The Israeli military has confirmed that a missile alert was sounded in the Golan Heights on Friday.
Israeli media reports suggest that three rockets were fired from Syria towards Israel. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) stated that their aerial defence systems were activated in response to the attack.
One of the rockets landed in Syria, the second in Jordan, and the third in Moshav Mitzar in the Golan, according to the reports.
The Israeli Defence Forces told The National: “Following previous reports regarding sirens that sounded, three rockets were launched from Syria into Israeli territory.
“One of the rockets crossed into Israeli territory and landed in open areas in the southern Golan Heights. No interceptors were launched in accordance with the policy.”
This latest attack from Syria is the latest development as regional tensions mount over last week’s Israeli raids on the Al Aqsa mosque.
According to The Times of Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited opposition leader Yair Lapid for a security briefing amid soaring tensions in the region.
The invitation comes amidst a series of violent incidents in the region, including a rocket attack from Syria on Saturday, a barrage of rockets from Lebanon on Thursday, and tit-for-tat rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli strikes over the past week.
Additionally, there have been clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Temple Mount and deadly terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. There was also a suspected Iranian drone launched from Syria earlier in the week.
Israel steps up air raids on Syria
In recent weeks Israel has ramped up air raid attacks in neighbouring Syria, targeting Syrian government and Iranian positions in an attempt to head off Iranian influence in the war-torn country.
Saturday’s attack on the Israel-occupied Golan the latest development against a backdrop of increased regional tensions between Israel and its neighbours.
On Thursday, a volley of over 30 rockets was fired from Lebanon towards Israel. Israel retaliated with air strikes into south Lebanon.
So far and despite the prevailing tensions, there have been no reported casualties from the cross-border strikes.
Israel allocates resources to enforce police activities
Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant has instructed the country's defence establishment to allocate resources and IDF troops to enforce the activities of the Israel Police, according to a statement released on Saturday.
The decision was made after an operational situation assessment was completed. Gallant stated that the forces to be deployed will be determined by the professional echelon.
In addition to the deployment of troops, Gallant has decided to expand the closure on Judea and Samaria and to close the crossings along the Gaza border until after the second night of Passover. This includes the cancellation of civilian measures that were approved ahead of Ramadan and the entrance of workers into Israel.
The reason behind the decision is yet to be clarified, but tensions remain high in the region after a missile alert was sounded in the Golan Heights on Friday, with reports suggesting that three rockets were fired from Syria towards Israel. The Israeli military confirmed that one of the rockets crossed into Israeli territory and landed in open areas in the southern Golan Heights.
In light of these developments, Israel has been taking measures to increase security in the region. “We have a responsibility to protect our citizens and will continue to do so,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Friday.
The missile alert came a day after a shooting incident in the West Bank, in which two Israelis were killed and their mother injured.
The situation in the region is tense, with continuing conflicts between Israel and Syria, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the West Bank.
The Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, has been a point of contention between the two countries for decades.
This is a developing story …
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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Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
