Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday went a step closer to annexing the occupied West Bank, saying he would place the Jordan Valley under Israeli sovereignty if he won the country's repeat election on September 17.
Mr Netanyahu, standing in front of a blue-shaded territory plastered on a whiteboard map, called it a "one-time opportunity" to redesign Israel's borders and further the right wing's plan for a "Greater Israel", with support from Washington.
That blue area makes up about a quarter of the occupied West Bank, a territory Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
Israel controls about 90 per cent of it already but the world rejects its claims to the territory, calling it an illegal occupation under international law.
Israel regards the area as vital to its security as it sits along the border with Jordan, preventing attacks from the east and ensuring that any Palestinian territories remain demilitarised.
It makes up the eastern edge of the West Bank and runs about 300 kilometres from the Sea of Galilee in the north along the Jordan River down to the Dead Sea on the border.
But it is also a treasure chest for the Israeli economy. As the lowest place on Earth, it has a unique climate that can produce fruit and vegetables all year.
Access to the Dead Sea and its mineral-rich water would strengthen tourism and offer other commercial benefits.
But all of this comes at the expense of Palestinian hopes for statehood. The occupied West Bank would be the key part of any sovereign Palestinian state.
Jericho, the valley's main population centre, would be encircled by Israeli territory, and the rest of the occupied West Bank would be surrounded by Israel to the east and west.
With Mr Netanyahu pledging further annexation, the Palestinians would be left only with small, disconnected enclaves, making it difficult if not impossible to move from place to place or establish a viable state.
In his presentation, Mr Netanyahu suggested establishing road links for Palestinians to neighbouring Jordan, which neither want.
"Killing all chances for peace for electoral purposes is irresponsible, dangerous," Jordan's Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, wrote on Twitter.
For this reason the UN and EU, and Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab world, have come out strongly against the Israeli leader.
But no reaction from the White House could signal that Mr Netanyahu's scheme fits in with US President Donald Trump's peace plan, giving him the cover he needs to push ahead.
Those who follow the conflict closely, however, have seen this from "Bibi" Netanyahu before. He has made promises before elections, then failed to follow through on them.
So we will not know until after September 17 whether he will take a step that has already been widely derided.
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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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