Last week, a group of US envoys and senior officials, led by Jared Kushner and flanked by Arab Gulf leaders and regional investors and shareholders, convened in Bahrain for a workshop titled “Peace to Prosperity,” where the Kushner team unveiled a $50 billion peace plan for Palestine. According to a joint statement released by the White House, the workshop aimed to “facilitate discussions on an ambitious, achievable vision and framework for a prosperous future for the Palestinian people and the region,” and “to empower the Palestinian people to build a prosperous and vibrant Palestinian society.”

The ambitious agenda included a set of glossy “economic incentives” such as enhancements to economic governance, development of human capital, and facilitation of rapid private-sector growth. Big donors, mainly wealthy Arab Gulf states, were asked to foot much of the bill by pledging “grant money,” while private investors would offer “low-interest loans and private capital.”

The Kushner blueprint, which has been shrouded in secrecy for nearly two years, was billed as an “economic peace” plan, with the West Bank and Gaza pitched as the next Hong Kong or Singapore. The plan reads like a real-estate developer’s brochure. Or, in the words of treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, who attended the workshop, “It’s going to be like a hot IPO.”