In this Jan. 22, 2013, file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centre, prays with his sons Yair, left, and Avner at the Western Wall. AP
In this Jan. 22, 2013, file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centre, prays with his sons Yair, left, and Avner at the Western Wall. AP

Benjamin Netanyahu's son suspended from Facebook for anti-Muslim comments

He said he would 'prefer' if 'all the Muslims leave the land of Israel'

The National

December 17, 2018

Facebook has banned the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for 24 hours after he posted anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian messages.

Yair Netanyahu, 27, confirmed on Twitter that he had been banned from the rival social media platform for calling for there to be no Muslims in Israel. Arab Muslims make up around 20 per cent of Israel's population of 8 million.

"There will not be peace here until: 1. All the Jews leave the land of Israel. 2. All the Muslims leave the land of Israel. I prefer the second option," he wrote.

"Do you know where there are no terror attacks? In Iceland and Japan. Coincidentally there’s also no Muslim population there," he said in another post.

These posts were removed but he continued to post about Muslims and Palestinians.

After a shooting attack in the West Bank that left two soldiers dead, he posted for Israel to "avenge the deaths" of the soldiers. "There will never be peace with those monsters in the form of men that have called themselves 'Palestinians' since 1964," he wrote.

The younger Netanyahu has long been a public relations nightmare for his father, who is engulfed in several corruption cases. Earlier this year, recordings of him outside a strip club in Tel Aviv from two years prior showed him making derogatory remarks about women. The Israeli leader was forced to apologise on behalf of his son, saying he had made the comment "under the influence of alcohol and has since apologised for them".

Worse for Mr Netanyahu, his son appeared to point to corruption after he complained to his friend, the son of an energy millionaire, that he would not lend him a small sum of money despite his father, the Israeli Prime Minister, arranging "20 billion dollars for your father and you're crying over 400 shekels for me".

He has also previously called left-wing Israeli "traitors" on his Facebook page and has even posted a picture of George Soros with the suggestion that he was secretly in control of the world. Far-right Americans hailed the post against the Jewish businessman, prompting further criticism of Netanyahu's son.

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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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