President Trump Indicates Release of Mideast Plan after Election

President Trump has confirmed what many have concluded: the rest of the Mideast peace plan is expected to be released following the September 17 Israeli election. Previously, the economic portion of the proposal was presented amid pomp and circumstance of a so-called “economic workshop” in Bahrain. Most commentary on that effort indicates the event failed to hit its mark, in particular because the Palestinians were not participants in the mega-event staged for their benefit. The Palestinian Authority is so far sticking to its refusal to cooperate on American initiatives because of what they see as an inordinate degree of US largess for the Israelis and none for the Palestinians. As well, most of the criticism of the partial release of the plan insisted the economic side was meaningless without the political side. The release has been delayed several times, the most recent reason being the second election in Israel after Prime Minister Netanyahu failed to assemble a governing coalition. At the present time, there is little excitement or confidence relative to the soon-to-be-released plan.