The Trump administration will not invite Israeli officials to its upcoming economic summit in Bahrain on June 25-26 when it reveal the first part of its highly anticipated Mideast peace deal for Israelis and Palestinians.
Axios and Israel’s Channel 13 first reported the development.
Although Israel was told by the United States that it would receive an invitation, when it didn’t arrive in the past few days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said behind closed doors that he wasn’t going to “chase an invitation,” though the prime minister’s office denied that.
Netanyahu has no issue with Israel not being invited and respects the decision, a senior Israeli official told Channel 13 and Axios.
“The goal of the workshop in Bahrain is to present our economic vision for the Palestinian people,” said a senior U.S. official. “As such, we want to focus on the economic aspects and not the political ones.”
In addition to Israel, Russia, China and the Palestinian Authority will not be in attendance.
The European Union will only send a “technical level official” to Bahrain, said European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, who met with senior White House adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner last week in advance of the conference.
