Benjamin Netanyahu fails to form government, Israel faces fresh poll

Agencies
May 30, 2019

Jerusalem, May 30: Israeli lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament on Thursday, paving the way for a new election after veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government before a midnight deadline.

Netanyahu preferred a new ballot, set for September 17, to the alternative, under which Israeli President Reuven Rivlin could have asked another politician to try and form a ruling coalition.

The election, Israel’s second this year after an April 9 poll in which Netanyahu claimed victory, means unprecedented upheaval even for a country used to political infighting.

“We will win,” Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, vowed after parliament voted for a fresh election when the deadline expired for him to assemble his fifth government.

But the need for a rematch was a blow to a combative leader, who has ruled for the past decade but faces looming indictments in three corruption cases.

The turmoil arose - officially, at least - from a feud over military conscription between Netanyahu’s presumed allies: ex-defense minister Avigdor Lieberman, a far-right secularist, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.

Those parties want young religious scholars exempted, en masse from mandatory national service. But Lieberman and many other Israelis say they should share the burden.

Faced with the prospect of having to step aside at the end of a 42-day period to put together a government, Netanyahu instead drummed up votes to dissolve the Knesset, accusing Lieberman of aiming to topple him. Lieberman denied the allegation.  

The new election, with coalition-building that could stretch into November, could further delay US efforts to press ahead with President Donald Trump’s forthcoming plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Even before it has been announced, Palestinians have spurned the plan described by Trump as “the deal of the century” as a blow to their statehood hopes.

“Now it is the deal of the next century,” Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told Israel Radio after the new Israeli election was set.

The White House team behind the peace proposal, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, is in the Middle East to drum up support for what he styles as an economic workshop in Bahrain next month to encourage investment in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The group planned to meet Netanyahu later on Thursday.

First elected in the late 1990s, Netanyahu will in July overtake Israel’s founding father, David Ben-Gurion, as Israel’s longest-serving premier.

But the failed coalition building of a 69-year-old leader, who just weeks ago was hailed by supporters as a political magician, may open rifts and stir up challenges within Likud.

The last election, in which Netanyahu showcased his warm relations with Trump and frequent contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin, ended with him neck-and-neck with Benny Gantz, a politically untested ex-armed forces chief and head of the centrist Blue and White party.

But Netanyahu was given the nod to form a government after ultranationalist, right-wing and religious party leaders voiced their support.

Dubbed “crime minister” by his opponents, Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing in the graft investigations he faces. In February, Israel’s attorney general said he intended to charge him with bribery and fraud. Netanyahu, who denies wrongdoing, faces a pre-trial hearing in October.

Until the coalition collapsed, public attention had been focused on moves by Netanyahu loyalists to grant the prime minister immunity from criminal prosecution and to pass a law ensuring such protection could not be withdrawn by the Supreme Court.

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News Network
March 24,2020

Mar 24: Saudi Arabia has recorded its first death from the coronavirus in a 51-year-old Afghani resident, Health Ministry spokesman Mohammed Abdelali told a televised news conference on Tuesday.

The man's health deteriorated quickly after reporting to a hospital emergency room in the city of Medina and he died on Monday night, Abdelali said.

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News Network
April 26,2020

Abu Dhabi, Apr 26: Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor says he is appalled after the bodies of three Indians flown back to India were returned to Abu Dhabi on Friday.

The three deceased Indian nationals had died of non-coronavirus causes and were flown to Delhi on Thursday but were promptly returned by authorities there.

“We are appalled at what has happened,” Kapoor told Gulf News. “We do not know if the bodies were returned because of coronavirus-related restrictions, but we are obviously not sending the remains of people [who have passed away from COVID-19],” he added.

“[As we understand], it happened because of new protocols at the airport and we are trying to sort it out,” he said.

Sent back a few hours later

“The remains were not offloaded from the plane, and were sent back a few hours later,” Kapoor explained.

The deceased were Kamlesh Bhatt, who passed away on April 17, and Sanjeev Kumar and Jagsir Singh who both died on April 13.

According to reports in Indian media, Kamlesh Bhat was 23 years old, and hailed from Tehri Garhwal district. He allegedly died of cardiac arrest. Along with the remains Kumar and Singh, Bhatt’s body was initially repatriated on an Etihad Airways flight, then sent back, even though his relatives had been on their way to collect them.

Kapoor explained the procedure through which remains are normally returned to family members back home, saying that the worker’s employer typically makes arrangements with cargo companies to repatriate bodies on cargo aircraft.

The employer applies for a No Objection Certificate from the Indian Embassy, which is granted once the Embassy ensures that all local formalities have been completed. The cargo company then applies for airport clearance, and the airline obtains approvals from the receiving airport.

“If airport protocols have changed, it means cargo companies have to be more careful about the clearance they’re getting,” Kapoor advised.

Additional costs
The ambassador added there may eventually be additional costs to repatriate the bodies but that it is first necessary to sort out the concerns.

The global coronavirus outbreak has spawned difficulties in repatriating mortal remains as a result of the travel restrictions imposed by countries. Remains of people dying from COVID-19 are not being sent back, but the caution surrounding the handling of bodies often affects the repatriation of those who succumb to other causes.

As Gulf News reported, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan reached out to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday for intervention in bringing back the bodies of Keralites who have died in the Gulf from non-COVID-19 causes.

“I would like to draw your attention to the grievances received from Non-resident Keralites Associations (NRKs) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on the delay caused in bringing home the mortal remains of NRKs who had expired due to reasons other than the COVID-19 infection,” read the letter by the CM.

“It is learnt that a ‘clearance certificate’ from the Indian Embassies is required to process the application of bringing home the mortal remains of the dead. The Embassies are [further] insisting on the production of a no-objection certificate from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), New Delhi. To enable to bring back the bodies of the NRIs whose deaths occurred due to reasons other than COVID-19 infection, without necessary procedural hassles, I request your kind intervention,” Vijayan has requested.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 24,2020

Abu Dhabi: A senior Hindi teacher at Sunrise School in Abu Dhabi has died of coronavirus, it has been confirmed. Anil Kumar, 50, passed away on Sunday morning, May 24.

The sad and shocking demise of Mr Kumar, a senior Hindi teacher of Sunrise School on May 24, has left the entire Sunrise family in a pall of gloom, read a statement.

“The management, administrators, other faculty members, students and the school as a whole is struck with intense sorrow and is speechless.

“The bond that he had developed over the years, just as how we have with each faculty, makes the loss unbearable. The entire SEPS family is shaken and finds it hard to come to terms with this most saddening news.

“Anil Kumar was a very inspiring teacher. He always brought a creative aspect to the classes he handled and would make it an enjoyable class to attend to. Mr. Anil Kumar had a great way of motivating his students to do their best, and pushed them to be the best they could be. He was a great strength and support to the Department of Hindi, always willing to scaffold and mentor students and teachers. He was a very approachable man, warm and friendly at heart and that is something I will truly miss about Mr. Anil.

“Mr Anil Kumar has left behind his wife and two children. Mrs. Rajini, his wife is also a member of the school family. She is a faculty of the maths department. Our prayers and sincere condolences to each and every one of the family. May God give the strength to endure and face this most challenging phase of their life.”

It is learnt Mr Kumar fell ill with COVID-19 and had been in hospital since May 7.

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