Donald Trump's son-in-law has finally presented his economic plan that envisages prosperity for the Palestinian people. Expectations were high, but political realities are conspicuous by their absence.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
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The Middle East Economic Plan, dubbed "Peace to Prosperity" is the brainchild of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. Its 136-pages read like a glossy magazine, with photos of children walking to school and smiling farmers adorning the document.
At Tuesday's long-anticipated economic workshop in Manama, Bahrain, Kushner officially presented his plan as the "deal of the century." The political part is set to follow, but no one actually knows when. It is not expected until after Israeli elections in September.
The project "Peace to Prosperity" is detailed in 40 pages, divided into three chapters. Some 96 pages summarize the programs, projects and statistics. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) described the plan as consisting of only "abstract promises."
The US cut roughly $500 million in aid to PalestiniansImage: DW/T. Kraemer
'Unleashing economic potential'
The first part of the plan outlines combatting corruption, opening up The West Bank and Gaza Strip to regional and global markets and connecting the two with a railway link. Yet Kushner's proposal does not explain how something that has not happened for years will now materialize.
There are promises to strengthen the private sector and introduce 4G, LTE and 5G mobile networks. The latter doesn't even exist yet in the US. The West Bank only acquired a 3G network in 2018 because the Israeli government finally allowed it, after many years of waiting.
According to Kushner's vision, Gaza and the West Bank could, "just like Dubai and Singapore," benefit from their strategic location to become a regional financial center.
But unlike the Palestinian territories, Dubai and Singapore have airports. The plan, instead, is to expand airports in neighboring Lebanon and Jordan.
'Empowering the Palestinian People'
Education is another theme in the proposal, which promises online education platforms and international exchanges.
But how Palestinians' freedom of movement would be expanded and their travel restrictions loosened, remains to be seen. There are generations of people in the Gaza Strip who have never been allowed to leave the territory.
Kushner envisages investments in cultural institutions and a revamping of the health sector. But here too, there has been no indication of how to go about it.
'Enhancing Palestinian Governance'
The plan concludes with a section devoted to supporting the Palestinian leadership, so that they can strengthen the private sector.
The overall aim is to increase exports and reduce dependency on external donors.
Palestinians on Bahrain talks
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Plea for pledges
At the Bahrain conference, the US called for some $50 billion (€44 billion) in investments over the next 10 years.
Washington's allies such as Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were in attendance, as well as representatives from Egypt, Jordan and Morocco.
However, Lebanon and Iraq are absent, and Israel was not invited. The Palestinian Authority boycotted the meeting.
Many see the list of attendees as a sign that the US is after big Arab donors. Tarek Baconi, analyst at the Brussels-based Crisis Group, told DW that Kushner's plan proposes projects that the US would have financed itself in the past. "But it seems their desire is to stay completely out of any form of financing or support for the Palestinians — at least rhetorically," Baconi said.
Saudi Arabia could be using the plan to improve ties with IsraelImage: Reuters/A. Levy & A. Cohen
Rejection from the Arab world
Even if funding is promised, the Palestinian leadership and its people have already rejected Kushner's plan. Mounir el-Jagoub, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, said the plan was an attempt to "kill the political aspirations of the Palestinian people" with money from rich Arab states.
Although the economic plan is only meant to be implemented after a peace plan has been achieved, it is clear that Kushner's vision does not include an independent Palestinian state.
US officials have already let it be known that the so-called two-state solution, which has been supported by numerous countries worldwide, has been rejected by the president's son-in-law.
The words "Palestinian state," "Palestine" or "occupation" are nowhere to be found in the 136-page document. Israel is also only mentioned in connection with border crossings or economic cooperation.
Muriel Asseburg of German Institute for International and Security Affairs noted that neither the occupation of the territories, the restrictions associated with it, nor the blockade of the Gaza Strip, nor the Palestinian political divisions were taken into account.
"The main obstacles to economic development in the Palestinian territories are not addressed," Asseburg said.
A history of the Middle East peace process
For over half a century, disputes between Israelis and Palestinians over land, refugees and holy sites remain unresolved. DW gives you a short history of when the conflict flared and when attempts were made to end it.
UN Security Council Resolution 242, 1967
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, passed on November 22, 1967, called for the exchange of land for peace. Since then, many of the attempts to establish peace in the region have referred to 242. The resolution was written in accordance with Chapter VI of the UN Charter, under which resolutions are recommendations, not orders.
Image: Getty Images/Keystone
Camp David Accords, 1978
A coalition of Arab states, led by Egypt and Syria, fought Israel in the Yom Kippur or October War in October 1973. The conflict eventually led to the secret peace talks that yielded two agreements after 12 days. This picture from March 26, 1979, shows Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, his US counterpart Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin after signing the accords in Washington.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/B. Daugherty
The Madrid Conference, 1991
The US and the former Soviet Union came together to organize a conference in the Spanish capital. The discussions involved Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinians — not from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) — who met with Israeli negotiators for the first time. While the conference achieved little, it did create the framework for later, more productive talks.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Hollander
Oslo I Accord, 1993
The negotiations in Norway between Israel and the PLO, the first direct meeting between the two parties, resulted in the Oslo I Accord. The agreement was signed in the US in September 1993. It demanded that Israeli troops withdraw from West Bank and Gaza Strip and a self-governing, interim Palestinian authority be set up for a five-year transitional period. A second accord was signed in 1995.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Sachs
Camp David Summit Meeting, 2000
US President Bill Clinton invited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat to the retreat in July 2000 to discuss borders, security, settlements, refugees and Jerusalem. Despite the negotiations being more detailed than ever before, no agreement was concluded. The failure to reach a consensus at Camp David was followed by renewed Palestinian uprising, the Second Intifada.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/R. Edmonds
The Arab Peace Initiative, 2002
The Camp David negotiations were followed first by meetings in Washington and then in Cairo and Taba, Egypt — all without results. Later the Arab League proposed the Arab Peace Initiative in Beirut in March 2002. The plan called on Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders so that a Palestinian state could be set up in the West Bank and Gaza. In return, Arab countries would agree to recognize Israel.
Image: Getty Images/C. Kealy
The Roadmap, 2003
The US, EU, Russia and the UN worked together as the Middle East Quartet to develop a road map to peace. While Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas accepted the text, his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon had more reservations with the wording. The timetable called for a final agreement on a two-state solution to be reached in 2005. Unfortunately, it was never implemented.
Image: Getty Iamges/AFP/J. Aruri
Annapolis, 2007
In 2007, US President George W. Bush hosted a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, to relaunch the peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas took part in talks with officials from the Quartet and over a dozen Arab states. It was agreed that further negotiations would be held with the goal of reaching a peace deal by the end of 2008.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Thew
Washington, 2010
In 2010, US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to and implement a 10-month moratorium on settlements in disputed territories. Later, Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to relaunch direct negotiations to resolve all issues. Negotiations began in Washington in September 2010, but within weeks there was a deadlock.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Milner
Cycle of escalation and ceasefire continues
A new round of violence broke out in and around Gaza in late 2012. A ceasefire was reached between Israel and those in power in the Gaza Strip, which held until June 2014. The kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014 resulted in renewed violence and eventually led to the Israeli military operation Protective Edge. It ended with a ceasefire on August 26, 2014.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Paris summit, 2017
Envoys from over 70 countries gathered in Paris, France, to discuss the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Netanyahu slammed the discussions as "rigged" against his country. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian representatives attended the summit. "A two-state solution is the only possible one," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said at the opening of the event.
Image: Reuters/T. Samson
Deteriorating relations in 2017
Despite the year's optimistic opening, 2017 brought further stagnation in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. A deadly summer attack on Israeli police at the Temple Mount, a site holy to both Jews and Muslims, sparked deadly clashes. Then US President Donald Trump's plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem prompted Palestinian leader Abbas to say "the measures ... undermine all peace efforts."
Image: Reuters/A. Awad
Trump's peace plan backfires, 2020
US President Donald Trump presented a peace plan that freezes Israeli settlement construction but retains Israeli control over most of the illegal settlements it has already built. The plan would double Palestinian-controlled territory but asks Palestinians to cross a red line and accept the previously constructed West Bank settlements as Israeli territory. Palestinians reject the plan.
Image: Reuters/M. Salem
Conflict reignites in 2021
Plans to evict four families and give their homes in East Jerusalem to Jewish settlers led to escalating violence in May 2021. Hamas fired over 2,000 rockets at Israel, and Israeli military airstrikes razed buildings in the Gaza Strip. The international community, including Germany's Foreign Ministry, called for an end to the violence and both sides to return to the negotiating table.
Image: Mahmud Hams/AFP
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Kushner's plan 'will not fly'
In Ramallah, people took to the streets to protest the plan. Kushner's proposals were criticized for focusing primarily on economic development, instead of the political solution. "The idea that economic revival is followed by peace is unrealistic," Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bischara said.
Nils Schmid, foreign policy spokesman for Germany's Social Democrats (SPD), echoed the criticism. "The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires that the legitimate concerns of all involved, including a Palestinian state, are considered," Schmid said.
He stressed that the idea that Palestinians would give up their hopes for statehood in exchange for money was doomed to fail. Kushner plans will therefore "not fly," he concluded.
