Depending on one’s perspective, Mideast peace deal architect Jared Kushner displayed either proof of his bias or commitment to remaining grounded and pragmatic when he told interviewers that the Palestinians are not yet capable of achieving statehood. Sounding certain that chances it will happen are remote, Kushner enumerated his list of shortcomings, listing “a fair judicial system … freedom of press, freedom of expression, and tolerance for all religions” as yet-unfulfilled conditions precedent for running a state. Kushner has taken flack for the successive delays in the release of Team Trump’s plan for an Israeli – Palestinian rapprochement, and for dividing it into economic and political segments with plans only for revealing the economic component. While that will happen at an international conference being called an “economic workshop” in Bahrain at the end of the month, the closest the team will come to saying when the world gets a look at the political side is “when it’s ready.” From the few leaks of details available, the Palestinians have declared it to be dead at birth and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned it “to hell.” Coming on the heels of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitting that he “gets” why people might think the American effort is biased toward Israel and that the entire enterprise might well be “unexecutable,” many expressed surprise that Kushner would take what many see as a gratuitous shot at the Palestinians rather than try again to bring them into the process. As it stands now, the PA continues to plead with nations not to attend the Bahrain workshop pointedly noting that the Palestinians themselves were not invited. Most observers who have spoken with The Media Line agree that if Kushner’s intent was “tough love” it was the wrong choice following successive “gifts” to Israel such as acknowledging Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and annexing the Golan Heights. The sudden election in Israel has provided the Trump Team with another reason to delay any planned release of the political plan, but that pushes it into collisions with still more reasons to delay and ultimately, clear out of the interest zone.