Kushner disposes two-state solution amid controversial Bahrain summit

Jared Kushner, who has tried to persuade Palestinians to accept the controversial Deal of the Century plan as the new solution to the Palestine-Israeli conflict, has said the internationally recognised two-state solution is dead.

“I think we all have to recognise that if there ever is a deal, it’s not going to be along the lines of the Arab Peace Initiative,” he told Al Jazeera in an interview.

Kushner confirmed longstanding rumours that the new deal will not allow Palestinians to keep all of the West Bank, allowing for the annexation illegal Israeli settlements.

“If that was where a deal was going to be made, a deal would have been made a long time ago,” he said, speaking about the two-state solution.

Kushner is notorious for his justification of the Israeli occupation and is spearheading the so-called Deal of the Century plan, which is being unveiled in part in Bahrain on Monday on Tuesday.

He branded it as the "Opportunity of the Century" and said it will pump $50 billion into a stagnant economy but told them they must agree to it first if they want an eventual peace deal.

"To be clear, economic growth and prosperity for the Palestinian people are not possible without an enduring and fair political solution to the conflict - one that guarantees Israel's security and respects the dignity of the Palestinian people," he said.

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, however, says the Trump administration has given up on Palestinian statehood.

"The Trump Administration haven't only given up on Palestine, but on peace, justice and basic principles of humanity," the veteran Palestinian negotiator tweeted.

Erekat earlier said that the Peace to Prosperity plan was "doomed to fail" and was based on the idea "that they know what is best for the Palestinian people".

Trump is an unabashed supporter of Netanyahu and has taken landmark steps to back Israel, including recognising bitterly divided Jerusalem as the Jewish state's capital.

The administration has hinted that its political proposals to come later this year will not call for the creation of a Palestinian state, the goal of decades of US diplomacy, and that it could accept Netanyahu annexing parts of the West Bank for Israel.

Accusing the United States of trying to buy them off, thousands of Palestinians took to the streets to denounce the Bahrain conference.

In the Gaza Strip, controlled by Islamist militants Hamas, a general strike shuttered most shops and restaurants, while protesters in Hebron earlier burned pictures of Trump and the king of Bahrain.

In unprecedented scenes, Bahrain welcomed dozens of Israelis including academics and journalists despite the lack of diplomatic relations.

The United States has hailed the "workshop" as bringing together the Israelis with Gulf Arabs, due largely to their mutual hostility towards Iran.

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