Trump to Soon Present Peace Plan to Arab Leaders, Yediot Says

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump plans to outline his “deal of the century” Middle East peace plan to Arab leaders at a summit before Israel’s Sept. 17 election, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, will invite the leaders to the summit at the Camp David presidential retreat during his swing through the Middle East beginning Wednesday, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified person in Washington. Kushner will hold talks in Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it said.

A White House official said that no summit is currently planned, and that Trump’s Mideast team would report back to the president upon their return to discuss potential next steps. The official asked not to be identified discussing Kushner’s activities, which haven’t been publicly announced.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was involved in planning the summit, but won’t attend in an effort to make it easier for Arab leaders to come, the newspaper said. The president will present the plan in general terms, without going into details, it added.

The timing of the Camp David meeting is designed to help Netanyahu’s election campaign by presenting him as a global leader, Yedioth said. It might also soften opposition party Blue and White’s stance against joining a coalition led by Netanyahu, it said.

In an attempt to help Kushner persuade Arab leaders to attend the summit, Netanyahu prodded his security cabinet to approve a plan to build 700 housing units for Palestinians living in the area of the West Bank that’s under full Israeli civil and security control, Yedioth reported.

--With assistance from Justin Sink.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alisa Odenheimer in Jerusalem at aodenheimer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Paul Abelsky

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