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Norway has said a Middle East peace deal it brokered in 1993 is no barrier to a Gaza war crimes trial, as pro-Israeli lawyers try to use it to derail the case.
The Oslo Accords are "not relevant" to whether the International Criminal Court can hear a case against Israeli and Hamas leaders, lawyers for Norway told the court.
Judges will hear a counter-argument that the accords give Israel "sole criminal jurisdiction" over its citizens in Palestine.
More than 60 states and lobbyists are presenting a legal view to the court as it considers arrest warrants sought by prosecutor Karim Khan.
Norway's 10-page submission telling the court it "should exercise its jurisdiction over Palestine" is the first by a country to be made public.
It comes as a senior US senator told The National that claims of war crimes should be left to Israel's judiciary, amid a backlash from Washington against the ICC.
"We have a democratic country, [we should] allow their system to move first," said Democrat Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate's foreign relations committee.
Mr Khan accuses Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of using starvation as a means of war in Gaza.
He also sought arrest warrants against three Hamas commanders – two of whom have since died – over the October 7 attack on Israel.
While Israel is not an ICC member, Mr Khan's argument is that the case against Israeli leaders is about the situation in Palestine, which is a member.
Oslo argument
A key argument from the pro-Israel camp is that if Palestinians cannot prosecute Israelis under the Oslo Accords, the ICC cannot do so in their name.
Signed in 1993 after secret talks in Norway, the agreement was meant to be the first step in a peace process that ultimately lost its way.
A 1995 deal known as Oslo II paved the way for Palestinian self-government but Israel retained "sole criminal jurisdiction" over its citizens.
However, Norway says nothing in the ICC's founding text (the Rome Statute) suggests that "agreements such as the Oslo Accords are of any relevance".
"Since Palestine has acceded to the Rome Statute, the Court should exercise its jurisdiction over Palestine according to the Statute," it says.
Norway's argument, signed by legal director Monica Furnes, says even if the accords are relevant, they "cannot be interpreted" as ruling out the ICC.
The accords "were meant to be temporary" and Palestinian officials did not agree to permanently waive their rights, it says.
"Any restrictions on the exercise of aspects of its jurisdiction are no more than that: an undertaking, within the context of the Oslo Accords, not to exercise aspects of its jurisdiction vis-a-vis Israel.
"But none of those sovereign rights have thereby been abandoned by Palestine; they can therefore be conferred by Palestine on the Court."
Norway is one of several European countries, along with Ireland, Spain and Slovenia, which have recently recognised Palestinian statehood.
US debate
Submissions from the US and Germany, who are expected to take a pro-Israeli position, have yet to be made public.
Republican US senator Lindsey Graham is submitting his own pro-Israeli views, amid a split in Congress over how strongly to push back against the ICC.
“I want to read [Mr Graham’s] brief but I would think that I will be in agreement with what he's trying to do,” Mr Cardin said.
He said that "Israel's not a member of the ICC, so I agree with the content".
In May, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Mr Graham at a committee hearing that he would “welcome working with” the senator on developing sanctions against the ICC. “I want to take actions, not just [use] words,” Mr Graham told Mr Blinken.
Jim Risch, the top-ranking Republican on the committee, says he is holding up diplomatic appointments over Mr Cardin's refusal to bring proposed sanctions on the ICC before the Senate.
Mr Cardin denied the ICC was the source of the dispute. He said the characterisation was "just not accurate" and appeared frustrated with the hold-up on vacant ambassador's posts. Celeste Kmiotek, a lawyer for the Strategic Litigation Project at the Atlantic Council, told The National that US sanctions on the ICC "would send the message that powerful states can work to block geopolitically unfavourable investigations”.
“If the US efforts ultimately prevent arrest warrants, it will not only exacerbate the hurdles the ICC already faces in terms of resources and jurisdictional limitations that prevent it from holding certain states accountable, but will also lend additional credence to the claims of double standards,” she said.
Israel's offensive in Gaza is also being studied over genocide claims by the International Court of Justice, a separate body to the ICC.
Pro-Palestinian lawyers cite a recent ICJ ruling that declared Israel's occupation illegal as another sign the Oslo Accords can be trumped by the laws of war.
An argument advanced by other lawyers is that the accords are moot since Israel has effectively turned its back on them.
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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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