Trump Advisor Meets with Israeli and Palestinian Leaders to Resume Peace Talks

Jared Kushner, senior advisor to the President of the United States, has traveled to Israel and the West Bank to discuss ways to resume peace talks. Mr. Kushner, as the White House's envoy, held separate meetings on Wednesday, June 21, with Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, and Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel in Jerusalem. According to reports, alongside Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt, the U.S. envoy for Middle East peace, and David Friedman, the new U.S. ambassador to Israel, were present at these meetings. Kushner's discussions with the Israeli Prime Minister and the Palestinian Authority President took place a month after Donald Trump's visit and his discussions with leaders from both sides. According to Reuters, Netanyahu, who has a close friendship with Jared Kushner's father, stated during the meeting that Israel views the new U.S. efforts as 'an opportunity to achieve common security, economic prosperity, and peace.' The White House announced on Wednesday, June 21, that Kushner's negotiations with Israeli and Palestinian leaders were 'constructive.' Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority, also told Reuters that during Mahmoud Abbas's meeting with Jared Kushner, 'all major issues at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were discussed.' The last real round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks occurred in the fall of 2008 during the final months of Ehud Olmert's premiership in Israel. Kushner returned to Washington early Thursday, July 1, to further analyze the proposals he received from Israeli and West Bank leaders, but Israeli media reported that more trips between Israel and the West Bank are expected for him. 'Saudi Arabia's peace with Israel will also help achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace.' Meanwhile, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Defense Minister, stated on Thursday, July 1, during a speech at the Herzliya security-political conference that Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, could help achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace by establishing relations with Israel. According to Israeli media, the Defense Minister said, 'Within the framework of a comprehensive regional agreement with all moderate Sunni countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, peace with the Palestinians will also be realized.' Lieberman noted that 'the main reason for the failure of the Oslo peace agreement (which established the Palestinian Authority in 1993) was that it emphasized peace in exchange for land returns, while peace can be based on population exchanges.' The Israeli Defense Minister added, 'The Palestinians alone do not have the power for a unilateral peace with Israel—just as Mahmoud Abbas did not accept Ehud Olmert's peace proposals, while there will never again be a Prime Minister in Israel who will make such proposals to the Palestinians.' In the same speech, he accused the Palestinian Authority President of trying to drag Israel and Hamas in Gaza into another war. The Defense Minister's reference is to the current electricity shortage crisis in Gaza. Recently, the Palestinian Authority has reduced the money it pays to Israel for electricity for Gaza, and Israel, which supplies electricity to about two million Palestinians in Gaza, is sending forty percent less power to Gaza. Hamas has stated that the lack of electricity in the hot weather and during Ramadan is leading the situation 'to an explosion.' The Israeli Prime Minister recently stated that the electricity crisis is not Israel's problem but rather an internal Palestinian issue. Avigdor Lieberman also stated that if the Palestinians pay, electricity flow from Israel will be restored. The Defense Minister said in his speech at the Herzliya conference that Israel has no intention of going to war in the north or south of the country, either this summer or fall, and aims to prevent war, although the situation in Gaza cannot remain as it is forever. According to Lieberman, 'Israel's last military victory was in 1967, and therefore, in any other war, Israel must win.' Lieberman stated that a military victory for Israel cannot be achieved through ground troops.