Despite US pressure, expect regional players to phone in Manama meeting

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.