JERUSALEM // Apprehension is mounting in Israel over the damage that its "special relationship" with Washington will suffer if, as expected, the Likud leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, puts together a far-right government in the coming weeks.
A rift with US officials is already opening over the kingmaker role of Avigdor Lieberman, who leads Yisrael Beiteinu, an anti-Arab party, and is being widely touted as a senior cabinet minister in the incoming government.
His demand for loyalty legislation that threatens to strip the country's Arab population of citizenship would, US officials note, put Israel's government publicly at odds with the new, more inclusive era being promised by Barack Obama.
Israeli officials are worried that a US backlash could strengthen the hand of the president's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, whose task it is to revive the moribund peace process with the Palestinians.
Last week, Maariv, an Israeli daily newspaper, reported on concerns that Mr Mitchell might recommend economic sanctions against Israel, including cuts to the billions of dollars of annual aid, if a Netanyahu government allowed further expansion of West Bank settlements.
On Friday, as Mr Netanyahu was asked to form a government, the Obama administration publicly denied that it was seeking to interfere in the outcome of the coalition negotiations.
However, behind the scenes, according to the Israeli media, Mr Netanyahu is facing stiff pressure to abandon a government with the far-right parties.
Only hours after Mr Netanyahu was given his mandate, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, stressed that Washington would be pushing for a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Mr Netanyahu favours what he calls "economic peace" rather than a territorial agreement with the Palestinians.
Equally, the US administration is believed to be concerned about allegations that Mr Netanyahu's key partner in government, Mr Lieberman, once belonged to the Kach movement, outlawed as a terrorist group in 1994. Michael Ben-Ari, of the National Union, a right-wing party, and a self-declared former Kach member, would also be included in any far-right coalition.
The White House is said to prefer that Mr Netanyahu instead join forces with his chief rival, Tzipi Livni of the centrist party Kadima.
So far Ms Livni has insisted she will not serve under Mr Netanyahu, but has hinted she may accept a "rotation" that would see both leaders alternating as prime minister. The two are due to meet today.
Not-so-veiled warnings to the Likud leader were issued last week by two former US ambassadors to Israel. Daniel Kurtzer, who served under George W Bush, advised that the inclusion of Mr Lieberman in the incoming government would be a "bad combination for American interests".
In comments reported by the Israeli media, he told an audience at Georgetown University: "There will be an image problem for an American administration to support a government that includes a politician who was defined as racist."
In a separate speech, Martin Indyk, Bill Clinton's ambassador to Israel, recalled Mr Netanyahu's "considerable trouble" with Washington when he was prime minister in the late 1990s.
Israel's shift rightward has aggravated press coverage in the United States. One leading US newspaper has even gone as far as to break a taboo by questioning Israel's democratic credentials.
An editorial in the Los Angeles Times asked: "Can a nation founded as a Jewish homeland - with a 'right of return' for diaspora Jews but no one else, a Star of David on the flag and a national anthem that evokes the 'yearning' of Jews for Zion - ever treat non-Jews as true, equal citizens?"
Visits by three US Democratic politicians to Gaza late last week were also seen as a possible harbinger of souring relations with Israel. All three voiced shock at the destruction wrought on Gaza.
These developments have added to the concern of leading US Jews that the special relationship is under threat.
Morton Klein, the president of the Zionist Organisation of America, told The Jerusalem Post newspaper that Mr Lieberman's "image is so tarnished, it wouldn't be good for Israel" if he held a prominent cabinet position.
According to Mike Prashker, the director of Merchavim, an organisation in Jerusalem promoting shared Israeli citizenship, "when it comes to core democratic values, American and Israeli Jews are headed in diametrically opposite directions. These elections have revealed Israeli democracy as dangerously hollow."
jcook@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
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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
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
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)
