Kushner unveils part of Middle East peace plan

WASHINGTON—The White House announced Sunday that it will hold an economic workshop in Bahrain next month to encourage investments in Palestine, the first stage of its Middle East peace plan. The “Peace to Prosperity” workshop, slated for June 25 and 26 in Manama, Bahrain, will give foreign finance ministers and business executives an opportunity to invest in Palestinian territories to encourage compromise on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“This workshop is a pivotal opportunity to convene government, civil society, and business leaders to share ideas, discuss strategies and galvanize support for potential economic investments and initiatives that could be made possible by a peace agreement,” the White House said in a statement.

White House senior adviser and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is spearheading the initiative, along with White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt. The workshop will steer clear of political issues, such as a separate state for Palestinians and the status of Jerusalem, which Kushner and Greenblatt will address at a later date.

“People are letting their grandfathers’ conflict destroy their children’s futures,” Kushner told CNN. “This will present an exciting, realistic and viable pathway forward that does not currently exist.”

On Sunday afternoon, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said that “any economic plan without political horizons will lead nowhere.”