The Arab League on Sunday reaffirmed its members' pledge to provide the Palestinian Authority with $100 million in monthly aid. The move came a day after Washington unveiled the economic phase of its Middle East peace plan, which includes $50 billion in economic incentives for the Palestinians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will give US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan "fair and open consideration," while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rushed to reject it, saying, "The plan cannot pass because it ends the Palestinian cause."
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The Arab League's move sought to cement the pan-Arab group's promise from April to boost "the Palestinian Authority's budget with a $100 million monthly transfer … as it faces financial burdens," a statement said.
They also insisted, in an implicit rebuke to the White House's economic plan, on the "complete Arab support of the Palestinian state's economic, political and financial independence," French news agency AFP reported."
The PA is boycotting the two-day Bahrain conference that opens on Tuesday where the US will present its plan, charging that Trump is seeking to "buy off the Palestinians" and deprive them of an independent state.
Egypt and Jordan confirmed they would be sending low-level delegations to the Manama workshop, which will also be attended by oil-rich Gulf Arab countries and Morocco.
Meanwhile, a Saudi diplomat said that the US peace deal could lead to a Palestinian state.
"It may be hard for them [the PA] to relinquish the image of the eternal victim. Maybe they don't believe that they'll be able to get along without it," financial daily Globes quoted an unnamed Riyadh diplomat as saying.
On Netanyahu and his relationship with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin the Saudi diplomat said, "We recognize his excellent connection with Trump, and also with Putin. It's clear to us, however, that in the Israeli political structure, it will be hard for him to push through a diplomatic plan with the Palestinians, and that's one of the reasons that the Palestinians are being stubborn."
The diplomat also sent a message to Israelis: "This blood conflict has lasted too long. It's clear to us – the Saudi Arabians, all of the Persian Gulf countries, Egypt and Jordan – that the era of warfare with Israel has ended, and that the advantages of normal relations are very great."
