Jared Kushner’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Fails to Materialise in Bahrain

• Kushner: “Did I say Deal of the Century? I mean Fail of the Century … I mean Sale of the Century ….”
  –
• Jared Kushner’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Fails to Materialise in Bahrain
  by Martin Chulov Middle East correspondent, https://www.theguardian.com/international
  Senior adviser to Trump found no interest in his proposals for ending Israel/Palestine conflict
  –
  In the end, the ‘deal of the century’ was little more than a failed clearance sale. Jared Kushner arrived in Bahrain touting bedrock principles at untenable discounts. And even then there were no buyers. The conference that was supposed to offer a new way out of the malaise of the Israel/Palestineconflict provided little of the sort. Its central premise of prosperity as a precursor to a lasting solution barely appeared to register on either side of the separation wall.
  –
  In Ramallah and Gaza, there was very little interest in the Trump administration’s proposals. Even in Israel, local media played down the gathering and did nothing to ramp up expectations.
  –
  The $50bn (£39bn) pledged, effectively as a start-up fund for the region’s Palestinians, was less than enthusiastically received in Jordan, Egypt and in Lebanon – where leaders in Beirut, not usually inclined to turn away from a $6bn money pot, dismissed the pitch as a shameless bribe.
  –
  Economic incentives to integrate Palestinian communities around the region and revitalise the West Bank and Gaza economy were widely viewed as redundant in the glaring absence of a political dimension that could turn such pledges in to realities.
  –
  No-one wanted to talk politics in Manama. In the place of a formula that had underwritten peace initiatives for decades came the expectation that the Trump Administration should be trusted to deliver a just and equitable peace, if and when a political dimension comes around.
  –
  To say such a demand was a tough sell would be one of the year’s great understatements. The current US administration has been overwhelmingly supportive of the Israeli agenda and openly dismissive of the Palestinians – a fact that led to a boycott of the workshop by Palestinian leaders.
  –
  Kushner arrived in Manama as the self-styled envoy who could shake things up, and finally bring traction to a peace process that had gone nowhere in the past decade and had shown real signs of disintegrating.
  –
  read more.

end