Ivanka Trump’s husband is trying to get Middle Eastern leaders to invest in his vision of a high-tech paradise on the ruins of Gaza with a PowerPoint presentation.
Jared Kusher, 44, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, 68, have concocted a 32-slide, “sensitive but unclassified” PowerPoint titled “Project Sunrise: Building a New and Unified Gaza,” which paints a vision of a sparkling metropolis built on the war-torn ruins of the Gaza Strip, The Wall Street Journal first reported on Friday.
The proposal says the U.S. would commit 20% of the development costs to turn the Gaza Strip into a ritzy tourist destination, replete with high-speed rails, AI-driven power grids, and beachside luxury resorts. The plan would cost $112.1 billion over ten years, with the U.S. promising to support nearly $60 billion in grants and guarantees on debt for “all the contemplated work streams” in that time period.
Kushner’s pitch deck does not provide a specific plan for exactly where 2 million displaced Palestinians would go during the reconstruction period. It does say they would be placed in “temporary shelter, field hospitals, and mobile clinics.”
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the Journal, “The Trump administration will continue to work diligently with our partners to sustain a lasting peace and lay the groundwork for a peaceful and prosperous Gaza.”
Trump’s son-in-law and Witkoff reportedly pressed their business connections in the Middle East while hammering out a peace deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Kushner and Witkoff are reportedly trying a similar tactic to secure a profitable peace in the Russia-Ukraine war.
So far, the two men have shopped the PowerPoint to Turkey, Egypt, and wealthy Gulf Kingdoms, according to the Journal.
However, Middle East experts have serious doubts that Jared and Witkoff’s vision will ever come to fruition.
“Nothing happens until Hamas disarms. Hamas will not disarm, so nothing will happen,” said Steven Cook, a senior fellow for the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The tenuous peace deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict struck on Oct. 10 hinges on Hamas agreeing to disarm, which it so far has refused to do. Hamas disarmament is phase 2 of Trump’s 20-phase peace plan. Without Hamas disarmament, the rest of the peace agreement can’t move ahead. Slide 2 of the “Project Sunrise” PowerPoint concedes that it can’t move forward unless Hamas disarms.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Hamas remains the biggest roadblock to any reconstruction effort.
“You are not going to convince anyone to invest money in Gaza if they believe another war is going to happen in two, three years,” he said.
“We have a lot of confidence that we are going to have the donors for the reconstruction effort and for all the humanitarian support in the long term,” he added.
Even if Kushner and Witkoff’s “Project Sunrise” somehow moves forward, building a tech metropolis in Gaza isn’t a simple endeavor. Construction would require the removal of unexploded land mines, 68 million tons of rubble, and the bodies of 10,000 killed Palestinians.
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