Trump envoys discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace plan with Jordan king

Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and envoy Jason Greenblatt are on a regional tour to discuss the so-called "deal of the century".

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

19 June, 2018

Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner attended the opening of the embassy in Jerusalem [Getty]

US President Donald Trump's special envoy Jason Greenblatt and adviser Jared Kushner on Tuesday met with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

The meeting came less than a day after the Jordanian monarch hosted Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a short but rare visit.

"They discussed increasing cooperation between the United States and Jordan, regional issues, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the Trump administration's efforts to facilitate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians," the White House said in a statement of the meeting at Al Husseiniya Palace.

The king underlined the need to "break the stalemate" in the peace process and relaunch "serious and effective" negotiations, said a statement from the Jordan monarchy.

"The King reaffirmed that the subject of Jerusalem must be settled as part of final status issues, as the holy city is key to achieving peace in the region."

On Monday with Netanyahu, King Abdullah said the question of Jerusalem - one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - was "the key to achieving peace".

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, but Israel considers the entire city to be its eternal and indivisible capital.

The US delegation's trip also includes stops in Israel, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The peace plan, described by Trump at the beginning of his presidency as the "deal of the century" is reportedly close to completion, with the US ambassador to Israel David Friedman being called to Washington earlier this month.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been stalled since 2014.

Trump's controversial December decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital has made the resumption of peace efforts unlikely. The Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, suspended talks with Washington following Trump's embassy move, saying the US disqualified itself as mediator.

The Palestinian Authority said on Saturday that US plans to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are "doomed to fail".

The West Bank, including east Jerusalem, was administratively linked to Jordan before it was occupied by Israel in 1967.

Israel, which signed a peace treaty with Jordan in 1994, recognises Jordan as the custodian of the divided city's Muslim holy sites.