The UAE on Wednesday warned Israel that annexation of the occupied West Bank would constitute a red line for the country and undermine the vision and spirit of the Abraham Accords.
“Annexation of the West Bank would constitute a red line for the UAE,” said Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“It would severely undermine the vision and spirit of [Abraham] Accords, end the pursuit of regional integration and would alter the widely-shared consensus on what the trajectory of this conflict should be – two states living side by side in peace, prosperity and security.”
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Wednesday presented a plan to annex the majority of the West Bank, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “make a historic decision to apply Israeli sovereignty to all open areas in Judea and Samaria”.
Israel has taken other steps in recent weeks that undermine the prospect of a Palestinian state, in particular approving construction of E1 – an illegal settlement with thousands of homes near Jerusalem.
“We call on the Israeli government to suspend these plans. Extremists, of any kind, cannot be allowed to dictate the region’s trajectory. Peace requires courage, persistence, and a refusal to let violence define our choices,” Ms Nusseibeh said.
The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 during US President Donald Trump's first term, saw the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco normalise diplomatic relations with Israel after American mediation.
“The Abraham Accords, signed under the leadership of US President Donald Trump, were built on a vision of peace anchored in prosperity, coexistence and tolerance. For the UAE, they reflected a conviction that the Middle East could move beyond conflict towards a more stable and hopeful future,” Ms Nusseibeh added.
“When we signed the Abraham Accords, our Foreign Minister, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, described them as the beginning of a 'new trend' towards a better Middle East. At that moment, he thanked Prime Minister Netanyahu for halting annexation of Palestinian territory – a decision he said reinforced “our shared will to achieve a better future for generations to come.
“From the very beginning, we viewed the accords as a way to enable our continued support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate aspiration for an independent state. That was our position in 2020, and it remains our position today.”
Change the trajectory
Last month, the UAE issued a strong condemnation of Israel's latest settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and the continuation of large-scale military operations in Gaza, warning that such actions threaten peace, stability, and humanitarian conditions across the region.
It also condemned statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the “Greater Israel” vision.
Ms Nusseibeh warned the proposals to annex parts of the West Bank were part of an effort that would, in the words of an Israeli minister, “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”.
She called for an end to the war in Gaza, securing the release of all hostages and for Hamas to be “disarmed and no longer able to control Gaza or its people”.
“But it cannot stop there,” Ms Nusseibeh said. “What follows must change the trajectory of this conflict and deliver a genuine horizon to two states which requires the restoration of law and order in Gaza, credible and reformed Palestinian governance, and the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank.”
Vice President of Palestine Hussein Al Sheikh welcomed the UAE position.
"We highly appreciate the stance of the state of the UAE in rejecting the Israeli measures to annex any parts of the West Bank, considering it a red line for the Emirates, which undermines regional integration and destroys the two-state solution," he wrote on X.
The UAE has delivered more than $1.5 billion in critical humanitarian support to Gaza since the start of the war with Israel.
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.”
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz S 450
Price, base / as tested Dh525,000 / Dh559,000
Engine: 3.0L V6 biturbo
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 369hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm at 1,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.0L / 100km
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
