Kushner to visit Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia ahead of peace plan reveal
A US-drafted Israeli-Palestinian peace plan will reportedly be revealed this month, as a standoff between Washington and Palestinian Authority continues.
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Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kushner attended the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem [Getty]
US Middle East envoys Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt will travel to Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia next week as a peace plan nears completion.
The plan's main authors will "discuss the situation in Gaza and to discuss the next stages of the peace effort, as well as get some ideas from players in the region about some remaining questions the White House peace team has," a National Security Council spokesperson said. "The trip may include other stops as well."
Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and Greenblatt will not meet with Palestinian officials during the visit, continuing a standoff between the two sides after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the US disqualified itself as mediator after it recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved its embassy there.
However a US official said the pair are "ready" should the Palestinian leadership request a meeting.
The Trump administration has not yet set a date for the plan's reveal, with the official stating it wants to launch the proposal "when the circumstances are right".
Very few details of the plan, which Trump has dubbed the "deal of the century", have been reported. A White House official told Haaretz the administration wants the plan to be "sellable" on both sides.
The US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley, who recently walked out of a UN Security Council session while the Palestinian representative was speaking, has previously said the plan "won't be loved by either side, and it won't be hated by either side".
When pressed on whether the US would support an independent Palestinian state, which had been US policy for more than two decades before Trump entered the White House, Haley said it was for Israelis and Palestinians to decide.
Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and Greenblatt will not meet with Palestinian officials during the visit, continuing a standoff between the two sides after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the US disqualified itself as mediator after it recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved its embassy there.
However a US official said the pair are "ready" should the Palestinian leadership request a meeting.
The Trump administration has not yet set a date for the plan's reveal, with the official stating it wants to launch the proposal "when the circumstances are right".
According to reports last month, the plan was slated to be made public mid- to late-June, shortly after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
On Monday, the US ambassador to Israel David Friedman was reportedly called back to Washington for "urgent discussions" at the White House.
Read more: Comment: Trump is throwing the Middle East under the bus
The US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley, who recently walked out of a UN Security Council session while the Palestinian representative was speaking, has previously said the plan "won't be loved by either side, and it won't be hated by either side".
When pressed on whether the US would support an independent Palestinian state, which had been US policy for more than two decades before Trump entered the White House, Haley said it was for Israelis and Palestinians to decide.
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