Trump’s deal of the century includes economic incentives and prosperity for Palestinians as necessary component to peace

ed note–as you read this and factor into it that not only the bulk of the money, but as well, all the political and organizational management for this peace deal are to come from Saudi Arabia, recall the obviously-scripted and affected outrage on the part of the JMSM and all the other hirelings in Congress over the killing of the journalist Khashoggi and the attempts on the part of Judea, Inc to pry Saudi Arabia away from the Trump White House.

Recall as well the distressing fact that in the midst of the immediate aftermath of Khashoggi’s murder and the predictable screeching campaign that took place, that out of the thousands of websites out there dedicated to dealing with Zionism and the Palestinian issue, there was only one–count it, ONE–website that accurately pinned the murder of Khashoggi to an attempt on the part of Israel to kill Trump’s planned ‘peace deal’.

The New York Times

Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, is traveling this week through the Middle East to promote a plan to invest tens of billions of dollars in the Palestinian territories and Israel’s Arab neighbors as part of his long-promised peace initiative.

Mr. Kushner, who has been working for two years on a blueprint for President Trump intended to resolve the decades-old dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, told leaders of Arab states that the economic plan would be critical to creating an environment in which the two sides could make the necessary political compromises.

“What we have found is that all the conflict does is keep people from having the opportunity to do commerce and to have opportunity and improve their lives,” Mr. Kushner said in a rare interview with Sky News Arabia. “Hopefully, if we can resolve this issue, we will be able to see a lot more opportunity for the Palestinian people, for the Israeli people and the people throughout the region.”

The White House publicly released no details of the economic component, but analysts who have followed its development said that they had been told it would involve investing around $25 billion in the West Bank and Gaza over 10 years and another $40 billion in Egypt, Jordan and perhaps Lebanon, depending on their performance meeting certain goals. Others who have spoken with Mr. Kushner disputed those specific figures, but agreed that it would involve tens of billions of dollars to those parts of the region.

The bulk of the money would come from the region’s wealthiest states, and while the United States would contribute as well, it was not clear how much. In his trip this week, Mr. Kushner has visited the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain, and he plans to sit down on Wednesday with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey. From there, he will head to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

While in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Kushner could meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the first time since Saudi agents killed and dismembered Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and columnist for The Washington Post. American intelligence agencies have concluded that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing, but the Saudi government denies it, and Mr. Trump has resisted blaming the crown prince.

Mr. Kushner, whose secret peace plan has generated enormous speculation in the region, said he would make it public sometime after Israeli elections scheduled for April 9. He has not said whether it would include a Palestinian state, and in the Sky News Arabia interview, he was vague about his vision.

“The political plan, which is very detailed, is really about establishing borders and resolving final status issues,” he said. But then Mr. Kushner added, “The goal of resolving these borders is really to eliminate the borders. If you can eliminate borders and have peace and less fear of terror, you could have freer flow of goods, freer flow of people and that would create a lot more opportunities.”

But if by eliminating borders Mr. Kushner means that the Palestinians would not get their own state, veteran diplomats said it would be unrealistic to expect them to give up their national aspirations in exchange for economic investment.

“It’s going to be a very hard sell politically as well as economically,” said Martin S. Indyk, a former special envoy for Middle East peace under President Barack Obama. “If the bargain is we’ll put in $65 billion so you Palestinians and Arabs will back off your political demands for an independent state based on ’67 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, I don’t think they’re going to raise the money to pay for it. The whole proposition appears to be based on false assumptions.”

Indeed, King Salman of Saudi Arabia hosted President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority this week and declared that his country “permanently stands by Palestine and its people’s right to an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

As it is, relations between Mr. Trump and the Palestinians have soured so much that the Palestinians have refused to meet officially with the Americans in more than a year. Mr. Trump ordered the American Embassy moved to Jerusalem, folded the consulate charged with dealing with the Palestinians into the embassy, closed the Palestinian office in Washington and cut aid to the Palestinians.

Moreover, some longtime specialists in the region said the Persian Gulf states would be reluctant to finance Mr. Kushner’s economic plan without a substantial contribution by the United States. “Since there’s no public talk of a major American investment, Middle Easterners are unlikely to open their wallets without seeing what Washington is going to contribute,” said Robert Satloff, the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Dennis B. Ross, a longtime Middle East negotiator for several presidents, said Mr. Kushner is right to believe that without an economic component, any political understanding may not be sustainable. But an eventual peace plan has to include enough political concessions to entice both sides, as well.

“The Palestinians are conveying to the Arabs that this is an effort to buy them off to give up their national aspirations — and that will require the political part of the plan to look more credible on statehood and Jerusalem for the Arabs,” Mr. Ross said.

As for Israel, the country’s leadership is now up for grabs as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of Mr. Trump’s, tries to fend off a possible corruption indictment and a newly formed opposition coalition in the coming elections.

Mr. Kushner’s trip invariably became fodder on the campaign trail as Naftali Bennett, a leader of a party to the right of Mr. Netanyahu, suggested that the prime minister would cut a deal with Mr. Trump creating a Palestinian state and dividing Jerusalem after the election. Mr. Netanyahu fired back, saying that was “unfounded.”