The White House published today the economic part of the Trump administration's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
Why it matters: The economic part of the peace plan was drafted over the last two years and was published three days before the Bahrain conference, which will discuss ways to boost the Palestinian economy. White House officials told me they wanted participants to come to the conference after they read the economic plan and are able to comment on it.
Details:
- An investment of $50 billion over 10 years in the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. Half of the money will be invested in the West Bank and Gaza — and the rest in Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.
- More than 100 infrastructure, industry, health and education projects in the West Bank and Gaza. For example, around a billion dollars will be invested in tourism projects.
- $5 billion will be invested in a passage that will connect the West Bank and Gaza through Israeli territory and will include a highway and a possible railway.
The big picture: White House officials say the goal of the plan is to create a million jobs in the West Bank and Gaza and to double the Palestinian GDP over 10 years.
- The plan aims at lowering Palestinian unemployment from 30% today to single digits, and cutting poverty by half within a decade, the White House officials added.
- Some of the funding for the plan will come from U.S. taxpayers, but most will come from the Gulf States, Western countries and the private sector, per the officials.
The bottom line: The White House officials stressed that the economic plan is only the beginning and the political part of the plan will be released in the future.
- "The economic plan will not work without resolving the political issues," the White House officials said.
