by Keren Setton
JERUSALEM, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A U.S.-led economic summit planned for next month in Bahrain is said to be the first step in the U.S. plan, or Deal of the Century, to forge peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
But the plan, although its details are mostly unknown, has been greeted with strong skepticism by the international community, at a time when the biased U.S. policies and stance in favor of Israel have fuelled anger and despair among the Palestinians.
"It's dead in the water, a non-starter," said Gershon Baskind, an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
The Bahrain conference slated for the end of June is going to deal with the economic aspects of the plan.
Speaking at the UN Security Council, Jason Greenblatt, U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy for international negotiations, said the conference would deal with creating "an alternative path that has the potential to unlock a prosperous future for the Palestinians."
He called the Palestinians' refusal to attend the conference "a mistake."
The U.S. proposal for Middle East peace is believed to be favorable to the current government in Israel.
Trump has already made some highly controversial moves which have led to the Palestinian boycott of the conference and refusal to cooperate with any U.S. initiative.
The U.S. recognition of the disputed holy city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was just a part of the process which has witnessed the fast deterioration of the relations between the Trump administration and the Palestinians in the past years.
The Trump administration further alienated the Palestinians when it officially moved the U.S. embassy in Israel last year from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The Palestinians see East Jerusalem as part of their future state and the international consensus, backed by several UN resolutions, is that the status of the city will be determined through final-status negotiations conducted by both sides.
The two sides haven't sat at a negotiating table since 2014 and it does not look like that they are close to doing so in the near future.
Trump's team has been working on the plan for about two years. It is not clear when it will be fully unveiled.
While the economic aspects of the plan, including large investments and infrastructure projects for Palestinians, have been made publicly, the political aspects remain elusive.
The Palestinians are concerned that their aspiration for an independent state will be overlooked in the U.S. plan.
"To those falsely claiming our vision is just economic peace: we have been clear that the economic vision we present can't exist without the political component, and the political component can't succeed without the economic," Greenblatt tweeted earlier this week.
However, Palestinian officials said Trump's plan is "blackmail," which means giving the Palestinians billions of dollars in return for abandoning their political goals.
The two-state solution is still supported by the majority of the international community. But as years of negotiations have failed, the Americans are offering a different way of thought.
"Economy works if the political agenda is set out in advance," Baskind said.
"Borders, Jerusalem, refugees, security, Palestinian self-determination and ending the occupation ... If that is set out first in a declaration of principles, it can work. But to buy the Palestinian national agenda by giving them a lot of money, it doesn't work," Baskind added.
"Trump is probably trying to bribe the Palestinians with economic incentives before releasing the political part of the plan," said Mkhaimar Abusada, an associate professor at Gaza's Al-Azhar University.
The new government expected to be sworn in Israel in the coming weeks is set to be a right-wing one that will not be quick to concede anything to the Palestinians.
Moreover, with such a pro-Israeli administration in the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have difficulty in turning down any U.S. initiatives.
Private Palestinian businessmen have already declined their invitations to the conference in Bahrain.
Abusada said the Palestinian leadership led by President Mahmoud Abbas is in a difficult position.
"If they don't go, the Palestinian Authority (PA) may face further financial problems and might be politically isolated if the U.S. succeeds in gathering key regional Arab countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia," Abusada told Xinhua.
"If they go, that would mean the leadership would be seen in the eyes of the Palestinians as traitors that traded the political aspiration for money," he added.
The situation on the ground for many Palestinians is less than desirable. With restricted movement and very limited possibilities for financial growth, they do not have much to lose.
The economy in the West Bank and Gaza is considered one of the weakest in the world. The PA budget is based largely on money from donors, while under the Trump administration, the United States has significantly cut its funding to the PA.
Violence between the Israelis and Palestinians, especially along the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, has continued persistently.
Without the Palestinian attendance at the conference, it will be difficult to start a process that needs to be revived after years of deadlock.
