A terrorist party legislator and several local groups in the Palestinian Authority (PA) have expressed concern that a widely touted investors' conference in Bethlehem this week will "use the Palestinian people as a bridge for investments between the Arab world and Israel in the form of normalization."

PA legislator Khalida Jarrar of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Mustafa Barghouthi, the secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, stated that proposed industrial zones "will only serve the Israeli interests instead of solving the dominant unemployment problem amongst the Palestinians." They cautioned that the results of the conference will create an "illusionary notice" and cause further frustration, the Bethlehem-based Maan news agency reported.