Itamar Ben-Gvir has previously called for Arab citizens of Israel to be deported. AFP
Itamar Ben-Gvir has previously called for Arab citizens of Israel to be deported. AFP
Itamar Ben-Gvir has previously called for Arab citizens of Israel to be deported. AFP
Itamar Ben-Gvir has previously called for Arab citizens of Israel to be deported. AFP

MENA

Far-right Israeli minister Ben-Gvir wants to defund Arab communities

Arab local authority heads have called on Benjamin Netanyahu to ignore his letter

The National

July 18, 2023

  • English
  • Arabic

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has demanded the government defund a multimillion dollar development plan for Israel's large Arab community approved by the previous administration.

The far-right minister has sent a letter to the cabinet secretary calling for the plan to be defunded, Israeli media reported on Tuesday, saying it followed calls for an interministerial team to examine barriers to housing for Arab citizens.

“It is unthinkable that the right-wing government will act to continue the implementation of the coalition agreements that the previous government granted to the Muslim Brotherhood and their representatives,” the minister said in his letter.

Mr Ben-Gvir is notorious for his anti-Palestinian views and has previously called for Arab citizens of Israel to be deported.

The economic plan “grants unprecedented budgets and powers to anti-Zionist elements,” the letter added.

The National Committee for the Heads of Arab Local Authorities has appealed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to disregard Mr Ben-Gvir's proposal, public broadcaster Kan has reported.

The ultraconservative government has faced strong public opposition from both Arabs and Jews, and its plan to overhaul the judicial system has been met with months of fierce protests.

Demonstrators blocked major highways on Tuesday and protested outside the national stock exchange in Tel Aviv, while Israel's medical association agreed to a two-hour “warning strike” on Wednesday morning.

Israel's Arab community constitutes more than 20 per cent of the population, but community activists and leaders say Arab citizens face systemic discrimination in various areas of society, including urban planning and education.

Previous governments have approved multiyear plans to “close the gap” between Arab and Jewish areas, including allocating more funds to Arab schools, housing and infrastructure.

Rights groups criticised the plans as insufficient and ineffective, with various groups not included – including Bedouin in the Negev desert and Arab communities in mixed cities such as Haifa.

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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.”

Updated: July 18, 2023, 3:09 PM
IsraelMiddle East