The United States said Saturday that its Middle East peace plan to be presented next week in Bahrain aims to raise more than $50 billion for the Palestinians and create one million jobs for them within a decade.
Unveiling details for the first time of its long-awaited peace initiative, President Donald Trump's administration said it was looking to attract unprecedented international investment to the Palestinians and to dramatically improve infrastructure, education and internal governance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The conference Tuesday and Wednesday in Bahrain, led by Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, is the opening of the US government's delayed peace effort, which officials say will later include a political component.
But the Palestinian Authority is boycotting the so-called Peace to Prosperity workshop and a senior official swiftly rejected the plan, charging that the unabashedly pro-Israel Trump is seeking to buy off the Palestinians and deprive them of an independent state.
The White House cast the plan — to be discussed in more detail in Bahrain with finance chiefs of oil-rich Gulf Arab states — as "the most ambitious and comprehensive international effort for the Palestinian people to date."
"For too long the Palestinian people have been trapped in inefficient frameworks of the past," Kushner said in a statement.
"The Peace to Prosperity plan is a framework for a brighter, more prosperous future for the Palestinian people and the region and a vision of what is possible if there is peace," he said.
The White House said the plan aimed to raise more than $50 billion over a decade, with a goal of more than doubling Palestinian gross domestic product.
The White House said the initiative had the power to create more than one million Palestinian jobs — bringing the unemployment rate down to the single digits, in line with developed economies — and reduce the poverty rate by 50 percent.
It said that money would be administered by a multinational development bank — not the Palestinian Authority — as a way to ensure better governance and prevent corruption.
– Palestinian ire –
Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi quickly rejected the plan, saying the United States should instead press Israel to allow the Palestinians to thrive.
"First lift the siege of Gaza, stop the Israeli theft of our land, resources and funds, give us our freedom of movement and control over our borders, airspace, territorial waters etc. Then watch us build a vibrant prosperous economy as a free and sovereign people," she tweeted.
The Palestinian leadership is deeply distrustful of Kushner, a family friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Trump, who has taken a series of landmark steps to support Israel including recognizing bitterly divided Jerusalem as its capital.
US officials have hinted that the political part of the plan — which could come out as late as November, after Israel holds new elections and forms a government — will not mention the creation of an independent Palestinian state, a goal of decades of US diplomacy.
Israeli Energy minister Yuval Steinitz, a member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party considered close to the premier, voiced support for Kushner's plan.
"It looks good. We're always in favor of developing the Palestinian economy and for the end of the humanitarian crisis," he told Israel's Channel 13.
"Everyone in the world wants to help the Palestinians except for the Palestinians themselves," he added.
– Improving infrastructure, governance –
After spending more than two years working on the plan, Kushner offered a framework full of specifics — even lauding the ice cream of Ramallah in a section on promoting tourism.
But it remains unclear who will pay the bill for the Peace to Prosperity plan and whether Gulf Arabs — who have increasingly found common cause with Israel due to their mutual hostility toward Iran — will be willing to contribute even before a political settlement.
The economic plan said it also aimed to assist the Gaza Strip, despite the Israeli blockade of the crowded and impoverished territory due to its control by the militant group Hamas.
Projects include a $590 million upgrade of Gaza's main power plant — which the White House said would create tens of thousands of jobs and provide reliable energy for the first time in years — and $500 million to build a world-class university in either Gaza or the West Bank.
It also called for a major push to develop tourism and some $900 million in grants to improve roads, cargo terminals and border crossings to link the Palestinian economy to its Arab neighbors — but not to Israel, which has sought a physical separation from the territories.
US seeks big boosts in Palestinian infrastructure, education
Washington (AFP) June 22, 2019 –
The US Middle East economic plan unveiled Saturday promises major boosts to the Palestinian economy, with a goal of raising more than $50 billion in investment and creating one million jobs over 10 years.
The initiative will be discussed at a conference in Bahrain that is being boycotted by the Palestinians, who believes President Donald Trump's pro-Israel administration is trying to buy them off and end their goal of an independent state.
Here are key aspects of the economic plan, as released by the White House:
– Infrastructure –
The plan calls for major investment to improve power generation, potable water supply and waste water treatment in the Palestinian territories, where basic services have been under increasing strain.
In the impoverished Gaza Strip — one of the most densely populated places on Earth and blockaded by Israel as the militant movement Hamas controls the territory — the plan calls for $590 million in grants and low-interest loans to upgrade the main power plant, bringing reliable electricity for the first time in years and creating tens of thousands of jobs.
The plan also seeks a major push to integrate the Palestinian economy with its Arab neighbors — although not with Israel.
Up to $900 million, all in grants, will go to upgrade cargo terminals and build special access roads to reduce the time and costs of cross-border trade and travel.
The plan also calls for the construction of a modern road and potentially a rail line to link the West Bank and Gaza Strip — touching on longstanding Palestinian concerns that the two territories are not connected.
– Education –
Seeing education as key to the Palestinian future, the plan calls for $500 million in grants to create a new university in either the West Bank or Gaza Strip that will aim for top global standards.
It also calls for $30 million in training for women with a goal of increasing female participation in the labor force from 20 to 35 percent.
The initiative also sets goals of raising the overall development conditions in the Palestinian territories, with an aim of raising average life expectancy from 74 to 80 years.
– Tourism –
The plan puts a major emphasis on tourism, calling for $1.5 billion in low-interest financing and another $500 million in grants to develop attractions and promote the Palestinian territories.
Noting that the Palestinian territories are home to some of Christianity's holiest sites, the plan aims to draw tens of thousands of additional tourists each year, largely by encouraging visitors already in the region to add another destination.
– Governance –
In an implicit criticism of the Palestinian Authority, the plan says that funds will be administered by a multilateral development bank to prevent corruption and ensure transparency.
In line with US and IMF thinking, the plan advocates a free market including greater protection of property rights and a "pro-growth tax structure."
With some $30 million in grants, the plan calls for the creation of a modern database to register land ownership.
– Political issues –
The plan deliberately does not address a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, an outcome that has eluded diplomats for decades.
The Trump administration says the political component will be unveiled later this year, potentially in November after Israel holds elections and forms a government.
The Palestinians are deeply distrustful of Trump, who has taken a series of landmark decisions to back Israel including recognizing bitterly contested Jerusalem as its capital.
