New York // After the Palestinians secured their victory at the United Nations, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said "we have Israel's back".
Mrs Clinton remarks at an Israeli-US forum drew a loud applause from former and current Israeli political leaders in attendance, including the far-right foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman. The friendly atmosphere, however, belied deep frustration in the Obama administration over the Israeli response to the UN vote.
Israel had just announced it had authorised new settlements in a sensitive area east of Jerusalem, in an area of land known as the E1, that would divide the West Bank in two, making a contiguous Palestine an impossibility.
Her speech at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East policy in Washington, DC, on Friday came a day after the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of granting Palestine non-member observer state status. The United States and Israel were among the nine nations that voted against the resolution.
"E1 will signal the end of the two-state solution," an Israeli settlements expert Daniel Seidemann told Reuters on Friday.
In a press briefing on Friday, US state department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland dodged questions regarding what repercussions of such a development but did describe the move as "counterproductive".
The E1 announcement caught the US by surprise, coming as it did after Israeli officials had sought to down play the UN vote.
But by swiftly bringing E1 in to play, the Israelis signalled that they were willing to engage in a diplomatic war over the future of the West Bank and East Jerusalem - and risk increasing global isolation, even in Europe. Pro-settler hardliners in the administration of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu appear to have won the debate over how to respond to the UN vote.
The hardliners may have prevailed because of the one significant non-symbolic power the new status gives the Palestinian Authority (PA): the ability to bring war crimes cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
"Israelis are afraid of being hauled to The Hague," the Middle East programme director for the International Crisis Group, Robert Malley, told Reuters.
The PA has not said when or if it might use this new power, but any decision will have to be balanced by the E1 threat as well as overwhelming anger in the US Congress, which the PA president, Mahmoud Abbas, depends on for aid to help a weak West Bank economy.
US legislators added to a bill due for a vote in the Senate this week as much as US$935 million (Dh3.43bn) in aid cuts to the PA if they use their new status to challenge Israel at the ICC. The bill, which was drafted before Thursday, would also cut aid by 20 per cent to any country that voted to upgrade Palestinian status in the UN.
The Israeli move on E1, seen by some as a bluff, is also perhaps their own piece of symbolic theatre before it holds general elections in January.
Mr Netanyahu leads a coalition of right-wing parties expected to win on the back of a rightward shift in Israeli public opinion and growing lack of support for a two-state solution. The E1 announcement could bring them electoral dividends.
Meanwhile, Hamas continues to benefit from Israel's uncompromising stands and the PA's perceived inability to extract concessions. Yesterday, media reports claimed its Doha-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, would this week visit the Gaza Strip for the first time to celebrate Hamas's 25th anniversary and congratulate fighters who battled Israel during its recent air assault on the territory.
tkhan@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Reuters and Associated Press
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
RESULTS
Time; race; prize; distance
4pm: Maiden; (D) Dh150,000; 1,200m
Winner: General Line, Xavier Ziani (jockey), Omar Daraj (trainer)
4.35pm: Maiden (T); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Travis County, Adrie de Vries, Ismail Mohammed
5.10pm: Handicap (D); Dh175,000; 1,200m
Winner: Scrutineer, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
5.45pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Yulong Warrior, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
6.20pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Ejaaby, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson
6.55pm: Handicap (D); Dh160,000; 1,600m
Winner: Storyboard, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap (D); Dh150,000; 2,200m
Winner: Grand Dauphin, Gerald Mosse, Ahmed Al Shemaili
8.05pm: Handicap (T); Dh190,000; 1,800m
Winner: Good Trip, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Red Sparrow
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons
Three stars
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULT
Manchester United 2 Burnley 2
Man United: Lingard (53', 90' 1)
Burnley: Barnes (3'), Defour (36')
Man of the Match: Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
Stage 3 results
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 4:42:33
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:30
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:56
General Classification after Stage 3:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 12:30:02
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:35
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Team Sunweb) 0:02:06
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court (4pm UAE/12pm GMT)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Heather Watson (GBR)
Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) v Karen Khachanov (RUS x30)
Andy Murray (GBR x1) v Fabio Fognini (ITA x28)
Court 1 (4pm UAE)
Steve Johnson (USA x26) v Marin Cilic (CRO x7)
Johanna Konta (GBR x6) v Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA x10)
Court 2 (2.30pm UAE)
Aljaz Bedene (GBR) v Gilles Muller (LUX x16)
Peng Shuai (CHN) v Simona Halep (ROM x2)
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x13) v Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) v Sam Querrey (USA x24)
Court 3 (2.30pm UAE)
Kei Nishikori (JPN x9) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x18)
Carina Witthoeft (GER) v Elina Svitolina (UKR x4)
Court 12 (2.30pm UAE)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x8) v Ana Konjuh (CRO x27)
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)
Court 18 (2.30pm UAE)
Caroline Garcia (FRA x21) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Benoit Paire (FRA) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
Avatar%20(2009)
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Abu Dhabi race card
5pm Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
5.30pm Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
6pm Abu Dhabi Championship Listed | Dh180,000 | 1,600m
6.30pm Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,400m
7.30pm Handicap (TB) |Dh100,000 | 2,400m
Opening Rugby Championship fixtures: Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)
