TEL AVIV // Israel’s leaders warned yesterday against the possible rise of Islamist rule in Egypt amid growing worries that Israeli security could be jeopardised by an Egyptian regime change.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, warned that if a radical regime were to replace Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak “as occurred in Iran and elsewhere, the result can be a blow to peace and democracy.”
Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, cautioned that “extremist” Islamic groups could take advantage of popular protests in Egypt to try to seize power.
Mr Netanyahu was due yesterday to hold an unscheduled meeting of his 15-member security cabinet to discuss how Israel may be affected by the unrest in Egypt, Israel’s only Arab peace partner aside from Jordan.
The predominantly right-wing government of Mr Netanyahu has not hidden its support for Egypt’s authoritarian president, Hosni Mubarak, amid massive calls for his resignation. The foreign ministry earlier this week ordered its diplomats in the US, Europe and other regions to encourage their host nations to back Mr Mubarak and stress that it’s in the West’s interest to maintain his rule.
Mr Peres’s statements yesterday, which Israeli media reported were made during a meeting in Jerusalem with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reflected Israeli fears that democratic elections in Egypt could prompt the rise to power of Islamist groups that are friendly to Hamas and other organisations hostile towards Israel.
“The world should learn from what happened in Gaza,” Mr Peres told Ms Merkel, a reference to Hamas’s victory over the secular Fatah movement in a Palestinian legislative election in 2006. The group then entered into an uneasy coalition government with Fatah but a year later, Hamas violently routed Fatah forces from Gaza and has since controlled the enclave. The takeover prompted the Palestinian president and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas, to dissolve the alliance. Tensions between the two groups have since escalated.
Mr Peres added: “The world saw what happened in Gaza when democratic elections took place and brought to power a dangerous and extremist movement that has not granted Gazans even a day of democracy.”
In response to a request from Egypt, Israel on Monday approved the deployment of about 800 Egyptian troops in the Sinai Peninsula for the first time since the two countries signed a historic peace agreement in 1979. The treaty, under which Israel had returned the Sinai to Egypt after capturing it in the 1973 Middle East war, defines the peninsula as a demilitarised area and limits the security presence there to police forces.
The deployment of the two Egyptian battalions came after reports that Islamic activists, who had escaped from several Egyptian prisons, fled across the Sinai and entered the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip through tunnels. Hamas is viewed by Israel as a terrorist organisation. Israel has frequently joined forces with Egypt in efforts to curtail arms smuggling into Gaza from Sinai.
In a reminder of Israeli concerns about a possible escalation of violence by Gaza militants should the smuggling of weapons escalate, Israel’s military said yesterday that two Grad-type rockets were fired at its southern communities from Gaza late on Monday, the first time in several months that such rockets hit Israeli territory. The army charges that Iran, which backs Hamas and which Israel views as its arch enemy, supplies Grad rockets to Hamas.
The Israeli government’s deep concern at the possibility that the Egyptian protests could threaten the three-decade-old peace agreement has been met with some condemnation by some of the country’s liberal media.
Yesterday, the Haaretz daily newspaper urged Mr Netanyahu to prepare for a "new regional order" and treat the possibility of democratic rule in neighbouring Arab countries with less suspicion. Its editorial said that Israel should stop catering to autocratic regional leaders such as Mr Mubarak while ignoring neighbouring countries' citizens, whom it accused the government of viewing as "devoid of political influence in the best case and as hostile Israel-haters in the worst case".
"Israel sees itself as a Western outpost and displays no interest in the language, culture and public opinion of its immediate surroundings," Haaretz wrote. "Instead of seeking refuge in the known and the familiar … Israel's foreign policy must adapt itself to a reality in which the citizens of Arab states, and not just tyrants and their cronies, influence the trajectory of their countries' development."
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Plan to boost public schools
A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
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INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Results
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
TALE OF THE TAPE
Floyd Mayweather
- Height
- Weight
- Reach
- Record
Conor McGregor
- Height
- Weight
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- Record
Read more from Johann Chacko
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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