THE architect of Donald Trump’s Middle East “peace plan” has taken a role with an Israeli firm investing in the region, the company announced today.

Investment firm OurCrowd said that former Trump envoy Jason Greenblatt will act as a partner responsible for “building ties with the Middle East region.”

The former attorney to Mr Trump was the architect of the President’s so-called “Deal of the Century,” which would see further Palestinian land annexed by Israel.

Mr Greenblatt worked as the White House’s special representative for international negotiations until October 2019.

He said that his focus would be on cultivating investment from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain — which have developed relationships with Israel in recent years and are envisaged as key investors in the Trump plan.

“I’m hoping to be able to utilise the platform that I have and connect Israel and the Gulf in a way to continue the momentum that we’ve seen over the last three years,” Mr Greenblatt said.

“They work together on security to a degree. And there’s enough commerce going on in a small way that leads me to believe we’re going to see a bigger impact.”

Mr Greenblatt said that peace between Israel and the Palestinians and the broader Arab world “have always gone hand in hand, but they’re not necessarily always going to go hand in hand.”

“If the Palestinians don’t engage on President Trump’s peace vision, I still think we’re going to see movement between Israel and the region,” he said.

The announcement came as Mr Greenblatt and Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz attacked Democratic frontrunner Bernie Sanders for “horrifying comments” on Jerusalem. 

During a Democratic primary debate on Tuesday night in South Carolina, Mr Sanders called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “reactionary racist” and said that he would consider reversing Mr Trump’s recent relocation of the US’s Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.

Mr Sanders, who would be the first Jewish president in US history if elected this year, said on Tuesday: “What you cannot ignore is the suffering of the Palestinian people.”

Mr Sanders also recently announced that he would skip an appearance before the pro-Israel lobby Aipac, which he called a “platform for bigotry,” and called for cutting back on US foreign aid to Israel and redirecting it to Palestinians instead.

The candidate has firmly established himself in the lead after scoring primary and caucus victories in the first three nominating states: Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.