Reports revealed that Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, secretly visited Saudi Arabia a few days ago, as part of Washington’s efforts to promote restarting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Kushner was accompanied by special Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell. Kushner returned to the US while Greenblatt continued to hold a series of meetings in the region, among others, he met yesterday afternoon in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with the American envoy coincided with a secret meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah between Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. The meeting comes in response to growing American pressure on Israel to promote, as soon as possible, joint economic initiatives with the Palestinians.