Inside Story

Can money solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

The US presented the economic plan in Manama as part of its Middle East peace initiative.

Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser and US President Donald Trump‘s son-in-law, has presented the economic part of a long-awaited Middle East peace plan in Bahrain on Tuesday.

Branding the initiative as “the opportunity of the century”, he says he believes it is the first step towards resolving the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict.

He wants $50bn from Gulf Arab nations and business leaders to build projects and create jobs in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.

However, no Israeli official was invited to the conference, and Palestinians boycotted the event.

So what’s the point of the meeting? And does money trump politics?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Hussam Zomlot – Palestinian Ambassador to the UK

Mitchell Barak – former adviser to Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

James Norton – US Republican strategist