Israel’s prime minister doubled down on his pledge to annex parts of the occupied West Bank this week after Israeli media reported that a group of retired generals had warned him against any such move because it would endanger the country.
“Swaths of land in Judea and Samaria are not just a guarantee of Israel’s security – they are also our patrimony,” Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted in response on Tuesday, using his preferred Biblical Hebrew names for the West Bank.
Mr Netanyahu was responding to a news report first aired by Israel’s Channel 12 that the Commanders for Israel’s Security, a nonpartisan group of about 300 retired senior military and security officers, had sent him a letter warning that extending sovereignty over parts of the West Bank would dangerously lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and a violent power vacuum.
The group also urged the prime minister to hold a public referendum before moving forward with annexing any territory.
"Just as we promised to stand by you as you take steps to separate from the Palestinians while continuing to control the security [situation] until an agreement is reached, so too we pledge to stand with you, shoulder to shoulder, against advocates of annexation whose ideological fervour shadows the clarity of their view of the severity of the consequences," the letter said, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Stressing their commitment to the two-state solution, the officers said “each of us shares the view that the application of the law in Judea and Samaria – in whole or in part – outside the framework of an agreement, will trigger a chain reaction that will seriously damage Israel’s economy, its regional and international standing, but mainly the state’s security”.
Mr Netanyahu, who is facing indictment in several corruption cases, was re-elected in April in a vote seen as a referendum on his legacy. In a last minute pre-election gamble, seen as a play to pull votes away from his rivals to the right, he promised to annex parts of the West Bank if elected.
Mr Netanyahu is now in negotiations to form a coalition government. He is reportedly looking to have his coalition push through some kind of immunity to prevent his indictment while in power. Israeli analysts have speculated that a push towards annexation, supported by Mr Netanyahu’s competitors, might be part of a backroom deal.
Members of Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party have also condemned the letter as a politicised attack.
“We’re tired of hearing time and again of former senior defence officials using the ranks on their shoulders to push their political viewpoints,” Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said in a statement. “Tell the public the truth: You are leftists who oppose our presence in Judea and Samaria. And don’t hide behind such doomsayings.”
On Monday, Likud Knesset member Sharren Haskel put forward a bill to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. The bill stipulates that annexation would be subject to a referendum by the area’s Israeli settler and Palestinian residents. Ms Haskel proposed the bill last year but put it on hold because of party politics. The bill was not expected to pass but this time, Ms Haskel said, she is hoping for the prime minister’s support.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km
The five pillars of Islam
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 592bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Price: Dh980,000
On sale: now
Notable groups (UAE time)
Jordan Spieth, Si Woo Kim, Henrik Stenson (12.47pm)
Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen (12.58pm)
Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood (1.09pm)
Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, Zach Johnson (4.04pm)
Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey, Adam Scott (4.26pm)
Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy (5.48pm)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Race card
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1.600m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 2,000m
7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 1,200m
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 2,000m
9.25pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,400m
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
FIGHT%20CARD
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014
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Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 1
Mata 11'
Chelsea 1
Alonso 43'
Most%20polluted%20cities%20in%20the%20Middle%20East
%3Cp%3E1.%20Baghdad%2C%20Iraq%3Cbr%3E2.%20Manama%2C%20Bahrain%3Cbr%3E3.%20Dhahran%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E4.%20Kuwait%20City%2C%20Kuwait%3Cbr%3E5.%20Ras%20Al%20Khaimah%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E6.%20Ash%20Shihaniyah%2C%20Qatar%3Cbr%3E7.%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E8.%20Cairo%2C%20Egypt%3Cbr%3E9.%20Riyadh%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E10.%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%202022%20World%20Air%20Quality%20Report%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MOST%20POLLUTED%20COUNTRIES%20IN%20THE%20WORLD
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