Ramallah: US President Donald Trump’s senior advisor Jared Kushner announced that a US Mideast peace plan would be made public “soon”, media reports said on Sunday.
The peace deal will be ready soon and will press on with or without the participation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Xinhua quoted Kushner as saying in an interview with Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds.
While refusing to reveal details of the plan, he criticized the rejection by Abbas of the peace plan even before it was publicly announced.
“To make a deal, both sides will have to take a leap and meet somewhere between their stated positions,” he said.
“The actual details of the deal are between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but the economic plan we are working on will extend to the Jordanian and Egyptian people as well,” said Kushner.
Kushner and US Presidential senior envoy Jason Greenblatt are currently visiting Israel as part of a regional tour to meet officials of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan.
kushner added that the Arab leaders “want to see a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and an agreement that enables the Palestinians to live in peace”.
He emphasised the economic benefits of a deal, noting that the Palestinians will be able to take advantage of Israel’s prosperity if a deal is reached, and that peace in the region will attract more global investment.
The Palestinian Authority has boycotted the US administration since last December, when Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The Palestinians have since excluded the US from the Mideast peace sponsors, and turned to Europe and other countries for a multilateral sponsorship.
–IANS