Just in on the NY Times via MSN.

Trying to Revive Mideast Talks, Kerry Pushes Investment Plan for West Bank
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and JODI RUDOREN

Published: May 26, 2013


DEAD SEA, Jordan — In an effort to revive the moribund peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Secretary of State John Kerry announced a plan on Sunday to invest as much as $4 billion to develop the economy of the West Bank.


Sketching out a vision of a transformed Middle East, Mr. Kerry said an infusion of private sector investments could increase the gross domestic product of the West Bank by 50 percent over three years and slash unemployment, which now hovers around 21 percent, by two-thirds.



In highlighting the plan at a conference here of the World Economic Forum, Mr.
Kerry hoped to spur Israel and the Palestinians to begin talks on a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement amid concerns that the window for initiating negotiations may begin to close.
Israel is not going to like this at all.
For one thing, it forces Bebe to stop stalling and get on with serious negotians.
He has to go along with it or risk worse breaches with world opinion, which does matter in the long run. He especially does not want to alienate public opinion in the US, and attention focused on them or the gory details of daily life in the apartheid State of Israel may turn some heads (especially if the US propoganda "news networks" decide to allow discussion of Israel instead of the truncated reports, deep sighs and hand-wringing over Israels "predicament" that passes for information here.)

Furthermore, building industries forces Israel to open the borders on the West Bank and Gaza.

Finally, this move backs a settlement deal with big dollars invested from international businesses. These people do not like to have their investments threatened by religeous zealots, especially if the zealots are ones we have been propping up for years while it steals land and water from the indigenous population.

Very shrewd on policy on the part of the US. And apparantly in the works for a long time with numerous players.

There's a group of reformed LA gang members who now run businesses. They wear T-shirts that say "The best way to stop a bullet is with a job". This could bring on a big change in the facts on the ground. Hope it works.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/world/middleeast/peres-says-israel-must-overcome-skepticism-about-peace.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&partner=rss&emc=rss