The upcoming visit to Israel by Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, will “continue discussions with regional partners about how best to support the peace effort,” a senior White House official told Arutz Sheva on Friday.
“As President Donald J. Trump has clearly stated, he is personally committed to achieving a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians that would help usher in an era of greater regional peace and prosperity. He believes that the restoration of calm and the stabilized situation in Jerusalem after the recent crisis on the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif has created an opportunity to continue discussions and the pursuit of peace that began early in his administration,” the official said.
“Therefore, after various meetings among Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly, National Security Advisor LTG H.R. McMaster, Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Powell and U.S.
Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, the President will soon be sending Mr. Kushner, Mr. Greenblatt and Ms. Powell to the region to continue discussions with regional partners about how best to support the peace effort,” continued the official, who noted that Kushner, Greenblatt and Powell “will be meeting with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”
“The President has asked that these discussions focus on the path to substantive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, combatting extremism, the situation in Gaza, including how to ease the humanitarian crisis there, strengthening our relations with regional partners and the economic steps that can be taken both now and after a peace deal is signed to ensure security, stability and prosperity for the region.”
“While the regional talks will play an important role, the President reaffirms that peace between Israelis and Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties and that the United States will continue working closely with the parties to make progress towards that goal,” stressed the White House official.
“President Trump has previously noted that achieving an enduring Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement will be difficult but he remains optimistic that peace is possible. To enhance the chances for peace, all parties need to engage in creating an environment conducive to peace-making while affording the negotiators and facilitators the time and space they need to reach a deal,” he concluded.
Kushner visited the region for one day in June to advance U.S. peace plans. He met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for a meeting described by the American side as "positive and fruitful".
He also met in Ramallah with PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The White House described the meeting as “productive” and said the sides “reaffirmed their commitment to advancing President Trump's goal of a genuine and lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians that enhances stability in the region.”
