Ramallah, London – US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, arrived in Israel on Wednesday evening as part of a Middle East tour aimed at exploring ways to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He is scheduled to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday, following talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Kushner, heading a senior US delegation that included Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt, kicked off his Middle East tour in Jordan on Sunday and visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Israel.
Kushner met with the Deputy Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday in Jeddah, in the presence of the US delegation and Saudi officials.
The two sides affirmed their commitment to strengthening their close ties and cooperation and agreed to support efforts to achieve a true and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians and to consolidate security, stability and prosperity in the Middle East.
They also stressed their common priority to cut all forms of support for terrorists and extremists.
The US delegation then headed to Doha, where talks with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani focused on the importance of combatting terrorism and extremism and strengthening cooperation between Doha and Washington.
In Jordan, the meeting with King Abdullah II was dedicated to “efforts to revive the peace process and relaunch serious and effective negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis based on the two-state solution as the only way to end the conflict,” according to a statement issued by the Royal Jordanian Court.
The US is seeking to forge a regional peace agreement, which is a point of deep disagreement between Palestinians and Americans, Palestinian sources with knowledge of the matter told Asharq al-Awsat.
According to those sources, US officials are trying to engage the Palestinians into comprehensive understandings, rather than dealing separately with the Palestinian Cause.
“They have not presented a clear vision for peace, and they do not have a well-defined plan of action yet,” the sources added.