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Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he pushes for a settlement freeze in the Middle East, according to press reports. Kushner and Greenblatt met with Netanyahu as part of a forum organized by Netanyahu’s office and the American Jewish Committee’s Institute for Near East Policy.
“While national security adviser, Jared Kushner became obsessed with finding donors for the new American Embassy in Jerusalem, now heading to the Old City for its dedication ceremony on Sunday,” the Hill wrote. “Now, Kushner and Jason Greenblatt are seeking to make their final push before the world turns its attention to Arab and U.S. elections in November.”
“Well, you know, we know that the Democrats are focused on attacking the president as somebody who is careless and not really serious, but you know, right now our focus is on Jerusalem and that ceremony tomorrow, ” Greenblatt said. “This is really a perfect place for us to talk about our mutual interests.”
“Everybody realizes that the only real opportunity is going to be an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. While the Palestinians talk a lot about the settlements, in practice they know the settlements are what bring their people to despair, and therefore people become less willing to engage in a peace deal with them,” Netanyahu said. “And when the settlements go, when there is no movement in the ground and there is no construction in the settlements, and therefore there is no genuine Palestinian prospect for an agreement, there is no peace deal. There is no real possibility.”