Israeli officers on Sunday sealed off the Jerusalem family home of a Palestinian gunman who killed seven people outside a synagogue on the outskirts of the city, police said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier promised “a swift response” after seven people — including a 14-year-old — were shot dead on Friday in the attack on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Israel's security cabinet announced measures on Saturday to revoke the social security rights of “the families of terrorists that support terrorism” after a 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot and injured two people.
“Whoever tries to harm us, we will harm him and those who assist him,” Mr Netanyahu said as he opened the cabinet meeting.
The attack came hours after a Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in the city.
It was the worst such Palestinian attack on Israelis in the Jerusalem area since 2008 and followed a fatal Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city Jenin on Thursday, the deadliest there in years.
The family home in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of At Tur was sealed off on Saturday in preparation for demolition, while the relatives of the gunman were detained by police.
Homes of Palestinian attackers are often demolished by Israeli forces and their families arrested.
The attack drew international condemnation and heightened fears of already increasing violence escalating further.
The Israeli envoy to the UAE has said that his country wants peace but would “fight to protect the Jewish people”.
“We would like to live in peace with everyone. But we will fight to protect our citizens. We will fight to protect the Jewish people around the world,” Amir Hayek said at a commemoration event for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Crossroads of Civilisations Museum in Dubai on Saturday.
Speaking about Friday's attack, Mr Hayek said: “They were killed only because they are Jewish. It is something we cannot live with. They were innocent people in Jerusalem who went to pray in a synagogue.”
The attack came a day after Israel carried out a deadly raid in the West Bank that claimed the lives of nine Palestinians, including a 61-year-old woman.
The UAE condemned the Israeli forces' storming of the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation called on Israeli authorities to assume responsibility for reducing instability in the region.
Speaking at the memorial event, the Israeli ambassador said remembering the Holocaust is remembering that the Jewish people around the world are suffering from violence.
“We cannot settle with the memory. Memory will teach us how terrible it was. But it is not enough,” he said.
“Each and every one of us must fight every manifestation of racism, every intolerance towards others. This is another meaning of ‘Never again’.”
Israel's security cabinet said there would be a discussion by the council of ministers on Sunday over a bill to revoke the Israeli identity cards of families of attackers.
The measures are likely to apply primarily to Palestinians with Israeli nationality and Palestinians with resident status in annexed East Jerusalem.
Mr Netanyahu is to propose measures to strengthen settlements in the occupied West Bank, his office said after the cabinet meeting.
The cabinet also said it would make it easier for Israelis to acquire gun licences. Efforts to collect illegal weapons would be stepped up.
“When civilians have guns, they can defend themselves,” said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is also leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, as he spoke outside a Jerusalem hospital on Saturday.
Mr Ben-Gvir, notorious for his hardline views on Palestinians, says the government should take “other response measures” in wake of the attacks.
“Israel is going on the attack and not just defending itself,” he said on Saturday.
Israeli forces have been placed on high alert, and the army has announced that it will be reinforcing troop numbers in the West Bank, while there have been calls for restraint from abroad.
In recent days rockets have been fired by militants in the Gaza Strip, with retaliatory Israeli air strikes.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday and Tuesday to discuss steps for de-escalation.
Israel's new government has prompted concern both at home and abroad. Thousands protested against the new cabinet in Tel Aviv for the fourth consecutive weekend on Saturday, with senior members of Israel's Bar Association calling for Mr Netanyahu to be declared unfit for office.
Friday's attack happened on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It sparked outrage in Europe, the US and the Middle East.
The gunman was named as Khayri Alqam by some media outlets.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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- 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
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Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
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.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
