The battle between Israel and Hamas now threatens to engulf the entire region.
A major conference of international business and financial leaders in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on economic transformation is overshadowed by the one thing on everyone’s mind: war involving Israel.
The battle between Israel and Hamas, the group that attacked Israel on October 7, killing as many as 1,400 people, now threatens to engulf the entire region and attract the US and other powers.
Panel discussions, sideroom discussions and media interviews at the Future Investment Initiative conference were dominated by the war and its security and economic implications for the region and the world.
“We need wisdom, we need to work together, bring calm and ensure that we de-escalate,” Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said on Wednesday during a session that focused on how countries can balance their domestic policies with the need to strengthen their policies. collaboration with others.
“Before October 7, a lot of de-escalation took place, which brought a lot of hope to the region,” he said. “We don’t want recent events to derail this, so we are doing a lot with our partners to ensure we get back to where we were.”
That sums up the focus of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, over the past year: ending a war he started in neighboring Yemen against Iranian-backed rebels, forging rapprochement with arch-rival Iran – which was mediated by China – and entering into negotiations with the US, which hoped to culminate in the normalization of ties with Israel.
White dove
MBS, as the crown prince is known, made a brief appearance after the conference’s opening ceremony on Tuesday, with an image of a white dove taking off beaming onto the huge screens as Britain’s Got Talent finalist Malakai Bayoh, 13. , sang Caruso by Lucio Dalla.
That came as representatives of world powers debated at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York over whether to call for a ceasefire or a pause in the war. Meanwhile, Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip with its deadliest airstrikes since Hamas militants began attacking the enclave.
As of Wednesday, more than 6,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 17,000 injured in Israel’s retaliatory bombardment over the past 19 days, according to local officials. Nearly 1.4 million of Gaza’s approximately 2.3 million residents have been displaced.
The Saudi crown prince has repeatedly said regional stability is crucial to the success of his multibillion-dollar “Vision 2030” plan to transform the Saudi economy – a move away from near-total dependence on oil exports.
It may be too early to assess the impact of the Israeli-Hamas conflict on Saudi Arabia’s economy. A spike in oil prices could translate into a short-term boon for the world’s largest oil exporter, but a broader and longer-lasting conflict could undermine objectives related to Vision 2030, such as luring substantial foreign direct investment. could delay and even derail the Saudi private sector’s increase in oil prices. gross domestic product and attracting more international tourists this winter.
Economy is shrinking
Before the outbreak of war, the World Bank forecast that Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product would shrink 0.9% in 2023, after growing 8.7% in 2022, when it was the fastest-growing economy among the Group of 20 clubs to land.
“What has happened in Saudi Arabia over the past five years has changed the trajectory of the Middle East,” said Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump and head of Saudi-backed Affinity Partners, at a panel discussion. with former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
He said “forces of evil” – a reference to Iran and its allies in the region – launched the October 7 attack to disrupt Saudi Arabia’s rise and block its efforts to normalize ties with Israel. which he described as the culmination of the Abraham Accords. that he led in 2020 and led to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain officially recognizing the Jewish state.
“If the forces of good win, the forces of evil will try to stop them,” he said.
