The White House on Saturday unveiled the economic portion of its Middle East peace plan, calling for $50 billion dollars in investments for Palestine and neighboring Arab states.

The plan, which has been long-promised and faced a number of delays, calls for increased infrastructure projects between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with a stated goal to "empower the Palestinian people to build a better future for themselves and their children."

Donald Trump's administration has touted the plan and called "Peace to Prosperity" as "the most ambitious and comprehensive international effort for the Palestinian people to date."

The plan is expected to be formally released by its architect, White House senior adviser and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, at the economic conference in Bahrain hosted by the US this week.

It plans to create one million jobs for Palestinians and calls for a mix of private and public funding, however, faces heavy skepticism with doubts on the plan's political vision and the US being distracted with heightened tensions with Iran.

Within 10 years, the plan aims to double Palestine's Gross Domestic Product (GPD) by calling for $27 billion dollars in projects in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as $9.1 billion, $7.4 billion and $6.3 billion for Palestinians in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. The plan also calls for a high-speed rail service to be created, offering a modern transportation system for Palestinians. It, however, can only be implemented if a political solution is agreed upon by Palestinians, Israelis, and other actors in the negotiations. </s> RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday dismissed a new effort by the Trump administration to encourage investment of more than $50 billion to jump-start the Palestinian and regional economies in hopes of building a foundation for a future peace.

In a rare meeting with foreign journalists at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Mr. Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, said the plan, set to be kicked off this week at a conference in Bahrain, was ill-begotten and bound to fail.

The Trump administration released its economic plan over the weekend to set the stage for a workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Palestinian leadership called for a boycott of the conference, and Palestinian officials will not attend. Most Palestinian businesspeople who were invited appear to be staying away.

“We need the money and, really, we need assistance,” said Mr. Abbas, who presides over a divided Palestinian polity that has long depended on the largess of donor nations and that is in perpetual financial crisis. “But before everything, there is a political solution.” </s> Reuters reports: The Trump administration’s $50 billion Middle East economic plan calls for creation of a global investment fund to lift the Palestinian and neighboring Arab state economies, and construction of a $5 billion transportation corridor to connect the West Bank and Gaza, according to U.S. officials and documents reviewed by Reuters.

The “peace to prosperity” plan, set to be presented by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at an international conference in Bahrain next week, includes 179 infrastructure and business projects, according to the documents. The approach toward reviving the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process was criticized by the Palestinians on Saturday.

The economic revival plan would take place only if a political solution to the region’s long-running problems is reached. </s> Israel could solve the Palestinian problem in its favor if it makes friends with the Arab states in wake of the new multibillion US investment plan, and before the political solution is even offered, a West Bank professor told RT.

The so-called “opportunity of the century,” which US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, presented to media on Saturday, is entitled to create a million jobs in the West Bank and Gaza, while doubling Palestine’s GDP in 10 years. It would be achieved through donors, mainly the Gulf States, pouring $50 billion into the West Bank and Gaza as well as into Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon where several million Palestinian refugees are staying.

There’s, however, nothing new about such a plan, Saad Nimr, professor of political science at Birzeit University, told RT.

“During Shimon Peres as a Prime Minister in Israel (1995-96), he tried that approach of talking economic ease to the Palestinians instead of talking about a political solution,” but no results were achieved.

Nimr reminded of a World Bank report, which said that Palestine would earn $5.5 billion extra every year if it had access to the Mediterranean and Dead Sea, which is now blocked by Israel.

“The whole issue is a political issue. Give us our freedom and we are able to live equally, normally and in prosperity in Palestine.”

The Palestinians are rejecting the US plan because “the only purpose for the Americans is Israel’s prosperity,” the professor said.

For years, the Arab countries were saying that they will only normalize relations with Israel after it withdraws from all land occupied in 1967, including the West bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Jerusalem, he said.

Trump and his team want to start with normalization and only then talk about the political solution for the Palestinians. But, at the end of the day, [this approach] will leave us only with Israel and everyone will start pressurizing us to give up our own rights, like the right of return, the right of a state within the 1967 borders and the right that our capital will be Jerusalem.

Improving relations with the Arab states, especially those in the Gulf, had been Israel’s goal for a long time. “They have a huge potential economically from the Israeli point of view. Now, the Israelis can imagine a huge market for their products; the investment; the money coming into Israel. All that would make Israel absolutely prosperous, while ending the issue of Palestine. It’s a win-win for Israel, absolutely,” Nimr said.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! </s> The White House on Monday officially released a 55-page proposal for President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump awards Medal of Valor, civilian honors to responders in Dayton and El Paso shootings Texas Democrats unveil 'path to victory' plan for 2020 The Hill's 12:30 Report: Congress returns with gun violence, funding atop agenda MORE's long-awaited infrastructure overhaul.

The plan puts forth a framework for lawmakers to craft legislation for a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package that would focus on public-private partnerships and funding from state and local governments.

The plan is structured around four main goals: generating $1.5 trillion for an infrastructure proposal, streamlining the permitting process down to two years, investing in rural infrastructure projects and advancing workforce training.

“My Administration’s plan addresses more than traditional infrastructure — like roads, bridges, and airports — but addresses other needs like drinking and wastewater systems, waterways, water resources, energy, rural infrastructure, public lands, veterans’ hospitals, and Brownfield and Superfund sites,” Trump said in the White House document.

“The reforms set forth in my plan will strengthen the economy, make our country more competitive, reduce the costs of goods and services for American families, and enable Americans to build their lives on top of the best infrastructure in the world.”

The federal government would contribute $200 billion to the package, a figure Democrats have already denounced as too small.

“After repeatedly failing to live up to his infrastructure promises, the release of Trump’s infrastructure plan today once again falls short,” the Democratic National Committee wrote in an email to reporters upon the proposal’s release.

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“Trump’s plan is just another giveaway to corporations and wealthy developers at the expense of American workers, and it fails to address some of the most pressing infrastructure needs our country faces.”

The administration said it used input from state and local officials, members of Congress, industry leaders and federal agencies to compile the framework.

The proposal confirms many previously leaked details about a White House rebuilding initiative, in which state and local governments, in addition to private investment, would foot much of the bill.

The plan is likely to face opposition from Democrats, who have already called for more direct federal investment; they released their own plan last week that boasted $1 trillion in government spending.

It's also sure to put the administration at odds with environmental groups, who worry that efforts to streamline permitting would hurt environmental protections.

The $200 billion will be included in the Trump administration's 2019 fiscal spending blueprint, which is also scheduled for release on Monday.

Half of the federal seed money would go toward an incentive program to match financing from state and local governments investing in rebuilding projects, while a quarter of the appropriations would be used for rural projects in the form of block grants to states so governors may decide where to invest.

Twenty billion would be for “transformative programs” meant for new projects rather than rehabilitation of old infrastructure. Another $20 billion is allocated to expand the use of loans and private activity bonds, a common tool used to fund infrastructure projects. The last $10 billion would go into a "capital financing fund."

Trump will host key lawmakers from both parties at the White House on Wednesday to continue the infrastructure discussion, providing the administration a chance to convince those critical of the proposal.

Some industry groups, however, praised the administration for breathing life into a subject experts have spent years arguing must be addressed to fix the nation's crumbling roads, bridges, transit systems and other public works.

“For years, plenty of people have been willing to talk about modernizing our nation’s infrastructure, but few have been willing to take action. We applaud the Trump administration for laying out its vision for moving ahead on this critical issue,” Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement ahead of the plan’s unveiling.

Updated at 11:20 a.m. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced a 25 percent tariff on up to $50 billion worth of Chinese imports on Friday, instantly escalating a trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.

China has said that it will retaliate with $50 billion in tariffs in response, rattling financial markets.

Trump has vowed to fulfill his campaign pledge to crack down on what he contends are China's unfair trade practices and efforts to undermine U.S. technology and intellectual property. During an impromptu appearance on the White House North Law, the president hailed his "very big tariffs" on China.

"You know we have the great brain power in Silicon Valley, and China and others steal those secrets. And we're going to protect those secrets. Those are crown jewels for this country," Trump said.

"'There is no trade war. They've taken so much," Trump said in an interview with "Fox & Friends."

The tariffs will cover 1,102 Chinese product lines worth about $50 billion a year. Those include 818 products, worth $34 billion a year, remaining from a list of 1,333 the administration released in April. The government will start to collect the tariffs July 6.

The administration also is targeting another 284 Chinese products, which the administration says benefit from China's aggressive industrial policies, worth $16 billion a year but won't impose those tariffs until it collects public comment.

"It's thorough. It's moderate. It's appropriate," U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer said Friday on the Fox Business Network. He added: "Our hope is that it doesn't lead to a rash reaction from China."

Trump has already slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and European allies, and his proposed tariffs against China risk starting a trade war involving the world's two biggest economies.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday that China's response would be immediate and that Beijing would "take necessary measures to defend our legitimate rights and interests."

Geng gave no details. Beijing earlier drew up a list of $50 billion in U.S. products that would face retaliatory tariffs, including beef and soybeans, a shot at Trump's supporters in rural America.

Trump's decision on the Chinese tariffs comes in the aftermath of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The president has coordinated closely with China on efforts to get Pyongyang to eliminate its nuclear arsenal. But he signaled that whatever the implications, "I have to do what I have to do" to address the trade imbalance.

Wall Street has viewed the escalating trade tensions with wariness, fearful that they could strangle the economic growth achieved during Trump's watch and undermine the benefits of the tax cuts he signed into law last year.

The administration is also working on proposed Chinese investment restrictions by June 30.

"Imposing tariffs places the cost of China's unfair trade practices squarely on the shoulders of American consumers, manufacturers, farmers, and ranchers," said Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "This is not the right approach."

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> The Trump administration today released the economic portion of its long-delayed Mideast peace plan, calling for an investment of about $50 billion to lift up Palestinians economically.

About $28 billion would go to the West Bank and Gaza and billions more to Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, which have absorbed Palestinian refugees and dealt with other ramifications of the conflict for decades.

But the rollout Saturday does not include the political portion of the plan, and so doesn’t address the most critical questions in the conflict, such as whether the Palestinians will get an independent state and the status of Palestinian refugees, the city of Jerusalem, and Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday reaffirmed his opposition to an economic peace workshop that the U.S. is organizing next week in Bahrain.

Focusing on economic issues between Israel and the Palestinians "is unacceptable before the political situation is discussed," Abbas told top officials of his Fatah party.

With no official participation at the meeting next week from the two main protagonists, Israel and the Palestinians, and scant enthusiasm from others — plus continued uncertainty and strong doubts over the plan's political vision and the distraction of potential U.S.-Iran conflict — expectations are decidedly low.

Speaking about the broader U.S. plan, Abbas said it "will not pass because it ends the Palestinian cause."

The Palestinian President said the American scheme adopts Israel's visions and neglects the longstanding two-state solution, especially after Washington last year recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The economic part of the plan for Palestinians that the White House released Saturday includes a $5 billion “transportation network” to connect the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which could include a rail line; a built-up Palestinian tourism industry, with roughly $1 billion in investments; and a total of 179 projects total, including for electricity, water, telecom and health care. Of these, 147 projects are in the Palestinian territories and the rest in neighboring countries.

The plan is for the money to come from donor nations, along with investors, which is the focus of the economic summit in Manama, Bahrain, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Neither Palestinian nor Israeli officials are attending.

The White House predicts that within 10 years, the economic plan will double Palestinian GDP, create more than 1 million jobs, cut the poverty rate by half, and reduce Palestinian unemployment to “nearly single digits.”

The political portion of the plan will be released later. The administration had intended to release it shortly after the economic plan, but the Israeli political crisis prompted the most recent delay. The administration now is expected to wait until after Israel’s elections in September before releasing the rest of the plan.

It was unclear why the White House, after working for more than two years to build up anticipation for the plan, released the first part of it quietly on Saturday with little fanfare, rather than on a weekday when news consumption is higher. The timing was also unusual in that was announced on Saturday, the Sabbath day in Israel that is also observed by both Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s envoy overseeing the peace plan under Kushner.

The White House said on Twitter, “Generations of Palestinians have lived under adversity and loss, but the next chapter can be defined by freedom and dignity. Today, we're unveiling Peace to Prosperity: the most ambitious international effort for the Palestinian people to date." </s> WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced a 25 percent tariff on up to $50 billion worth of Chinese imports on Friday, instantly escalating a trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

China’s government responded quickly, announcing Friday it will immediately impose penalties of “equal strength” on U.S. products.

The Commerce Ministry said it also was scrapping deals to buy more American farm goods and other exports as part of efforts to defuse a sprawling dispute over its trade surplus and technology policy.

Trump has vowed to fulfill his campaign pledge to crack down on what he contends are China’s unfair trade practices and efforts to undermine U.S. technology and intellectual property. During an impromptu appearance on the White House North Law, the president hailed his “very big tariffs” on China.

“You know we have the great brain power in Silicon Valley, and China and others steal those secrets. And we’re going to protect those secrets. Those are crown jewels for this country,” Trump said.

“‘There is no trade war. They’ve taken so much,” Trump said in an interview with “Fox & Friends.”

The tariffs will cover 1,102 Chinese product lines worth about $50 billion a year. Those include 818 products, worth $34 billion a year, remaining from a list of 1,333 the administration released in April. The government will start to collect the tariffs July 6.

The administration also is targeting another 284 Chinese products, which the administration says benefit from China’s aggressive industrial policies, worth $16 billion a year but won’t impose those tariffs until it collects public comment.

“It’s thorough. It’s moderate. It’s appropriate,” U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer said Friday on the Fox Business Network. He added: “Our hope is that it doesn’t lead to a rash reaction from China.”

Trump has already slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and European allies, and his proposed tariffs against China risk starting a trade war involving the world’s two biggest economies.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday that China’s response would be immediate and that Beijing would “take necessary measures to defend our legitimate rights and interests.”

Geng gave no details. Beijing earlier drew up a list of $50 billion in U.S. products that would face retaliatory tariffs, including beef and soybeans, a shot at Trump’s supporters in rural America.

Trump’s decision on the Chinese tariffs comes in the aftermath of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The president has coordinated closely with China on efforts to get Pyongyang to eliminate its nuclear arsenal. But he signaled that whatever the implications, “I have to do what I have to do” to address the trade imbalance.

Wall Street has viewed the escalating trade tensions with wariness, fearful that they could strangle the economic growth achieved during Trump’s watch and undermine the benefits of the tax cuts he signed into law last year.

The administration is also working on proposed Chinese investment restrictions by June 30.

“Imposing tariffs places the cost of China’s unfair trade practices squarely on the shoulders of American consumers, manufacturers, farmers, and ranchers,” said Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “This is not the right approach.” </s> Beijing: By threatening to raise taxes on Chinese imports, President Donald Trump is throwing down a challenge to Beijing: Agree to sweeping changes in China's government-dominated economic model — or suffer the consequences.

The unexpected ultimatum, delivered via tweets on Sunday and Monday, shook up financial markets that had expected the world's two biggest economies to resolve a yearlong standoff over trade, perhaps by the end of the week.

"It's a significant change in the president's tone," said Timothy Keeler, a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown and former chief of staff for the US Trade Representative. "It certainly increases the possibility that you'll have no deal."

For weeks, Trump administration officials had been suggesting that the US and Chinese negotiators were making steady progress. A Chinese delegation is due to resume talks Wednesday in Washington.

Suddenly on Sunday, Trump said he had lost patience:

The president vowed to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent on Friday. And he said he planned "shortly" to slap 25 percent tariffs on another $325 billion in Chinese products, covering everything China ships to the United States.

Michael Pillsbury, director of the Hudson Institute's Center on Chinese Strategy and an adviser to the Trump White House, said the president's tweets suggest frustration that Chinese leaders "are trying to take back concessions they already made."

The two countries are engaged in high-stakes commercial combat over China's aggressive push to establish Chinese companies as world leaders in cutting-edge fields such as robotics and electric vehicles.

The Trump administration has imposed 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports and 25 percent tariffs on another $ 50 billion. The Chinese have retaliated by targeting $110 billion in US imports. Global stock markets sank Monday on Trump's tweetstorm.

But shares in the United States regained some of the lost ground on news that Chinese officials were planning to go ahead with this week's meetings in Washington. Still, the Chinese government did not provide details on exactly when talks would resume and who would be on China's negotiating team.

Trump's threat makes going ahead with talks "very difficult politically" for President Xi Jinping's government, said Jake Parker, vice president of the US-China Business Council. He said the Chinese public might "view this as a capitulation" if Beijing reached an agreement before Trump's Friday deadline.

The conflict is testing how far Beijing is willing to go in changing a state-led economic model it sees as the path to prosperity and global influence — and how much power Washington will have to enforce any agreement.

Beijing is willing to change industrial plans that provoke foreign opposition but wants to preserve the ruling Communist Party's dominant role in directing economic development, said Willy Lam, a politics specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Chinese officials have said they are willing to let foreign companies participate in plans that call for government-led creation of global competitors in robotics and other technologies. But they have yet to release details, and it is unclear whether the concessions will satisfy Trump. Xi is "adamant about party-state control over major sectors of the economy," Lam said. "If they give this up, then China in effect ceases to be a socialist country."

Beijing agreed early on to narrow its trade surplus with the United States — a staggering $379 billion last year — by purchasing more American soybeans, natural gas and other exports. At the same time, Xi's government has announced a steady drumbeat of promises to open markets — in businesses that include auto manufacturing and banking.

But none of the moves directly addresses American complaints. The negotiators are also looking for a way to hold Beijing to any commitments it makes.

The Trump administration wants to keep tariffs on Chinese imports to maintain leverage over Beijing. "Trump wants a certain amount of tariffs to remain in place just in case the Chinese don't honour their promises," Lam said.

The Chinese are also skittish about allowing Washington to dictate changes to industrial policy and subsidies, said Raoul Leering, a trade specialist for Dutch bank ING.

They see that as "having another country decide your economic policy."

Trump also seems to be calculating that Xi needs a deal more than he does. The Chinese economy is decelerating.

"Trump believes he can bully the Chinese," Lam said. "Trump realises the Chinese economy is facing a rough patch, and Xi Jinping is under pressure from his own people."

But Trump also has an incentive to reach a deal. The trade war is creating uncertainty for businesses trying to decide where to buy supplies, locate factories and make investments. And it's been weighing on a strong US stock market, which the president likes to tout as evidence that his economic policies are working.

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The Trump administration releases a $50 billion plan that calls for investment in Palestine's economy.