US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin's meetings with Israeli leaders have changed location and his arrival has been slightly delayed due to protests in the country, a US official said on Wednesday.
The change in the Thursday meetings was made at the request of the Israeli government, the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
They were to have taken place at Israel's Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv, The Financial Times cited Pentagon press secretary Patrick Ryder as saying, but instead will occur nearer the airport.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Israeli cities for the ninth straight week on Saturday to protest against a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country's court system.
The marches have attracted huge crowds on a weekly basis since early January, when Mr Netanyahu's government floated legislation that would limit Supreme Court powers to rule against the legislature and the executive, while giving lawmakers decisive powers in appointing judges.
The intensity of the protests has heightened since March 1, when Israeli police fired stun grenades and scuffles broke out in Tel Aviv during a nationwide “day of disruption”.
Mr Austin has been engaged a whistle-stop tour of the Middle East this week, last meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Wednesday in Cairo.
The pair discussed the “strategic partnership” between their two countries and improving joint military and security co-operation, as well as surging violence between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank.
“The President emphasised the importance of intensifying international efforts to bring about calm in Palestinian territories,” a presidential statement read. Israel must stop escalations and unilateral moves, he told Mr Austin.
Mr Austin was in Cairo on the latest stop of a Middle East tour that has already taken him to Jordan and Iraq. His meeting with Mr El Sisi, a former army general in office since 2014, took place at his suburban presidential palace a 10-minute drive away from the airport.
Egypt and the US have been close allies since the late 1970s, with Cairo receiving billions of dollars in US military and economic aid.
Currently, Egypt receives $1.3 billion in military aid annually, making it one of the world’s largest recipients of such assistance.
The two countries have, over the years, also forged close military counter-terrorism co-operation. They regularly hold joint war games, while Egypt routinely allows the US warplanes to fly through its airspace and grants American warships priority when sailing through the Suez Canal.
“The US-Egypt defence partnership is an essential pillar of our commitment to this region,” Mr Austin wrote on Twitter upon landing in Cairo.
“I'm here to strengthen our co-ordination on key issues and to pursue opportunities to deepen our long-standing bilateral partnership with Egypt.”
Egypt has also played a key role in brokering numerous truces between Israel, Washington’s closest Middle East ally, and the militant Palestinian group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip.
Mr Austin's trip comes as violence has surged across the occupied West Bank to its highest levels in years. He will fly to Israel later on Wednesday.
His visit to Baghdad on Tuesday was previously unannounced and came two days before the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
Race card
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
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8.15pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m
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9.25pm: Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
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Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
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Watch live
The National will broadcast live from the IMF on Friday October 13 at 7pm UAE time (3pm GMT) as our Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi moderates a panel on how technology can help growth in MENA.
You can find out more here
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
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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.”
