Israeli leaders have a habit late in life of proposing solutions to problems they have done a great deal to cause. Yitzhak Rabin, as defence minister, ordered Israeli soldiers to break the bones of peaceful Palestinian protesters during the first intifada, then won a Nobel Peace Prize after becoming an ardent supporter for peace with his crooked-limbed foes.
Ariel Sharon ascended to power on his strength as the architect of the settlement enterprise, then, in a late-life conversion, came to believe that Israel's military occupation of the Palestinian territories was corrupting the army he loved and endangering the Jewish state he had fought to create.
Now there is another newcomer to this fraternity of August converts urging a just peace with the Palestinians: Ehud Olmert, Israel's disgraced caretaker prime minister.
Mr Olmert rose in the Israeli political establishment on Mr Sharon's coattails, parroting his mentor's harsh right-wing diatribes, opposing the 1978 Camp David Peace Accords and arguing against the withdrawal of any land seized in the 1967 Middle East war.
Yet like those who came before him, the lofty perch of Israel's highest political office has apparently opened Mr Olmert's eyes.
Mirroring in broad terms what many Palestinians have been demanding for years - as well as the vision set forth in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative - he declared yesterday that Israel should withdraw from nearly all territory captured in 1967 in return for peace with the Palestinians and Syria.
In comments marking the Jewish New Year, Mr Olmert said the vacated land should include the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. The latter was an especially significant concession, given that for decades he had argued and campaigned on the platform of Jerusalem as Israel's "eternal, undivided" capital.
"In the end of the day, we will have to withdraw from the most decisive areas of the [Palestinian] territories," the prime minister explained to an Israeli daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth. "In exchange for the same territories left in our hands, we will have to give compensation in the form of territories within the state of Israel."
In often scathing terms, Mr Olmert also chastised domestic opponents of a deal with Damascus. "First and foremost, we must make a decision. I'd like see if there is one serious person in the state of Israel who believes it is possible to make peace with the Syrians without eventually giving up the Golan Heights."
"It is true that an agreement with Syria comes with danger," Mr Olmert said. "Those who want to act with zero danger should move to Switzerland."
Since corruption allegations began airing against him last year, Mr Olmert, who turns 63 today, has suffered a rapid fall from political grace.
This month, Israeli police recommended criminal charges against him. Within days, he announced he would leave office after Israel's parliament approved a new government. In the meantime, he has pledged to continue closed-door negotiations with the Palestinians until he leaves office.
According to unnamed western and Palestinian officials quoted in the Israeli media, Mr Olmert has proposed an Israeli withdrawal from 93 per cent of the West Bank, plus all of the Gaza Strip.
In exchange for the settlement enclaves, he has proposed about a five-per-cent land swap giving the Palestinians a desert territory adjacent to the Gaza Strip, as well as land on which to build a transit corridor between Gaza and the West Bank.
Yet Mr Olmert is, politically speaking, a lame duck, with almost no power to see any of his views reach fruition. Thus, in the tortured history of the peace process, where all actions and motives are suspect, reactions to his latest comments have been caustic, to say the least.
"Why didn't he put forth a concrete plan like this when he had power?" asked Fares Braizat, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan. "It reinforces what many already believe: Israeli leaders are not interested in peace, only the 'peace process'."
Jeff Halper, head of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and a professor of anthropology, said Mr Olmert's views were a "conjuring trick".
"Olmert's talking about dismantling most of the tiny settlements but keeping the overwhelming majority of the settlers in place," he said. "His proposals are ? designed to perpetuate Israeli control."
Ordinary Israelis were no less vitriolic, suggesting that Mr Olmert's comments run the risk of tainting any progress he might may in talks with the Palestinians, given the disdain with which he is currently regarded by most Israelis.
"Olmert wishing us, 'Shana tova' [Happy New Year]," said Cipora Julianna Kohn, writing about the prime minister's latest remarks on one Israeli website. "It is a drip, drip of poison from this vain and foolish man."
In his interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Mr Olmert insisted that his comments about the necessity for concessions were not part of a campaign for self-exoneration or a bid for sympathy to Israelis, a majority of whom, according to public opinion polls, support a two-state solution and regard Jewish settlers in the West Bank with chagrin or disdain.
"I am not trying to justify retroactively what I did for 35 years. For a large portion of these years, I was unwilling to look at reality in all its depth," he said.
For Mr Braizat, such second thoughts - if that is what they were - are, if nothing else, dispiriting and not a little tragic.
"Political leaders must be strong and appear strong," he said. "Sadly, it's only when they're on the verge of leaving office and worried about their legacy that they suddenly become wise men."
cnelson@thenational.ae
* Jonathan Cook contributed to this report from Jerusalem
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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 to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
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- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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