Two Republican senators have sent a letter to President Joe Biden demanding answers about reports that his administration has blocked an ammunition transfer to Israel, emphasising the need to support Washington's long-time ally and raising concerns about transparency.
“We are deeply concerned that your administration failed to notify Congress about this decision,” Joni Ernst, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, and Ted Budd said in the letter, obtained by The National.
“If these reports are true, then you have once again broken your promise to an American ally.”
The White House has declined to answer questions about reports that surfaced at the weekend saying it had withheld the aid.
A small but growing number of Mr Biden's Democrats have raised concerns about whether US aid is being used to violate international law amid the Israel-Gaza war, which has killed about 34,800 Palestinians since October 7, according to local health authorities.
Last week, Washington accused five Israeli military units of committing “gross violations of human rights” in the occupied West Bank before October 7, though it has avoided addressing concerns about units' conduct in Gaza.
Later on Tuesday, Representative Mike McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs, said: “The many reports that the administration is delaying sending Israel weapon components to improve the accuracy of aeroplane-dropped bombs is very concerning.
“I'm looking into these allegations and expect the administration to be transparent with our committee.”
In their letter, Ms Ernst and Mr Budd demanded Mr Biden tell Congress what ammunition his administration has withheld from Israel, whether it had been approved by Congress and why politicians were not notified.
“We must give Israel the arms it needs to fight the Hamas terrorists that continue to hold Americans hostage,” the senators said. “We call on your administration to immediately restart the weapons shipments to Israel today.”
Ms Ernst has been at the forefront of lobbying for support for Israel in Congress and has worked closely with hostage families since the October 7 Hamas attacks, in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken into Gaza.
Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, meanwhile, on Tuesday said “it looks to be true that President Biden is clearly trying to placate the pro-Hamas element of his party – there's no other explanation for that”.
Mr Johnson added that the Biden administration assured him personally “as recently as Friday” that there would be “no delay” in delivering assistance to Israel – a battle that was hard-fought in Congress amid chaotic Republican infighting linked to domestic politics.
“This is not the will of Congress. This is an underhanded attempt to withhold aid without facing accountability. It's undermining what Congress intended,” Mr Johnson said.
The pushback also comes as Israel moves forward with a military operation in Rafah, which both the Biden administration and more centrist members of his Democratic Party have warned against.
Chris Coons, a Democratic senator and ally of Mr Biden, endorsed Washington placing conditions on aid to Israel “if they continue with large-scale military operations in Rafah without making any provisions for civilians”.
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.”
