Kushner Launches Bahrain Workshop For Israeli-Palestinian Economic Peace Plan
Senior Advisor to the President of the United States Jared Kushner leaves 10 Downing Street during the second day of President Trump’s State Visit on June 4, 2019 in London, England. Image by Leon Neal/Getty Images
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jared Kushner, the key architect of the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, launched a conference in Bahrain to advance the economic portion of his plan.
“The Peace to Prosperity vision is a modern framework for a brighter and more prosperous future,” Kushner said Tuesday in the capital city of Manama.
A number of regional and international billionaires are attending the conference, and reportedly so are about a dozen Palestinian businessmen. Palestinian business umbrella groups are boycotting the event.
Kushner, a leading adviser to President Donald Trump as well as his son-in-law, said his economic program did not preclude a political program for peace, which his team, charged by Trump with coming up with a Middle East peace deal, plans to unveil at a future date.
“To be clear, economic growth and prosperity for the Palestinian people are not possible without an enduring and fair political solution to the conflict, one that guarantees Israel’s security and respects the dignity of the Palestinian people,” he said. “However, today is not about the political issues.”
The Palestinian Authority is boycotting the conference, in part because of signals from Kushner’s team that the as-yet unseen political component of the plan does not have Palestinian statehood as a bottom-line outcome.
Kushner’s plan envisions $50 billion in investment to transform the Palestinian economy and build democratic infrastructures, including making the Palestinian judiciary more independent and expanding Palestinian higher education.
The Trump administration did not invite Israeli officials, though Israeli businessmen are on hand, according to reports.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
