Swordsmyth
06-29-2018, 06:42 PM
Washington is willing to engage with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas if he returns to negotiations, but if he is not willing, the United States will likely air its long-awaited blueprint for peace publicly (https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Palestinians-slam-Kushner-accuse-him-of-incitement-560750), Jared Kushner said in a rare interview published Sunday in a Palestinian newspaper.
Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, made his comments to Al-Quds at the end of a five-country regional tour with Mideast negotiator Jason Greenblatt to promote the US plan. The PA has boycotted the duo and rejected the plan even before it has been released.
Kushner said he did “not directly” reach out to Abbas for a meeting, saying the Palestinian leader “knows that we are open to meeting him and continuing the discussion when he is ready. He has said publicly he will not meet us and we have opted not to chase him.”
Kushner said the plan will be ready “soon,” adding, “We are almost done.”
While saying he has no reason not to believe Abbas when the Palestinian leader says he is committed to peace, Kushner did question how much Abbas “has the ability to, or is willing to, lean into finishing a deal.”
Abbas, Kushner said, “has his talking points which have not changed in the last 25 years. There has been no peace deal achieved in that time. To make a deal, both sides will have to take a leap and meet somewhere between their stated positions. I am not sure President Abbas has the ability to do that.”
Kushner, who said the US team “has done a lot of listening,” said the Palestinian people do not feel like their lives are getting better, “and there is only so long you can blame that on everyone other than Palestinian leadership.”
He said that the Palestinians are “less invested in the politicians’ talking points than they are in seeing how a deal will give them and their future generations new opportunities, more and better paying jobs and prospects for a better life.”
More at: https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Trump-adviser-Kushner-says-will-publish-Mideast-plan-soon-560707
Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, made his comments to Al-Quds at the end of a five-country regional tour with Mideast negotiator Jason Greenblatt to promote the US plan. The PA has boycotted the duo and rejected the plan even before it has been released.
Kushner said he did “not directly” reach out to Abbas for a meeting, saying the Palestinian leader “knows that we are open to meeting him and continuing the discussion when he is ready. He has said publicly he will not meet us and we have opted not to chase him.”
Kushner said the plan will be ready “soon,” adding, “We are almost done.”
While saying he has no reason not to believe Abbas when the Palestinian leader says he is committed to peace, Kushner did question how much Abbas “has the ability to, or is willing to, lean into finishing a deal.”
Abbas, Kushner said, “has his talking points which have not changed in the last 25 years. There has been no peace deal achieved in that time. To make a deal, both sides will have to take a leap and meet somewhere between their stated positions. I am not sure President Abbas has the ability to do that.”
Kushner, who said the US team “has done a lot of listening,” said the Palestinian people do not feel like their lives are getting better, “and there is only so long you can blame that on everyone other than Palestinian leadership.”
He said that the Palestinians are “less invested in the politicians’ talking points than they are in seeing how a deal will give them and their future generations new opportunities, more and better paying jobs and prospects for a better life.”
More at: https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Trump-adviser-Kushner-says-will-publish-Mideast-plan-soon-560707