Kushner, Greenblatt visit PA official recovering from surgery

In an act of diplomacy, Kushner and Greenblatt spent time with PA official Saeb Erekat following his lung transplant.

NOVEMBER 1, 2017 18:26

Updated: NOVEMBER 2, 2017 05:00

Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kushner (photo credit: COURTESY/REUTERS) — Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kushner

(photo credit: COURTESY/REUTERS)

WASHINGTON – Two senior Trump administration officials leading a US push for peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians paid a visit this week to a senior PA official recovering from surgery.

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and Jason Greenblatt, the president’s special representative for international negotiations, visited top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat after he underwent a significant lung transplant operation at a hospital in Fairfax, Virginia, last month.

The operation was successful and Erekat is responding well, said PLO envoy to the US Husam Zomlot, who also was in attendance.

A White House official confirmed their visit after the PLO posted a photo on Twitter.

“They went to visit him to see how he was feeling after surgery and to show support to Saeb, his wife and his son,” the official said.

Amb.@hzomlot shows appreciation to @jaredkushner+@jdgreenblatt45 for recently visiting Dr.Saeb Erekat, who underwent lung transplant surgery pic.twitter.com/nVz3STNUIn
— Palestine in the US (@PalestineUSA) November 1, 2017

The official PA news site Wafa reported that Kushner and Greenblatt were checking in on Erekat’s health and well-being.

The Wafa report said Erekat thanked them for “the kind gesture.”

Kushner and Greenblatt have been shuttling around the Middle East in recent weeks as part of the president’s effort to jump start Mideast peace talks. They hope to leverage a recent alignment of strategic interests between Arab powers and the Jewish state into a broader peace agreement.

Adam Rasgon contributed to this report from Astana.