FOREIGN POLICY/ISRAEL/JASON GREENBLATT/PALESTINE: “Jason Greenblatt, the U.S. envoy leading efforts to reopen peace talks between Israel and Palestine, is headed to the Middle East as a crisis surrounding a holy site escalates, according to a White House official.
Mr. Greenblatt left for Israel on Sunday [7-23-17] night ‘to support efforts to reduce tensions in the region,’ the official said.
Along with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, Mr. Greenblatt has been in touch with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in recent days following a terrorist attack on the holy plateau known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims.
The site is holy to both religions and has often been a point of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The attack, which left two Israeli police officers dead, led Israeli officials last week to introduce metal detectors at the site’s entrances.
Protests ensued around the Arab world over the security measure, and in Jerusalem and the West Bank, riots led to three Palestinian deaths. For many Arabs, the metal detectors were seen as giving Israel control over entry to a Muslim holy site.”
-Eli Stokols, “U.S. Envoy Jason Greenblatt Travels to Israel to Soothe Regional Tensions,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 23, 2017 09:57pm