Israeli far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir has been criticised for his past actions including membership in the outlawed militant group Kach. AP
Israeli far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir has been criticised for his past actions including membership in the outlawed militant group Kach. AP
Israeli far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir has been criticised for his past actions including membership in the outlawed militant group Kach. AP
Israeli far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir has been criticised for his past actions including membership in the outlawed militant group Kach. AP

Israeli far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir says he is now moderate and has 'grown up'


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Far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is being lined up for a senior post in the next Israeli government, on Monday sought to reassure the country's minorities that he would safeguard them.

"I've grown up, I've moderated and I've come to understand that life is more complicated," the 46-year-old told Israel's most-read newspaper Hayom.

But he made no mention of Palestinians who feel especially threatened by his rise.

After last week's Israeli election win, conservative former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's most powerful likely coalition ally is Religious Zionism, a party led by ultranationalist Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, which has teamed up with Mr Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit.

Religious Zionism, like other Israeli parties on the right, opposes Palestinian statehood.

Mr Ben-Gvir has received intense scrutiny in Israel and abroad for his past actions including membership in the outlawed militant group Kach and a criminal conviction for anti-Arab incitement.

Whereas he once called for the mass expulsion of Israel's Arab citizens, Mr Ben-Gvir now says he wants that only for those he considers terrorists or traitors, including some of the 21 per cent minority representatives in parliament.

Retweeting a picture appearing to show one of the politicians, Ahmad Tibi, at an airport, Mr Ben-Gvir commented: "We triumphed". He deleted this, posting as a new caption: "It's about time! May we have only such tidings, and may they not come back."

Mr Tibi retorted on Twitter that Mr Ben-Gvir's newspaper article was a "joke".

On Sunday, Religious Zionism co-head Bezalel Smotrich drew centre-left anger by suggesting the state had a hand in the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish zealot bent on stopping territorial handovers to Palestinians.

Mr Smotrich said rightists were correct to protest Mr Rabin's policies at a memorial ceremony in parliament. He said security services had "used irresponsible manipulation, which to this day has not been fully exposed, to encourage the murderer".

He appeared to be alluding to the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency's running of an agent provocateur among far-right activists in the lead up to the assassination — a matter addressed by a state commission of inquiry and court trials.

In his article, titled "A Letter to My Brethren on the Left", Mr Ben-Gvir said nothing about US-sponsored Israeli talks on Palestinian statehood, which stalled in 1994 and which the Biden administration said on Saturday that it wants to revive.

Mr Ben-Gvir has further called for dismantling the interim Palestinian Authority, which governs in parts of the West Bank, a move that would effectively return Palestinians to open-ended Israeli rule without national rights.

Focusing on internal issues, Mr Ben-Gvir, who wants to become police minister, said he would tackle crime faced by Israel's Arabs, arguing that past governments had ignored them.

Asserting that he and liberals "agree on 90 per cent of issues", he said he would neither seek to impose religious law nor curb freedom of dissent.

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

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Sole survivors
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima


Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650

Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder

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Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses

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Company: Eighty6 

Date started: October 2021 

Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh 

Based: Dubai, UAE 

Sector: Hospitality 

Size: 25 employees 

Funding stage: Pre-series A 

Investment: $1 million 

Investors: Seed funding, angel investors  

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


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Starring: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, John Oliver

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Arrogate's winning run

1. Maiden Special Weight, Santa Anita Park, June 5, 2016

2. Allowance Optional Claiming, Santa Anita Park, June 24, 2016

3. Allowance Optional Claiming, Del Mar, August 4, 2016

4. Travers Stakes, Saratoga, August 27, 2016

5. Breeders' Cup Classic, Santa Anita Park, November 5, 2016

6. Pegasus World Cup, Gulfstream Park, January 28, 2017

7. Dubai World Cup, Meydan Racecourse, March 25, 2017

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
India squads

Test squad against Afghanistan: Rahane (c), Dhawan, Vijay, Rahul, Pujara, Karun, Saha, Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Umesh, Shami, Pandya, Ishant, Thakur.

T20 squad against Ireland and England: Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Raina, Pandey, Dhoni, Karthik, Chahal, Kuldeep, Sundar, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Pandya, Kaul, Umesh.

ODI squad against England: Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Shreyas, Rayudu, Dhoni, Karthik, Chahal, Kuldeep, Sundar, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Pandya, Kaul, Umesh

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Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain

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Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE

Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally

Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science

Specs

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Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

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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 

57%20Seconds
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SUE%20GRAY'S%20FINDINGS
%3Cp%3E%22Whatever%20the%20initial%20intent%2C%20what%20took%20place%20at%20many%20of%20these%20gatherings%20and%20the%3Cbr%3Eway%20in%20which%20they%20developed%20was%20not%20in%20line%20with%20Covid%20guidance%20at%20the%20time.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22Many%20of%20these%20events%20should%20not%20have%20been%20allowed%20to%20happen.%20It%20is%20also%20the%20case%20that%20some%20of%20the%3Cbr%3Emore%20junior%20civil%20servants%20believed%20that%20their%20involvement%20in%20some%20of%20these%20events%20was%20permitted%20given%20the%20attendance%20of%20senior%20leaders.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22The%20senior%20leadership%20at%20the%20centre%2C%20both%20political%20and%20official%2C%20must%20bear%20responsibility%20for%20this%20culture.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20found%20that%20some%20staff%20had%20witnessed%20or%20been%20subjected%20to%20behaviours%20at%20work%20which%20they%20had%20felt%20concerned%20about%20but%20at%20times%20felt%20unable%20to%20raise%20properly.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20was%20made%20aware%20of%20multiple%20examples%20of%20a%20lack%20of%20respect%20and%20poor%20treatment%20of%20security%20and%20cleaning%20staff.%20This%20was%20unacceptable.%22%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Updated: November 08, 2022, 7:11 AM`