Report: U.S. Peace Plan Includes $25 Billion For Palestinians, $40 Billion For Regional Countries

According to The New York Times, The Trump administration’s much-hyped Israeli-Palestinian peace plan—slated for release shortly after Israel’s April 9 elections—includes investments of $25 billion in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and another $40 billion in regional countries such as Egypt and Jordan. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner currently is on a six-nation Middle East tour to garner support for the initiative, and this week told Arab media that the proposal focuses primarily on the delineation of borders between Israel and the West Bank as well as the implementation of major economic and development projects. As regards the former, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law said the administration’s “goal of resolving… borders” was, in fact, a push “really to eliminate the borders”—a statement construed by many as evidence the plan will not explicitly call for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Most analysts agree that Arab nations—not to mention the Palestinians leadership—will reject any proposal that is not based on the two-state paradigm. The Trump peace team is anyway facing an uphill battle given that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is refusing to engage in any American-led negotiations and, moreover, has been boycotting U.S. officials since Washington’s recognition in December 2017 of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.