U.S. Senior White House adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner is expected to arrive in Israel next week as he sets out on another shuttle diplomacy effort to promote the Trump Administration’s Middle East economic development plan.
Specifically, the trip is intended to finalize details of the proposed U.S. $50 billion plan to jump-start the Palestinian Authority economy while giving a boost to Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.
Kushner will be accompanied by U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, and Kushner adviser Avi Berkowitz.
In addition to their stop in Israel, Kushner and his team are planning to visit Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, returning to Washington in early August.
The team will meet with the regional leaders about the advantages of signing on to the ‘Prosperity to Peace’ plan, to “continue on the momentum that was created at the workshop in Bahrain and finalize the economic portion of the plan,” according to an administration official quoted by Reuters.
Kushner and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin met last week with the president of the World Bank, David Malpass, to discuss the establishment of the multinational fund. Bahrain Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa was reportedly also at that meeting, according to Hebrew-language investigative news reporter Barak Ravid, who said Sunday in a report on Israel’s Channel 13 the three men discussed the possibility of basing the fund in Manama, Bahrain.
Kushner now allegedly is hoping to convince other Arab leaders to join the plan, which would reportedly be managed at least in part by The World Bank, according to Reuters.
