News
Latest News
news bulletin
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Other News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Beirut
20
o
Mount Lebanon
21
o
Metn
21
o
Keserwan
21
o
North
21
o
South
20
o
Bekaa
18
o
Live
Video
Audio
Schedule
shows
العربية
watching now
Ma Fiyyi
SUBSCRIBE
Home
Notification
Live
Video
Audio
shows
Beirut
20
o
Mount Lebanon
21
o
Metn
21
o
Keserwan
21
o
North
21
o
South
20
o
Bekaa
18
o
News
Programs
The News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Programs
Documentaries
Lebanon’s Centennial
News Bulletin
The Untold History
Talk Show
Series
Sports
Variety
Other
Comedy
Oldies
Breaking News
Latest News
Highlighted News
Most Read
Videos
العربية
Watch the latest programs and the latest developments on your favorite screen
Shows
Join millions of followers
Who We Are
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Careers
Channel frequencies
Privacy Policy
Terms and Conditions
US to present economy first' approach to Mideast peace at Bahrain conference
Breaking Headlines
2019-06-25 | 11:12
High views
Share
Share
US to present economy first' approach to Mideast peace at Bahrain conference
Watch now
More details about online video viewing packages
6
min
US to present economy first' approach to Mideast peace at Bahrain conference
The first stage of U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan will be launched in Bahrain on Tuesday at a conference the White House touts as a bid to drum up $50 billion in investment but which Palestinians deride as an "economy first" approach doomed to fail.
The two-day international meeting, led by Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner has been billed as the first part of Washington's broader political blueprint to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to be announced at a later date.
But neither the Israeli nor Palestinian governments will attend the curtain-raising event in Bahrain's capital Manama.
There will be close scrutiny as to whether attendees such as Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf states show any interest in making donations to a U.S. plan that has already drawn bitter criticism from Palestinians and many others in the Arab world.
Although the event is supposed to focus on economics, Gulf Arab states hope it will also be used to show their solidarity with the Trump administration over its hard line against Iran, a senior Gulf diplomat said. Trump on Monday imposed sanctions on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other officials after Iran downed an U.S. drone last week.
Under the Kushner plan, donor nations and investors would contribute about $50 billion to the region, with $28 billion going to the Palestinian territories - the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip - as well as $7.5 billion to Jordan, $9 billion to Egypt and $6 billion for Lebanon.
Among 179 proposed infrastructure and business projects is a $5 billion transport corridor to connect the West Bank and Gaza.
"I laugh when they attack this as the deal of the century," Kushner told Reuters, referring to Trump's claim for the plan.
"This is going to be the opportunity of the century if they have the courage to pursue it."
Kushner, a Trump adviser who like his father-in-law comes from the world of New York real estate, is presenting his plan in a pair of pamphlets filled with graphs and statistics that resemble an investment prospectus.
PEACE TO PROSPERITY
Expectations for success are low. The Trump team concedes that the economic plan - billed "Peace to Prosperity" - will be implemented only if a political solution to one of the worlds most intractable conflicts is reached.
Any such solution would have to settle long-standing issues such as the status of Jerusalem, mutually agreed borders, satisfying Israel's security concerns and Palestinian demands for statehood, and the fate of Israel's settlements and military presence in territory in Palestinians want to build that state.
In an interview with Al Jazeera set to air on Tuesday, Kushner offered a rare glimpse into the plan's possible political contours, saying a deal would not adhere to the Arab Peace Initiative, a Saudi-led plan that has been the Arab consensus on the necessary elements for a deal since 2002.
"I think we all have to recognize that if there ever is a deal, it's not going to be along the lines of the Arab Peace Initiative. It will be somewhere between the Arab Peace Initiative and between the Israeli position," he said.
The Arab Peace Initiative calls for a Palestinian state drawn along borders that predate Israel's capture of territory in the 1967 Middle East war, as well as a capital in East Jerusalem and the right of return for refugees, points rejected by Israel.
Hanging over the initiative are questions about whether the Trump team plans to abandon the "two-state solution," which involves creation of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.
The United Nations and most nations back the two-state solution and it has underpinned every peace plan for decades.
But the Trump team - led by Kushner, Trump's Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman - has consistently refused to commit to it, keeping the political stage of the plan a secret.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close Trump ally, has his own domestic problems, and faces an election and possible corruption charges. He denies any wrongdoing.
"We'll hear the American proposition, hear it fairly and with openness," Netanyahu said on Sunday. No Israeli ministers will attend, but an Israeli business delegation is expected.
Palestinian leaders have boycotted the workshop, and are refusing to engage with the White House - accusing it of pro-Israel bias after a series of recent Trump decisions. Kushner told Reuters that "some" Palestinian businessmen would attend.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was scathing about its prospects of success.
"Money is important. The economy is important. But politics are more important. The political solution is more important," he said.
Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls Gaza, has found itself in rare agreement with its arch-rival Abbas.
"The Palestinian people only and no one else can represent the Palestinian cause," Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said.
He said the Trump approach "seeks to turn our political cause into a humanitarian cause, and to merge the occupation into the region."
Kushner said that even without the Israeli and Palestinian governments represented, the presence of Israeli business officials and journalists with their counterparts from the Arab world would be significant.
REUTERS
To watch the full report, please click on the video above,
Breaking Headlines
US
Bahrain
Mideast
Peace
Deal
Conference
Next
Grand Mufti Derian travels to Saudi Arabia for Hajj
Recommended For You
d-none hideMe
0
Middle East News
2024-04-25
Over 430 settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque on third day of Passover holiday: Al Jazeera reports
Middle East News
2024-04-25
Over 430 settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque on third day of Passover holiday: Al Jazeera reports
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-23
Hezbollah announces launching 'dozens of rockets' at Israel in response to civilian deaths
Lebanon News
2024-04-23
Hezbollah announces launching 'dozens of rockets' at Israel in response to civilian deaths
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Breaking: Israeli airstrike hits Naqoura, reports NNA
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Breaking: Israeli airstrike hits Naqoura, reports NNA
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Shelling from Lebanon hits Western Galilee: Israeli Channel 12 reports
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Shelling from Lebanon hits Western Galilee: Israeli Channel 12 reports
Subscribe to our VOD
SUBSCRIBE
Our visitors readings
d-none hideMe
0
World News
2024-03-13
US Treasury's No. 2 urges South Africa to amplify fight against corruption
World News
2024-03-13
US Treasury's No. 2 urges South Africa to amplify fight against corruption
0
Middle East News
2023-10-16
11 Palestinian journalists killed since start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza
Middle East News
2023-10-16
11 Palestinian journalists killed since start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza
0
Lebanon News
2023-10-14
Adraee: The Lebanese government bears responsibility for any attack launched from Lebanon toward Israel
Lebanon News
2023-10-14
Adraee: The Lebanese government bears responsibility for any attack launched from Lebanon toward Israel
0
Middle East News
2024-04-19
Turkey calls for restraint to avoid spread of conflict in Middle East
Middle East News
2024-04-19
Turkey calls for restraint to avoid spread of conflict in Middle East
Videos
d-none hideMe
0
Lebanon News
2023-12-11
Breaking: Israel launches raid north of Litani on Monday (Video)
Lebanon News
2023-12-11
Breaking: Israel launches raid north of Litani on Monday (Video)
0
Lebanon News
2023-11-02
Exclusive to LBCI: U.S. State Department's Wooster Stresses Lebanon Must Avoid War, Sees Renewed Push for Two-State Solution
Lebanon News
2023-11-02
Exclusive to LBCI: U.S. State Department's Wooster Stresses Lebanon Must Avoid War, Sees Renewed Push for Two-State Solution
0
Lebanon News
2023-10-18
Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
Lebanon News
2023-10-18
Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
0
Lebanon News
2023-10-05
ATFL's Ambassador Edward Gabriel on Navigating Through Economic, Political, and Refugee Crises
Lebanon News
2023-10-05
ATFL's Ambassador Edward Gabriel on Navigating Through Economic, Political, and Refugee Crises
0
Sports News
2023-08-31
Amir Saoud Powers Lebanon to Victory Over Cote d'Ivoire: A Deep Dive Into The Numbers
Sports News
2023-08-31
Amir Saoud Powers Lebanon to Victory Over Cote d'Ivoire: A Deep Dive Into The Numbers
0
Sports News
2023-08-29
France Edges Past Lebanon in a Nail-Biter at FIBA World Cup 2023: A Statistical Deep Dive
Sports News
2023-08-29
France Edges Past Lebanon in a Nail-Biter at FIBA World Cup 2023: A Statistical Deep Dive
0
Lebanon News
2019-02-28
Pierre el-Daher, the man who defeated the Lebanese Forces
Lebanon News
2019-02-28
Pierre el-Daher, the man who defeated the Lebanese Forces
Most read
d-none hideMe
24 hours
7 days
Month
1
Israel-Gaza War Updates
00:15
US officials say Israel may be violating international law in Gaza, Reuters source reports
Israel-Gaza War Updates
00:15
US officials say Israel may be violating international law in Gaza, Reuters source reports
2
Lebanon News
00:25
French foreign minister aims to prevent Israel-Hezbollah conflict escalation in Lebanon visit
Lebanon News
00:25
French foreign minister aims to prevent Israel-Hezbollah conflict escalation in Lebanon visit
3
Lebanon News
04:09
French FM: We will push proposals to prevent war between Hezbollah and Israel
Lebanon News
04:09
French FM: We will push proposals to prevent war between Hezbollah and Israel
4
Israel-Gaza War Updates
05:15
Palestinian President: Only US can prevent Israeli attack on Rafah
Israel-Gaza War Updates
05:15
Palestinian President: Only US can prevent Israeli attack on Rafah
5
News Bulletin Reports
12:25
France's diplomatic efforts: Calming the Lebanese-Israeli border
News Bulletin Reports
12:25
France's diplomatic efforts: Calming the Lebanese-Israeli border
6
Israel-Gaza War Updates
06:03
Hamas official: Hamas delegation to visit Cairo on Monday for Gaza ceasefire talks
Israel-Gaza War Updates
06:03
Hamas official: Hamas delegation to visit Cairo on Monday for Gaza ceasefire talks
7
Israel-Gaza War Updates
05:49
Gaza Health Ministry: 34,454 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack since Oct. 7
Israel-Gaza War Updates
05:49
Gaza Health Ministry: 34,454 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack since Oct. 7
8
Lebanon News
07:17
Berri to Séjourné: Lebanon is committed to implementing Resolution 1701
Lebanon News
07:17
Berri to Séjourné: Lebanon is committed to implementing Resolution 1701
Download now the LBCI mobile app
To see the latest news, the latest daily programs in Lebanon and the world
Google Play
App Store
We use
cookies
We use
cookies
to make
your experience on this
website better.
Accept
Learn More