Jared Kushner, the husband of President Trump’s daughter Ivanka and a chief adviser to the president has arrived in Israel this week as speculation grows towards the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Trump has already sent his Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt to the region ahead of Kushner. In the last week Greenblatt has met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister’s chief negotiator Yitzhak Molcho, Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi as well as Palestinian officials including former Palestinian negotiator Saed Erekat. Since arriving on Monday, Greenblatt has visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem twice, in what he called ‘much needed prayer’, perhaps signifying the difficulty of the challenge ahead.
Greenblatt will join Kushner in meetings with both Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In the meetings, it is reported Kushner will lay out the Trump Administration’s policy on borders, security, settlements, refugees and Jerusalem.
The meetings are supposedly occurring as a build-up to the restarting of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, with reports suggesting the resumption of talks could be announced within the next 3 months in a joint meeting between Trump, Netanyahu and Abbas at the White House.
Before meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, Jared Kushner along with American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman visited the family of murdered Israeli policewoman Hadas Malka in Givat Ezer near Ashdod. Kushner told the family that President Donald Trump wanted him to express condolences on behalf of the United States.
Many see Kushner’s visit to Israel as a sign from President Trump that he is taking the Israeli-Palestinian issue seriously, and that it is a top priority for the new president. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has been quoted saying ‘I think that they had a very successful visit when the president was over there, and they’re going to continue to build on that.’
Contributed by Daniel Kosky, CAMERA Intern.
