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Israel Gains More Billionaires, Breaking Into Top 20 Countries for Ultra-Rich Despite Gaza War

Israeli national flags flutter near office towers at a business park also housing high tech companies, at Ofer Park in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 27, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Despite concerns about the Israeli economy amid the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel added nine billionaires to its population over the last year, according to a new ranking.

The Hurun Report, a Shanghai- and Mumbai-based research firm, this week released its Global Rich List 2024, a ranking of the billionaires in the world in terms of US dollars. According to the findings, Israel broke into the top 20 countries for the ultra-rich with its new additions over the last year, which bring the Jewish state’s total number of billionaires to 29.

Interestingly, Israel ranked 18th on the list — Chai, the Hebrew word for “life,” is associated with the number 18, which is considered a lucky number in Judaism.

The next highest amount for Middle Eastern countries were Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, ranked 20 and 22, respectively, making the Jewish state the home of the region’s most billionaires.

The richest Israeli was Miriam Adelson, widow of the late Sheldon Adelson, a casino mogul and pro-Israel philanthropist who passed away in 2021. Her net worth was $35 billion, making her the 36th richest person in the world. Members of the Ofer family, real estate and shipping magnates, were also on the list of wealthiest Israelis.

The new ranking came at a time when Israel’s economy, though suffering through a war, has seen some levels of growth. For example, Israeli startups raised nearly $2 billion in the past 90 days, according to Startup Nation Center. Some investors have remarked that the funding activity in the country is the highest they have seen in years.

On the economic level, GDP dropped by nearly 20 percent in the final quarter of 2023, though economists have not warned of any serious recession risks — barring a massive flareup in Israel’s north — due to the fact that historically Israel’s economy has bounced back quickly following wars and disasters. Additionally, the country has a low debt ratio, meaning that the Bank of Israel can issue bonds to print more currency without inflicting serious long-term damage to the economy, experts say.

After Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and launched the war in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Israeli reservists — many of whom were ordinary citizens working civilian jobs — were called to service, putting a strain on the Israeli economy. However, many reservists have come home in recent weeks as Israel has made military gains on the ground.

Topping Hurun’s list was China, which lost 155 billionaires in 2023 but still maintained 814 in the country. Shortly behind was the US with 800. India sat well behind in third place with 271 billionaires.

According to the report, there are in total 3,279 billionaires in the world — 167 more than last year. The research agency attributes the boom in large part to artificial intelligence, which accounted for the work of more than half of the new billionaires.

The post Israel Gains More Billionaires, Breaking Into Top 20 Countries for Ultra-Rich Despite Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd

Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang

i24 NewsA suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.

Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”

Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.

The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister

A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo

Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.

Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.

Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.

Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.

Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”

Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.

Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.

Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.

Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.

Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.

The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels

View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.

i24 NewsSweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.

The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.

Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.

“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”

The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.

“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.

The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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