Kushner slams Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in exclusive interview
White House adviser Jared Kushner used a rare interview with a Palestinian newspaper to slam leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Kushner told the daily Al Quds that the U.S. peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be made public “soon” if Abbas does not play ball with the Trump administration.
“If President Abbas is willing to come back to the table, we are ready to engage; if he is not, we will likely air the plan publicly,” he said, according to a translation published Sunday, before adding that Abbas’s talking points “have not changed in the last 25 years.”
Kushner visited with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to the Middle East, but Abbas refused to meet with the adviser, who has no diplomatic experience but is the President’s son-in-law after the U.S. moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
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The move provoked outrage including a protest on the day of the opening where dozens of demonstrators were shot and killed by Israeli forces who said they were terrorists.
Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, long the goal of the international peace process, and fall out from the embassy move was expected after allies in the region and in Europe warned President Trump that the change would threaten hopes of peace.
The U.S. blocked a United Nations measure that would have condemned it for the embassy move, though the international body did pass a measure condemning the killing of Palestinian protesters.
Kushner said in his interview that “both sides will have to take a leap” and said that the U.S. peace plan, which includes economic development proposals, could be released to attempt to get support from Palestinians rather than their leadership.
The Trump son-in-law went to Israel as part of a five-country trip with Middle East negotiator Jason Greenblatt to Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
With News Wire Services
