Two weeks prior to the opening of the June 25 Bahrain conference, where the US administration plans to unveil economic component of its Israeli-Palestinian “deal of the century,” Israel is uncertain the event will take place. What is the point of a conference showcasing a comprehensive peace plan that neither side wants? President Donald Trump's administration appears to be the only party interested in the plan, parts of which are to be revealed at the conference in Manama after more than two years of gestation.
The Palestinians announced on May 23 that they would boycott the event. Egypt and Jordan clearly see no chance of its success, certainly absent the participation of the Palestinians. Israel, too, would rather the Palestinian issue remain sidelined as it carries on with its endless election efforts. No official Israelis will have a bad word to say in public about the plan or the timing. It is easier just to say “we await an invitation” in the hopes that US presidential envoys Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kushner, faced with an event that seems to be sputtering, will delay the meeting at least until the winter months, when the Israeli political picture becomes clearer. Trump’s envoys apparently had no idea what awaited them when they set foot in the morass known as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
An Israeli security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the way things are shaping up, “even if the conference takes place, it will certainly not be a historic event. Anyone looking at the picture in its entirety understands that it is likely to be a minor event and possibly an embarrassing one.”
Indeed, Kushner and Greenblatt appear to be facing tremendous organizational hurdles they're not likely to overcome in the days remaining before the conference. They probably expected a better response, though they probably did realize that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas might refuse to come. So far, only a handful of Palestinian business people have said they would attend in a display of courage, ignoring Abbas and other Palestinian Authority officials' call to boycott Trump’s scheme.
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