GHAJAR, GOLAN HEIGHTS // Israel on Wednesday approved the withdrawal of troops from the northern half of a village that straddles the border with Lebanon - a step that would end its four-year presence in the volatile area.
The pullout, expected to take place in the coming weeks, would resolve a key dispute between the two countries that has simmered since Israel reoccupied northern Ghajar during the war with Lebanese Hizbollah militants in 2006.
In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Security Cabinet, a decision-making group of senior government ministers, had approved the pullout "in principle." It said Israeli diplomats would work with the U.N. peacekeeping force that patrols the border zone in southern Lebanon to make final arrangements. Israel wants to be sure that Hizbollah - and its arsenal of rockets and other weapons - is kept out of the village.
Netanyahu presented the plan last week to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York.
Ghajar is a village of 2,200 people that lies in a strategic corner where the boundaries of Syria, Israel and Lebanon are in dispute. More than 1,500 residents live in the northern half.
Its residents are members of Islam's Alawite sect, whose followers include many members of Syria's ruling elite. Most of the villagers say they want the village to remain united, regardless of who controls it. Virtually all residents have taken Israeli citizenship, further complicating the village's future.
Tawfik Khatib, a 44-year-old resident, said he was upset because he feared an Israeli withdrawal would result in a division of the village and separate residents from their lands and from each other.
"I shouldn't have to need an ID card to pass through my own village to see my sister," he said. "We don't mind which side we end up on but we want the whole village and our land to be on the same side."
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said residents should have nothing to fear. He said Israel has "no intention" of dividing the village and said residents would continue to have free movement throughout Ghajar and in and out of Israel, as they do now.
"We hope to maintain and preserve their daily lives without any changes," Palmor said.
He said he expected it to take about 30 days to work out arrangements with UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, and the redeployment would take place shortly afterward.
UNIFIL spokesman Neeraj Singh said the force was still waiting for formal notification from the Israelis to get more details, including a proposed pullout date.
"This is a long-standing matter and our position is very clear that Israel is obliged to withdraw from northern Ghajar," he said. He said the peacekeepers have been "actively engaged" with Israel and Lebanon, and that to advance the withdrawal, "UNIFIL had recently suggested some ideas and modalities for consideration by the parties."
Israel had hoped to reach a three-way deal that would also include the Lebanese government. But Foreign Minster Avigdor Lieberman said recently that Hizbollah - which is part of Lebanon's coalition government - was preventing an agreement.
Palmor said Israel was confident UNIFIL could provide adequate security arrangements, despite Israeli concerns that the force has failed to contain Hizbollah.
Israel captured Ghajar from Syria in the 1967 war when it took the Golan Heights. After the Israeli military ended an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, U.N. surveyors split Ghajar between Lebanon and the Israeli-controlled Golan, but Israel reoccupied the northern half in the 2006 war.
Under the truce that ended the war, Israel agreed to withdraw, but it wanted to secure an arrangement that would keep the Iranian-backed Hizbollah from entering the village.
The Lebanese army is not part of the pullout plan. Instead, it will rely on U.N. peacekeepers to maintain security along the northern border of the village.
Hizbollah fired some 4,000 rockets into Israel during the 34-day war in 2006. Israel believes the group has restocked its arsenal with more powerful weapons.
Hizbollah is the strongest armed force in Lebanon, and as a member of the government, wields heavy influence over official decision-making.
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Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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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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Jota (2', 32')
Thiago (37')
Van Dijk (52')
Man of the match: Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
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