Majority of Israelis think Benjamin Netanyahu should resign

Most of the Israeli public believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should step down from his position, a new poll suggests.

The apparent public shift comes after the country's Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, announced that he would indict the longest-ever serving Israeli leader in three corruption cases.

Fifty-six per cent of Israelis said Mr Netanyahu should step down, while just 35 per cent said he should remain, a poll released by Israeli broadcast Channel 13 showed.

His indictment on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust marks the culmination of three long-running corruption cases.

In the most serious, he is accused of accepting bribes from a telecoms magnate by promoting regulations worth hundreds of millions of dollars in exchange for favourable media coverage on a popular news site owned by the company.

Mr Netanyahu has adopted similar tactics and language to those of US President Donald Trump, claiming there is a conspiracy by police and prosecutors to end his 10-year rule.

He has held large rallies in recent months and has repeatedly taken to the airwaves and social media, banking on his political skills as the walls closed in.

"Police and investigators are not above the law," Mr Netanyahu said angrily on television late on Thursday. He said the country was witnessing an "attempted coup".

"The time has come to investigate the investigators," he declared, adopting a line often used by Donald Trump.

Any trial is likely to be months away and if Mr Netanyahu is found guilty, a final conviction exhausting appeals could take years.

In a video posted online on Friday, Mr Netanyahu said he would abide by any ruling.

"We will accept the decisions of the court, there is no doubt about that," he said. "We will act in accordance with the rule of law."

Mr Netanyahu's political authority is under more intense scrutiny than ever.

Israel has been without a functioning government for nearly a year, with the man called "King Bibi" staying on as interim premier after two inconclusive elections in April and September.

Parliament now has less than three weeks to find a candidate who can gain the support of more than half of the 120 legislators, or a deeply unpopular third election will be called.

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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.”

Majority of Israelis think Benjamin Netanyahu should resign

New poll shows more than half of Israelis believe longest-serving leader has to go

Countries offering golden visas