Peace not on the agenda as Abbas boycotts Bahrain
T
he Trump administration is rolling out the economic portion of its Middle East peace plan at an important summit in Bahrain next week, June 25 and 26. The parley will focus on how best to support the Palestinian economy as part of a broader regional peace agreement.
There are some big names on the guest list: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates have all RSVPed that they will be coming, and Israel is reportedly sending a business delegation. One name, though, is curiously absent from the list of confirmed attendees: the Palestinians.
Predictably, the Palestinians declared they would be boycotting the event. Their attempts to pressure Egypt and Jordan not to go fell on deaf ears.
I spoke with a few high-ranking officials, both Israelis and Americans, at the Jerusalem Post conference in New York on Sunday. Some said the summit is a brilliant idea, while others questioned whether it would be a waste of time, but everyone agreed that peace is not one of the anticipated outcomes of this event.
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