Benjamin Netanyahu coalition partner pulls back from triggering Israeli election



Key members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition announced on Monday that they would not resign, averting a collapse of the Israeli prime minister’s government.

In a much anticipated morning press conference, Education Minister Naftali Bennett — Mr Netanyahu’s main opponent who heads the extreme-right Jewish Home party — walked back from earlier threats to resign, even though “the State of Israel stopped winning” under Mr Netanyahu.

“It's better if the prime minister beats us in a political battle than if [Hamas chief Ismail] Haniyeh beats us,” Mr Bennett said, standing alongside Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.

On Sunday, Mr Netanyahu stressed Israel’s security in an appeal to his coalition partners not to leave the government.

"We are in a particularly complex security situation," he said. "In times like these, you do not overthrow a government. It's irresponsible. We have another full year until elections."

The challenges to the Israeli premier’s leadership increased last week after a botched Israeli intelligence operation inside the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip left seven Palestinians and one Israeli soldier dead and led to the biggest flare-up of hostilities since the 2014 war.

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After two days of bloody exchanges of rockets and bombs, Israel and Hamas reached a short-term ceasefire.

Shortly afterwards, hawkish Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman appeared on television to announce his resignation, ostensibly in protest against Mr Netanyahu’s decision not to escalate Israeli strikes in Gaza, which he denounced as "buying short-term quiet, with the price being severe long-term damage to national security".

“As far as I'm concerned, what happened yesterday — the truce combined with the process with Hamas — is capitulating to terror,” Mr Lieberman said.

Mr Lieberman’s resignation and the departure of his Yisrael Beiteinu party from government left Mr Netanyahu’s coalition with a one-seat majority in parliament.

Mr Bennett quickly announced that he wanted the position of defence minister, staking his support of Mr Netanyahu’s coalition on receiving the coveted portfolio.

But Mr Netanyahu rejected the ultimatum and instead gave himself the portfolio, making it one of several ministries the prime minister now heads. Mr Bennett accepted that but called on Mr Netanyahu to be more right-wing in his leadership.

Talks between the battling factions had reached a stalemate by the weekend, leading to widespread speculation that the government would fall and parliament would call for early elections.

Nonetheless, Mr Netanyahu and his Likud party continued to make the case against early elections. In a prime time press conference on Sunday, the prime minister rejected early elections, saying that he “has a plan” and had “risked my life time after time to safeguard our lives here in the land of Israel”.

The final say, then, was left to Mr Bennett. The nationalist firebrand is widely popular among far-right Israelis and is viewed as Mr Netanyahu’s main electoral threat.

Although Mr Bennett ultimately backed down on Monday, he did mention the failure to demolish the Bedouin village of Khan Al Ahmar as one of Mr Netanyahu's failings, raising the stakes that it could be carried out soon.

Mr Bennett though came in for criticism of his own, with Mr Lieberman tweeting: “Now I know why we lost our deterrence.”

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What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. 

 

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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Anxiety and work stress major factors

Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.

A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.

Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.

One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.

It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."

Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.

“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi. 

“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."

Daniel Bardsley