U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior advisor and special envoy, Jared Kushner, revealed that “the American peace plan (for the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict) is very detailed and will focus on drawing the border and resolving the core issues.”
In an interview to the UK-based Sky News in Arabic, Kushner provided an overview of the so-called “deal of the century,” yet boasted over the fact that the Trump Administration “managed to keep a large part of the plan secret,” while successfully “formulating practical and just solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian issue that will be relevant for 2019.”
Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law, who is currently touring the Middle East together with the White House Middle East Envoy Jason Greenblatt and the State Department’s Envoy on Iran Brian Hook, underscored the four pillars which provide a foundation for the long-awaited American initiative, including Freedom, Respect, Opportunity and Security.
Kushner noted that in contrast to previous international attempts to resolve the highly-complex conflict, the main emphasis of the current plan does not focus as much on the issues, but rather presents both Israel and the Palestinians with incentives to allows them to achieve their full potential and eliminate hurdles that hindered their must aspired ‘global integration‘.
To viably tackle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, however, Kushner underscored the importance of a unified Palestine, in contrast to the current situation, in which the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are separated in bitter rivalry.
While there was no immediate response from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to TV7’s request for comment, President Mahmoud Abbas made it clear on multiple occasions that he will preemptively reject any American plan. The Palestinian leader’s declared position remains that unless U.S. President Donald Trump retracts his policy vis-à-vis the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and accepts preliminary demands on the issues of borders and refugees, the Palestinians will shun any initiative presented by Washington.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office refused to respond to TV7’s request for comment on the interview, Kushner’s remarks on the so-called “deal of the century” immediately prompted a ‘battle of accusations’ between the newly formed ‘New Right faction’ that is headed by Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party.
In an interview to Israel’s Army Radio, Minister Bennett warned that “There is a clear and present danger” that may lead to the “establishment of a Palestinian state.” He claimed that “The day after the election, the Americans will push for a Netanyahu-Lapid-Gantz government that will facilitate (the) founding (of) a Palestinian state on Route 6 and partitioning Jerusalem, and Netanyahu will be compelled to toe the line.”
In response to the statement, that a Likud Central Committee Member referred to in a conversation with TV7 as “a cynical election-oriented attempt to picture the Prime Minister as a weak leader;” the Likud released a statement in which it stressed that “Prime Minister Netanyahu was making it unambiguously clear that he will form a right-wing government.” The Likud statement further stressed that “Prime Minister Netanyahu protected the Land and State of Israel from the hostile Obama administration” and underscored that “he will continue to do so with the supportive Trump administration.”