-track annexation last week.
While Mr Gantz headed the opposition bloc, he refused to rule out annexation, expressing concern only that it would prove unpalatable to some western allies.
As defence minister, he will be responsible for crushing any Palestinian resistance to Israel’s annexation moves, while Gabi Ashkenazi, his political ally and another former general, will be responsible as foreign minister for putting a respectable face on the annexation drive in overseas capitals.
Mr Netanyahu appears to have the wind behind him, and three more years in which to meddle in ways that could see him maintaining his grip on the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office well beyond that.
Jonathan Cook is a freelance journalist in Nazareth
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
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Haircare resolutions 2021
From Beirut and Amman to London and now Dubai, hairstylist George Massoud has seen the same mistakes made by customers all over the world. In the chair or at-home hair care, here are the resolutions he wishes his customers would make for the year ahead.
1. 'I will seek consultation from professionals'
You may know what you want, but are you sure it’s going to suit you? Haircare professionals can tell you what will work best with your skin tone, hair texture and lifestyle.
2. 'I will tell my hairdresser when I’m not happy'
Massoud says it’s better to offer constructive criticism to work on in the future. Your hairdresser will learn, and you may discover how to communicate exactly what you want more effectively the next time.
3. ‘I will treat my hair better out of the chair’
Damage control is a big part of most hairstylists’ work right now, but it can be avoided. Steer clear of over-colouring at home, try and pursue one hair brand at a time and never, ever use a straightener on still drying hair, pleads Massoud.
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
