White House will not invite Israeli officials to Bahrain eve

UPDATE 2-White House will not invite Israeli officials to Bahrain event -senior U.S. official - Reuters

17-Jun-2019 14:01:52ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN/CONFERENCE (UPDATE 2)

 (Adds background)
    WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - The White House will not
invite Israeli government officials to a Bahrain conference
devoted to gaining support for a Palestinian economic plan in
order to keep the event apolitical, a senior administration
official said on Monday.
    The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
Palestinian business representatives are expected to attend the
event in Manama on June 25-26, but not Palestinian government
officials, who have boycotted a peace initiative led by White
House senior adviser Jared Kushner.
    As a result, the administration decided not to extend an
invitation to Israeli government officials to a conference
expected to be attended by envoys from Arab governments as well
as European nations.
    "We’re inviting the Israeli business people and Palestinian
business people. We'd like to make it as apolitical as
possible," the official said.
    When the Bahrain conference was announced last month, U.S.
officials initially suggested privately that Israeli government
attendance in Bahrain would be an opportunity for Israel and
some of its Gulf Arab neighbors to display in public the
behind-the-scenes contacts that have grown in recent years,
especially on security matters over their common enemy Iran.
    After the White House announced last week that Egypt and
Jordan had agreed to attend, some Israeli diplomats said Israeli
government officials were also likely to attend. But no formal
invitation materialized.
    In Manama, Kushner and President Donald Trump's Middle East
envoy Jason Greenblatt are to unveil the economic part of
Trump's long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
    The plan, touted by Trump as the "deal of the century," is
to encourage investment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by Arab
donor countries before grappling with thorny political issues at
the heart of the conflict.
    Palestinian President Mohammed Abbas has heaped scorn on the
conference and urged Arab governments not to attend.

 (Reporting By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick
Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
 ((Steve.a.holland@thomsonreuters.com;
www.twitter.com/steveholland1; 202 898 8300; Reuters Messaging:
steve.holland.reuters.com@reuters.net))(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Click For Restrictions - https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html

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