After regional tour Trump’s Mideast peace team meets with Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for his support and stated a possible peace initiative is in the works.

By HERB KEINON
Updated: JUNE 24, 2018 16:02
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Jared Kushner in Israel (photo credit: GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Jared Kushner in Israel
(photo credit: GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his appreciation to US President Donald Trump for his support for Israel during a four-hour meeting Friday afternoon with Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jason Kushner, Mideast negotiator Jason Greenblatt, and US ambassador David Friedman.
Kushner and Greenblatt arrived in Israel late Thursday evening on the last leg of a five country Mideast tour that began in Jordan on Tuesday, and included Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar.
Following the meeting, the PMO issued a statement saying they discussed the diplomatic process with the Palestinians, regional developments and the security and humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The Kushner and Greenblatt tour of the region comes as the Trump Administration is considering if, when and how to roll-out a blueprint for a peace process which the Palestinians – because of the US decision to move its capital to Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel's capital – have already rejected. The Palestinian Authority is boycotting the Kushner and Greenblatt visit.
Israel's ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, also took part in the discussions.
The US embassy put out a statement after the meeting very similar to statements issued by the White House following Kushner and Greenblatt's meeting in each of the other countries they have visited on this trip.
Kushner and Greenblatt, the statement read, “returned to Israel and met today with Ambassador David Friedman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They discussed the means by which the humanitarian situation in Gaza can be alleviated, while maintaining Israel’s security. They further discussed the continued commitment of the Trump Administration and Israel to advance peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”