Three top administration officials are headed to the Middle East to consult with Israel, the Palestinians and other Arab states in efforts to restart negotiations with no preconditions, a U.S. official announced Friday.
Presidential adviser Jared Kushner, who is also President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell are planning to travel to the Middle East later this month to try to make progress on bringing peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
The administration “has not sketched any plans for negotiations but has dropped insistence on a separate sovereign Palestinian state as the goal,” The Washington Post reported.
A senior administration official told the Post that Kushner, Greenblatt, and Powell will visit Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and several Arab states. In addition to Israel and the Palestinians, Trump will also enlist the help and advice of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Qatar, in an effort to bring peace.
“President Trump has previously noted that achieving an enduring Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement will be difficult but he remains optimistic that peace is possible,” the official said. “To enhance the chances for peace, all parties need to engage in creating an environment conducive to peacemaking while affording the negotiators and facilitators the time and space they need to reach a deal.”
Trump has made it clear in meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinians need to stop inciting and encouraging terror. In a joint appearance with Abbas in Bethlehem in May, Trump said, “Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded and even rewarded.”
A meeting between U.S. envoy Jason Greenblatt and Palestinian officials in June reportedly resulted in heightened friction due to the PA’s refusal to stop paying salaries to convicted terrorists and their families.
[Photo: IsraeliPM / YouTube ]