A mural in Gaza in the occupied West Bank. Tuesday was the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords. AFP
A mural in Gaza in the occupied West Bank. Tuesday was the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords. AFP
A mural in Gaza in the occupied West Bank. Tuesday was the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords. AFP
A mural in Gaza in the occupied West Bank. Tuesday was the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords. AFP

‘Failed’ Oslo Accords should be scrapped, says key Israeli architect of deal


Laura O'Callaghan
  • English
  • Arabic

The Oslo Accords should be scrapped because the past 30 years have proved they are a failure, a key architect of the historic peace deal has said.

Yossi Beilin suggested the twin pacts between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) had lost their true meaning and been “abused” by Israel.

Dutch diplomat and former peace negotiator Robert Serry said it was “remarkable” to hear one of the masterminds of the Oslo Accords speak about their legacy with such dismay.

Backing Mr Beilin’s call for the agreement to be torn up, he argued a new approach to peace between Israel and the Palestinians was needed for a positive outcome to be achieved.

The comments came during an online discussion hosted by London-based think tank Chatham House on Tuesday, the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords.

“Let us stop it,” Mr Beilin told the audience.

Yossi Beilin, a former member of the Israeli government and an architect of the Oslo Accords, called for the agreement to be scrapped. AP
Yossi Beilin, a former member of the Israeli government and an architect of the Oslo Accords, called for the agreement to be scrapped. AP

“We never thought that it would be for 30 years and that we would mark the 30th year of Oslo. It’s not a success. It’s a failure because we cannot get to a permanent agreement.

“We are dragging it and dragging it. It’s being abused by those who don’t want a permanent agreement and prefer the zero-sum game.

“I think the best thing which [should] happen to Oslo is to kill it."

Mr Beilin has previously served in several positions in the Israeli government and was deputy foreign minister in 1993 when PLO chairman, Yasser Arafat, and the Israeli prime minister at the time, Yitzhak Rabin, sign the deal. Their historic handshake on the White House lawn as then-US president Bill Clinton looked on was seen as a major breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

But three decades on, both sides remain locked in a conflict that seems never-ending.

Mr Beilin said people on all sides, including right-wing politicians in Israel, Hamas and many supporters of Fatah – formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement – consider the Oslo Accords “a mistake and a disaster”.

He said it would be better if Israel “got back to the status of occupier”, whereby it would be responsible to pay for the Palestinian budget and sort out education and other services in the occupied territories.

Mr Serry said the agreement had been “manipulated by successive right-wing governments” in Israel and suggested the signing had prompted Europe to become less engaged in the Middle East peace process.

“We [have] left it mainly since Oslo to the Americans,” he said. “The Europeans took a back seat.”

He stressed that a new paradigm was needed for a two-state solution to materialise.

“We cannot go on in the way that we are looking at the problem,” Mr Serry said.

Dalal Iriqat, a lecturer at the Arab American University in Palestine, told the audience the Oslo Accords had given the false impression that Israel and the Palestinians had been engaged in peace talks for the past 30 years.

She pointed out the last serious bilateral discussions held between the two sides, apart from over security co-ordination, was in 2012.

Only a solution to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories that gives her people a right to self-determination can be considered a goal, she said.

Dr Iriqat said Palestinian communities in the West Bank were being increasingly targeted by “extreme settler terrorism”.

The international community should make recognising the existence of a Palestinian state the first step on the road towards a two-state solution, she said.

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Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:

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2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

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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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How has net migration to UK changed?

The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.

It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.

The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.

The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.

 


 

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Updated: September 12, 2023, 3:56 PM