Washington has invited Tel Aviv to participate in a conference in Bahrain which is the economic plan of President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century”, Channel 13 reported Monday, citing a senior Israeli official.
The official told the network the invitation was sent as a hardcopy, which is en route to the Zionist entity in diplomatic mail channels.
Tel Aviv was expected to accept the invitation to the conference, which is conference expected to take place in late June, the official added.
Israeli Finance Ministry had earlier told the Associated Press that it had not been invited.
The White House announced Sunday it will unveil the first phase of its so-called Mideast peace plan at the conference, saying it “will focus on economic benefits that could be reaped if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved.”
The plan envisions large-scale investment and infrastructure work, much of it funded by wealthy Arab countries, in the Palestinian territories.
But officials say the June 25-26 conference will not include the core political issues of the conflict: final borders, the status of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), the fate of Palestinian refugees or Israeli security demands.
The Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday that any American plan that ignores the Palestinian people’s aspirations for an independent state is doomed to fail.
“Any solution to the conflict in Palestine must be political… and based on ending the occupation,” he said at a Palestinian cabinet meeting.
“The current financial crisis is a result of a financial war waged against us and we will not succumb to blackmailing and extortion and will not trade our national rights for money.”
For his part, US President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, Jason Greenblatt, said it was “difficult to understand why the Palestinian Authority would reject a workshop designed to discuss a vision with the potential to radically transform lives and put people on a path toward a brighter future.
“History will judge the Palestinian Authority harshly for passing up any opportunity that could give the Palestinians something so very different, and something so very positive, compared to what they have today,” Greenblatt said.
Source: Israeli media
