Kushner travels to Middle East to drum up support for Israeli-Palestinian peace plan
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White House senior adviser Jared Kushner has gone abroad to the Middle East in an effort to drum up support from regional leaders for his yet-to-be-unveiled Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, travelled to the region with the president’s special envoy for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt and special Iran envoy Brian Hook, a White House official told Fox News. The trio are currently in Morocco and will visit Jordan and Israel later this week.
The trip comes as the U.S. prepares to roll out the economic portion of the plan at a conference in Bahrain in late June. The Palestinians have already rejected the peace plan and have urged Arab nations to avoid the conference, but Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have already indicated they will participate.
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TRUMP MIDDLE EAST ENVOY JASON GREENBLATT: PEACE PLAN IS WEEKS AWAY
Kushner said last month that his long-awaited peace plan would be unveiled sometime after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year ends on June 4. The plan is tentatively scheduled to be revealed June 25-26 during a conference in Bahrain.
Kushner, speaking at a conference sponsored by Time Magazine, said the plan was originally poised to be released earlier this year but was delayed after elections were called in Israel.
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The peace proposal has been in the works for two years and the process has been greeted with skepticism both on Capitol Hill and in global capitals.
The conference won’t be addressing the most contentious parts of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians -- such as borders, the status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and Israel’s security.
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The U.S. hopes Arab countries will invest in Palestinian territories, fix crumbling infrastructure and support other industrial projects in an effort to convince the leadership to accept the peace plan.
“The Palestinian people, along with all people in the Middle East, deserve a future with dignity and the opportunity to better their lives,” Kushner, said in a statement last week. “Economic progress can only be achieved with a solid economic vision and if the core political issues are resolved.”
Fox News’ Lukas Mikelionis and Kristin Brown and The Associated Press contributed to this report.