Gulf states backed the Trump administration’s economic plans for the Palestinians yesterday, making clear they regarded better relations with Israel as central to the region’s future.
Gulf finance ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain joined the stage with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the Peace to Prosperity workshop.
The conference in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, outlined potential investments in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in the event of a Middle East peace deal, which has been bitterly opposed by the Palestinian leadership.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said: “We and our colleagues share the view that whatever brings prosperity to this region, we will support it.”
Saudi Arabia has traditionally been regarded as a guarantor of Palestinian rights. It supported the Arab Peace Initiative, which is based on the Palestinians being granted sovereignty under the “two-state solution”. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, said the administration no longer regarded that as the basis for future peace.
UAE finance minister Obaid bin Humaid al-Tayer said: “We should give this initiative a chance.”
Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid al-Khalifa said the proposal was a “game-changer” for relations between Israel and the Arab world. “We see it as very, very important,” he told The Times of Israel. He added that in Bahrain’s view Israel had a “right to exist” and was “here to stay”.
Read the article by Richard Spencer in The Australian.