A couple of jarring moments in the first days of his presidency demonstrate how challenging it will be for Joe Biden to repair US policy towards the Palestinians.
The first was a seemingly minor, but in fact highly instructive, kerfuffle over the language identifying the Twitter feed for the US ambassador to Israel. Shortly after Mr Biden was inaugurated, the account’s description was changed to say that the ambassador represents Washington in “Israel, the West Bank and Gaza” rather than simply Israel.
That's obviously true. But it contradicts persistent efforts by the previous administration to reverse decades of US policy that recognised the distinction between Israel and the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. Under Donald Trump, the State Department gradually eliminated almost all references to occupation, occupied territories and even, at times, "the West Bank and Gaza Strip" as entities distinct from Israel.
This idea was most prominently expressed in the so-called "Peace to Prosperity" plan issued in January 2020 that encouraged Israel to annex huge chunks of the occupied West Bank and would have effectively eliminated the potential for a Palestinian state. But it was also reflected in language in numerous State Department documents, including US passports, that appear to recognise Israel's de facto sovereignty in occupied East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank.
The bottom line is that the Trump administration was opposed to a genuine, viable two-state solution whereas the Biden administration will seek to return to the US what had been a bipartisan consensus in favour of such an outcome. In that quest, they will enjoy the support of most professional diplomats at the State Department, who were deeply concerned by the Trump administration's abandonment of both international law and the terms of the 1993 Declaration of Principles, which was signed by the US and Israel and forbids unilateral annexation.
So, it's not surprising that somebody at the State Department moved immediately to correct the language on Twitter to reflect these understandings. However, conservative media and right-wing politicians such as Michael McCaul, the senior Republican on the House foreign affairs committee, howled in outrage.
The language was quickly restored to read simply "Israel" and the State Department insisted that it was all an inadvertent error and reflected no change in policy now or any planned one in the future.
That may be perfectly true. Someone certainly jumped the gun.
Yet while the language change was hasty, and clumsy in many ways, it nonetheless does reflect the kind of policy change towards the Palestinians the Biden administration could pursue, and the level of opposition that would face.
But the fact that such a simple, basic and, in a rational world, plainly unobjectionable phrase as "Israel, the West Bank and Gaza" could cause an uproar, and have to be withdrawn for reintroduction at some propitious future date, indicates how challenging it will be for the Biden administration to restore something as previously straightforward as the US commitment to a two-state solution.
That conundrum was further illustrated in the confirmation hearings for Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken. He repeated the Biden administration's commitment to a two-state outcome, but when asked if the US would maintain its embassy in Jerusalem and its current policies towards Jerusalem, Mr Blinken answered quickly and simply: "Yes and yes."
Nobody expected Mr Biden to remove the US Embassy from Jerusalem. But Mr Trump's recognition of Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem seems, particularly to Israel, to involve both West Jerusalem and occupied East Jerusalem. If that really is US policy, which was never made explicitly clear, and the Biden administration maintains it, then their purported commitment to a two-state solution isn’t serious.
A compromise on occupied East Jerusalem, and particularly the Muslim and Christian holy places in what is known as the "holy basin", is an indispensable part of any viable two-state outcome. Israel's position that all of Jerusalem is its "eternal and undivided capital" leaves little room for any such understanding.
Fortunately, there is a way out for Mr Biden on this, and, ironically, it was provided by Mr Trump himself. In his December 6, 2017 proclamation on Jerusalem, Mr Trump specifically stated that "the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem are subject to final-status negotiations".
This phrase was never further explained, but it hangs over the proclamation as a crucial caveat. What Mr Biden needs to do, sooner rather than later, is to explain that this can only mean, and that US policy is, that Washington recognises Israel's sovereignty in West Jerusalem but continues to view occupied East Jerusalem as a core final-status issue to be resolved only through negotiations as the 1993 Declaration of Principles stipulates.
It is not a difficult case to make, if you begin the conversation by asking what the "specific boundaries" passage was intended to signify and why it was included. In April 2017, Russia recognised West Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and added that it looked forward to recognising the Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. That declaration angered no one.
The two-state solution was moribund even before Donald Trump's plan attempted to permanently bury it
Right-wing Israelis, greater-Israel advocates, evangelical fundamentalist Christians and diehard supporters of Mr Trump may feign outrage. But it's a necessary step if Mr Biden is interested in reestablishing the US position as one compatible with a viable peace.
The irony is that while Mr Biden is going to struggle mightily to restore this stance, it is hardly a major step forward. The two-state solution was moribund even before Mr Trump’s plan attempted to permanently bury it. Even if Mr Biden manages to exhume a pro-peace US policy, the two-state solution isn't likely to emerge greatly reinvigorated.
Crucially, Israel is now moving at top speed to finalise a major new settlement cutting occupied East Jerusalem off from the West Bank. Mr Biden must take a strong stance against the Givat Hamatos project, which would achieve practically what Mr Trump's rhetoric implied: that any Israeli compromise on Jerusalem is permanently off the table.
If that settlement is built, no amount of impeccable rhetoric or improved policies is likely to salvage the possibility of peace. Mr Biden can and must prevent it, but he will have to move quickly.
Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute and a US affairs columnist for The National
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
In%20the%20Land%20of%20Saints%20and%20Sinners
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERobert%20Lorenz%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Liam%20Neeson%2C%20Kerry%20Condon%2C%20Jack%20Gleeson%2C%20Ciaran%20Hinds%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
Mobile phone packages comparison
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
Scoreline
Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan
Saudi Arabia Al Muwallad 63’
more from Janine di Giovanni
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Teaching in coronavirus times
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
More from Mohammed Alardhi
