IMF's Lagarde says Israel-Palestinian peace needed to draw lasting MidEast investment
An Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is needed to bring lasting investment to the Middle East region, the International Monetary Fund's head said on Wednesday.
Christine Lagarde told a conference on a $50 billion U.S. plan for Arab-Israeli peace that economic improvement in the West Bank and Gaza could happen under three conditions: that the Palestinian authority undertakes comprehensive economic reforms; that Israel eases restrictions on the movement of goods, people and capital; and with stronger financial support from international donors.
"Improving economic conditions and attracting lasting investment to the region depends ultimately on being able to reach a peace agreement," she said after attending the Trump administration's Peace for Prosperity workshop in Bahrain.
"Peace, political stability, and re-establishment of trust between all the parties involved are essential pre-requisites to the success of any economic plan for the region."
The U.S. says its economic plan will be a foundation for Israeli-Palestinian peace but Palestinians and many other Arab authorities have dismissed it as pointless without a political solution to the decades-old conflict.
Neither the Israeli nor Palestinian governments are attending the event.
