A landmark ten-year aid package from the United States to Israel signed in 2016 came into effect on Monday, the State Department confirmed.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the deal agreed under the Obama administration demonstrated Washington’s unshakeable commitment to Israel.
“Israel is a valuable and capable ally to the United States that today faces dangerously escalating regional threats, first and foremost from the Iranian regime's sponsorship of terrorist groups seeking to attack not only Israel but also American interests,” she said in a statement.
She also appeared to point to the regional threat from Iran, which regularly threatens Israel’s destruction, as a justification for the record $38 billion deal.
“Israel is also threatened by the reckless proliferation of destabilising weapons systems into the region that increase the possibility of an escalated conflict in an already dangerous and volatile theater,” Ms Nauert continued.
“The United States unconditionally affirms Israel's right to self-defense, and this MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) is a concrete demonstration of our commitment to Israel's capacity to defend itself with a qualitative military edge over all potential regional adversaries.”
Its introduction comes at a time when US President Donald Trump is making a series of policy moves in favour of its historic ally that have angered the Palestinians and threatened their dreams of a sovereign state.
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Read more:
West Bank village braces for another two-state death blow
‘Thousands’ of Palestinians to protect village ahead of demolition deadline
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In December, he announced the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move widely opposed across the Arab world as the contested city hosts some of the holiest sites in Islam.
He has also cut all American funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, leaving it to face its worst crisis since it was founding after the creation of Israel in 1947, and slashed US aid for East Jerusalem hospitals that serve Palestinians in need.
In the signing of the deal in 2016, Barack Obama said he would “continue to press for a two-state solution” to the decades-long conflict, something the Palestinians believe Mr Trump to be working against. But last week at the UN General Assembly, he said “I like the two-state solution”.
He has regularly said he would be happy with any outcome both parties want. But Israeli officials are largely opposed to the idea of a sovereign Palestinian state as it would force them to cancel their settlement enterprise in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which they occupy and where more than 400,000 settlers live in illegal outposts.
Switching%20sides
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The%20specs
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RACECARD
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (PA) $50,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
6.35pm: Festival City Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
7.10pm: Dubai Racing Club Classic – Listed (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.45pm: Jumeirah Classic Trial – Conditions (TB) $150,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (D) 1,600m
8.55pm: Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Dubai Dash – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,000m
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
French Touch
Carla Bruni
(Verve)
