The PA’s chief negotiator was “surprised” by a recent comments made by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner expressing doubt about the prospects for peace between Israel and the PA.
On Tuesday, Wired released a transcript of Kushner speaking in a closed conversation, during which he expressed doubt about the possibility of reaching a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“What do we offer that's unique?” he asked. “ I don’t know … I’m sure everyone that’s tried this has been unique in some ways, but again we’re trying to follow very logically. We're thinking about what the right end state is, and we’re trying to work with the parties very quietly to see if there's a solution. And there may be no solution, but it’s one of the problem sets that the president asked us to focus on. So we’re going to focus on it and try to come to the right conclusion in the near future,” Kushner said.
In an interview with the New York Times published on Wednesday, senior PA official Saeb Erekat, who has represented the PA in talks with Israel for roughly a quarter of a century, said that he had spoken with Kushner “more than once” and had held at least 19 meetings with US officials since February. He reportedly expressed surprise at Kushner’s comments, “not least because Mr. Kushner had emphasized how serious Mr. Trump was about seeking” a peace agreement, and noted that US officials have said “many times that they are not against two states.” READ MORE
