Washington is importing the Gulf’s culture of patronage clientelism
By Edward Luce
March 05, 2019 "Information Clearing House" - In the Gulf they joke that Saudi-US relations are run by the crown prince and “the clown prince”. The first, Mohammed bin Salman, is Saudi Arabia’s strongman. The second, Jared Kushner, is Donald Trump’s son-in-law. If it were not for their friendship, relations between the US and the House of Saud might be in serious crisis. But Mr Kushner has an Arab-Israeli peace plan up his sleeve.
In his view Saudi backing will be key to its success. Which means the Saudis can get away with nearly anything — alleged royal-instigated killing, for example — as long as they hold out the prospect of backing Mr Kushner. To say the least, Prince Mohammed has the better of the bargain. Few people give Mr Kushner’s peace plan ironically dubbed “deal of the century” much chance. The epithet “dead on arrival” has become standard even before the plan has arrived.
Mr Kushner bears most of the blame for this. He encouraged Mr Trump to move the US embassy to Jerusalem last year, oppose a Palestinian right of return, withdraw diplomatic recognition from the Palestine Liberation Organization and slash aid to the UN relief agency.
This has all but assured Arab rejection of whatever plan Mr Kushner produces. Having initially sounded positive, Prince Mohammed has recently gone quiet. Whatever the crown prince owes Mr Kushner, he would be rash to lead a funeral march for Palestinian dreams.
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