The White House released on June 22 the first half of its long-awaited Middle East peace plan, the so-called deal of the century, which President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and other members of the administration had reportedly been working on since November 2017. Of the $50 billion in the economic portion of the plan, the lion’s share would be invested in the Palestinian territories over the course of 10 years, while the rest would be given to Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. Kushner presented the plan at a workshop in Manama, Bahrain, on June 25-26, and ruled out any political discussions about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict until the political portion of the plan is released in the fall of this year.

Palestinian leaders had already stated they would be boycotting the workshop in May, and Lebanon joined them by declining its own invitation to Manama. The Lebanese and Palestinian Working Groups on Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon both roundly rejected the deal June 25, and the next day, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri did the same in Lebanon’s parliament.

While certain analysts state that the economic benefits of the deal could conceivably be a boon for Lebanon, they and government officials maintain that the deal ignores several key factors related to internal politics in Lebanon, and fails to consider its relationship to the surrounding region and its stance on Palestinian refugees. In addition, it overlaps considerably with existing pledges from the international community that come with less baggage for Lebanon, and does not offer sufficient concessions in exchange for the costly demographic changes that politicians fear the political portion of the deal could require.

Lebanon would receive $6 billion under the proposed plan, the smallest amount out of any of the potential recipient countries. According to the plan, these funds would be geared primarily toward connecting Lebanon with Gaza and the West Bank and other parts of the region, and would allegedly boost its transportation infrastructure, trade network and tourism sector in hopes of jump-starting the Palestinian territories’ economic output.