A few days after President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, unveiled the U.S. economic peace plan in Bahrain, Trump addressed the topic during a press conference at the end of the G20 summit in Japan. The president said that there would never be an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement if one is not negotiated during his presidency. He also opined that there is a “very good chance” his proposal for solving the decades-long conflict could succeed.The conference in Bahrain was almost uniformly ridiculed by Middle East experts. But with the passage of time the meeting may prove to have served a useful purpose. This is because the preparations for the conference provided two important lessons. And, at least one unrelated but important development in the aftermath of the meeting improves the odds, even if only slightly so, that if launched soon, Trump’s political plan may at least get a hearing.The first lesson of Bahrain is that money alone cannot resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict no matter how lucrative the package offered. This point was made clear before, during, and after the conference—even by those most supportive of the effort, such as Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa. Again and again, Arab participants referred to two-state frameworks, notably the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative as prerequisites to the successful application of economic incentives. That reference was important in case Trump’s close circle still harbored hopes that the Palestinians could be bribed to accept a deal that ignores their national aspirations; this illusion has been finally put to rest in Bahrain.