13
A raucous Jubilee
Four generations of British royals gathered on the balcony at Buckingham Palace in London on
June 2 as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrating 70 years on the throne—
but it was the Queen’s great- grandson Prince Louis who stole the show with his consternated
response to the booming noise of a flyby. Pictured from left: Prince Charles, the Queen, Prince
Louis, Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, and Prince William.
THE BULLETIN
The realities behind the Israel-UAE trade deal
Israel and the UnIted arab emIrates
deepened ties on May 31 with a historic
free-trade agreement—the first of its kind
between Israel and an Arab country—at a
time of growing criticism of Israel’s treat-
ment of Palestinians. Both Israel and the
UAE are touting the major economic ben-
efits that such a deal could bring. But ex-
perts tell TIME that it’s too early to assess
the economic impact of the agreement—
and that its main value will likely be politi-
cal in nature.
BY THE NUMBERS The deal lowers or lifts
tariffs on more than 96% of goods, and both
Israel and the UAE are predicting annual
bilateral trade will reach $10 billion—more
than 10 times the current figure—in five
years. However, a local Gulf expert, who
asked TIME not to disclose his name out
of fear that he could lose his livelihood for
challenging the information of regional
governments, says that number is a stretch:
“Look, if the governments are the source,
then they usually exaggerate.”
WALKING A TIGHTROPE Hasan Alhasan, a
Gulf expert with the International Insti-
tute for Strategic Studies, sees the deal as
part of a wider Emirati strategy to hedge
against Iran. The UAE has sought to im-
prove relations with Iran, dispatching its
top national- security adviser to Tehran in
December. But if diplomacy fails, the UAE
can fall back on its relationship with Israel
to contain Iran’s regional influence.
THE PALESTINIAN QUESTION Days before
the agreement, the UAE Foreign Minis-
try condemned what it called Israel’s “ex-
tremist settlers” for storming Jerusalem’s
al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in
Islam, during a provocative far-right “flag
march” on Jerusalem Day. The comments
are a reminder of major obstacles to bud-
ding UAE-Israel ties. “Arab-Israeli deals
[like the free-trade agreement] will not
reach their full potential without resolving
the root causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict,”
says Bader Al-Saif, an expert on the Gulf at
Kuwait University. —mat nashed
NEWS TICKER
four months
after it was shut
down,
expand U.S.
production of green
technology like solar
panels and their
parts
seeking
over $1 billion from
the agency for failing
to stop then team
doctor Larry Nassar
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