Zippyjuan
09-05-2019, 04:02 PM
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-s-mideast-envoy-leaving-administration-ahead-peace-plan-release-n1050091
WASHINGTON — Jason Greenblatt is leaving as President Donald Trump’s envoy for brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, senior officials told NBC News on Thursday.
His departure, confirmed by the president on Twitter, is the latest sign that optimism within the Trump administration for the long-awaited plan’s prospects may be fading. Release of the plan, under development since the start of administration, has already been delayed several times, most recently until sometime after the Israeli elections on Sept. 17.
Avi Berkowitz, a longtime aide to Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, will replace Greenblatt in his role as special adviser for international negotiations, the administration officials said.
And State Department senior adviser Brian Hook, who has spearheaded the administration’s Iran policy efforts, is expected to take on a larger role on the peace plan and work more closely with Kushner as the administration’s Iran policy increasingly merges with Kushner’s peace initiative.
Trump confirmed Greenblatt’s departure midday Thursday, saying that his former attorney would be leaving to “pursue work in the private sector.” Greenblatt is expected to remain with the administration for the coming weeks if not months, officials said.
The substance of the plan that the White House has been championing for months remains opaque, though it has two parts: one to address economic issues, and the other dedicated to political divides.
The economic portion of the plan was released in June to little fanfare during a U.S.-organized summit in Bahrain that neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials attended. It called for an investment of about $50 billion to lift up Palestinians economically.
Yet since then, there has been little sign of progress toward rolling out the broader plan that will address the thorniest issues, such as whether the Palestinians will get an independent state, the status of Palestinian refugees, the city of Jerusalem, and Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
What progress was made under Greenblatt / Trump? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/05/kushner-middle-east-peace-plan-jason-greenblatt-envoy-resign
During Greenblatt’s time in office, the US severed its diplomatic links with the Palestinians, closed down its consulate in Jerusalem, and ordered the Palestinian mission in Washington to shut down. Earlier this year, the US cut all aid to the Palestinian territories.
“The Trump administration inherited very poor prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace, which wasn’t their fault,” said Daniel Shapiro, the former US ambassador to Israel. “But everything they have done in the field since has made it even harder to achieve a breakthrough.”
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, said Greenblatt had spent his time in the role as “an apologist for the most extreme, hardline government in the history of Israel”.
“I think the Palestinians as a whole are going to say good riddance,” she added.
Any agreement requires two sides to agree. They have done their best to alienate one of the parties. Nobody expects the US plan to succeed.
“The plan is doomed. It is not going anywhere, but it will be a marker in the sand,” said Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. “The two-state solution is doomed and this plan will seal its end. It will create a new normal in the conflict, for future US administrations.”
WASHINGTON — Jason Greenblatt is leaving as President Donald Trump’s envoy for brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, senior officials told NBC News on Thursday.
His departure, confirmed by the president on Twitter, is the latest sign that optimism within the Trump administration for the long-awaited plan’s prospects may be fading. Release of the plan, under development since the start of administration, has already been delayed several times, most recently until sometime after the Israeli elections on Sept. 17.
Avi Berkowitz, a longtime aide to Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, will replace Greenblatt in his role as special adviser for international negotiations, the administration officials said.
And State Department senior adviser Brian Hook, who has spearheaded the administration’s Iran policy efforts, is expected to take on a larger role on the peace plan and work more closely with Kushner as the administration’s Iran policy increasingly merges with Kushner’s peace initiative.
Trump confirmed Greenblatt’s departure midday Thursday, saying that his former attorney would be leaving to “pursue work in the private sector.” Greenblatt is expected to remain with the administration for the coming weeks if not months, officials said.
The substance of the plan that the White House has been championing for months remains opaque, though it has two parts: one to address economic issues, and the other dedicated to political divides.
The economic portion of the plan was released in June to little fanfare during a U.S.-organized summit in Bahrain that neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials attended. It called for an investment of about $50 billion to lift up Palestinians economically.
Yet since then, there has been little sign of progress toward rolling out the broader plan that will address the thorniest issues, such as whether the Palestinians will get an independent state, the status of Palestinian refugees, the city of Jerusalem, and Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
What progress was made under Greenblatt / Trump? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/05/kushner-middle-east-peace-plan-jason-greenblatt-envoy-resign
During Greenblatt’s time in office, the US severed its diplomatic links with the Palestinians, closed down its consulate in Jerusalem, and ordered the Palestinian mission in Washington to shut down. Earlier this year, the US cut all aid to the Palestinian territories.
“The Trump administration inherited very poor prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace, which wasn’t their fault,” said Daniel Shapiro, the former US ambassador to Israel. “But everything they have done in the field since has made it even harder to achieve a breakthrough.”
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, said Greenblatt had spent his time in the role as “an apologist for the most extreme, hardline government in the history of Israel”.
“I think the Palestinians as a whole are going to say good riddance,” she added.
Any agreement requires two sides to agree. They have done their best to alienate one of the parties. Nobody expects the US plan to succeed.
“The plan is doomed. It is not going anywhere, but it will be a marker in the sand,” said Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. “The two-state solution is doomed and this plan will seal its end. It will create a new normal in the conflict, for future US administrations.”