FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP FAMILY/JARED KUSHNER: “The U.S. described Jared Kushner’s whistle-stop diplomatic tour of the Middle East as ‘productive’ as he tried to make progress with President Donald Trump’s plan to revive peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
Mr. Kushner, who is also the president’s son-in-law, and other U.S. officials met with a number of regional leaders to discuss Middle East peace before he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday [8-24-17] afternoon. He then sat down with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah before flying out later that night.
The White House had indicated that it would present a strategy to bring the two adversaries back to the negotiating table. Mr. Trump has said he wants to achieve the ‘ultimate deal’ of a peace settlement between the parties…
White House Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell accompanied Mr. Kushner on his two-day trip. The group also held meetings to discuss the peace process with officials in key U.S. allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan…
The Trump administration’s attempt to advance peace talks likely won’t yield progress in the short term, Western diplomats and analysts have said. Mr. Trump has shifted from a long-held U.S. policy of supporting a two-state solution, saying he would instead support a plan on which both Israelis and Palestinians agreed.”
-Rory Jones, “Jared Kushner Wraps Up ‘Productive’ Middle East Talks,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 25, 2017 10:31am