Kushner's Middle East peace plan under fire
At a conference in Bahrain Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has presented a 50-billion-dollar plan to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The programme is to be financed by rich Gulf states, among others. Representatives of the Palestinians stayed away from the conference and called for a political solution to the Middle East conflict. For this and other reasons observers are sceptical that the plan can succeed.
A complete sham
US President Trump apparently believes he can buy peace in the Middle East with other countries' money, the Tages-Anzeiger criticises:
“According to America's plan 70 percent of the money is supposed to come from the Gulf states, 10 percent from the Europeans, and then the Americans pitching in with 20 percent. That takes guts: developing projects and passing on most of the costs to others. ... In any event closer inspection reveals that the whole thing is a complete sham, nothing more than a loan running into the billions which the Palestinians are supposed to agree to, one assumes, in exchange for the Israelis reining in their settlement plan. Because most of the promised financial support is set to take the form of a a loan or subsidy.”
Money won't resolve this conflict
The Palestinians have good reason to distrust the Kushner plan, La Vanguardia concludes:
“Strengthening a region's economy can be a good measure for ensuring its prosperity - or at least improving the quality of life of its inhabitants. So the Manama conference should primarily be seen as a positive step. ... But the Middle East conflict won't be resolved with money alone. The Palestinian authorities are distrustful of an economic plan put forward by a country with strong ties to Israel. Because they see Israel as the main cause of their economic weakness, particularly since it occupies their territories, controls their borders and obstructs their economy from the procuring of raw materials to exports.”
Doomed to failure
The conference in Bahrain and the US peace plan will not bear fruit, Daily Sabah believes:
“First, Palestinians are boycotting the gathering. All major Palestinian actors, including the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas, are strongly against the conference. Palestinian officials and the public believe that the US efforts are heavily biased in favor of the Israeli state and that the Trump administration ignores Palestinian needs. ... Second, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's failure to establish a coalition government has led to political instability in Israel, which must renew general elections next September. The future of the Israeli government is uncertain.”