In push for Trump peace plan, Avi Berkowitz met with Arab state officials
Avi Berkowitz, representative for international negotiations, traveled to participate in the Munich Security Conference and met with senior officials from four Arab countries.
By OMRI NAHMIASAvi Berkowitz(photo credit: Courtesy)
WASHINGTON – Avi Berkowitz, assistant to US President Donald Trump and representative for international negotiations, has traveled to participate in the Munich Security Conference, meeting over the weekend with senior officials from four Arab countries, The Jerusalem Post has learned.Berkowitz met with officials from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Oman, as well as with senior EU officials. While the content of the meeting is unclear, the US peace team has been working on three different channels for the past couple of weeks: normalization between Israel and Arab countries; promoting the peace plan and trying to reach out behind the scenes to the Palestinian Authority; and blocking any UN resolution against the plan.The Post reported at the beginning of February that the US has been trying to push for normalization between Israel and the Arab world. “We are getting close on our work on normalization,” a senior White House official told the Post on February 2.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive relations between the White House and Arab countries, said that three measures were currently on the agenda: non-belligerency agreements with Israel, direct flights between Israel and Arab countries, and allowing Israeli officials to attend events in Arab countries. “We have been working behind the scenes to get it ready,” he said.Earlier this week, the Palestinians failed to secure a UN Security Council resolution against the Trump administration’s peace plan. The peace team, spearheaded by Jared Kushner, pressured members of the Security Council such as Tunisia, Indonesia and the Dominican Republic to support a softer language or to abstain from a vote. Shortly afterwards, the Palestinians announced a postponement in the vote to an unknown date, signaling a diplomatic achievement for the US.
