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News / Nation & World

Kushner in Mideast to drum up support for peace plan

By Associated Press
Published: May 28, 2019, 1:50pm
2 Photos
FILE - In this May 18, 2018 file photo, White House adviser Jared Kushner speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. There is little enthusiasm among U.S. allies for Kushner’s planned Mideast conference at the end of June, 2019. The conference, presented as phase one of his long-awaited plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, has put pro-Western countries like Jordan and the Saudi Arabia in a difficult position. They can’t afford to snub an invitation from their American benefactors but are wary of endorsing a plan that does not include Palestinian independence.
FILE - In this May 18, 2018 file photo, White House adviser Jared Kushner speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. There is little enthusiasm among U.S. allies for Kushner’s planned Mideast conference at the end of June, 2019. The conference, presented as phase one of his long-awaited plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, has put pro-Western countries like Jordan and the Saudi Arabia in a difficult position. They can’t afford to snub an invitation from their American benefactors but are wary of endorsing a plan that does not include Palestinian independence. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) Photo Gallery

RABAT, Morocco — President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is in Morocco to seek King Mohammed VI’s backing for economic elements of the Trump administration’s still-secret peace plan for Israel and Palestine.

The Trump administration is stepping up efforts to build support for the plan, as the architects of the proposal began a Mideast tour this week aimed at winning over uneasy Arab nations.

A White House official said Tuesday the trip “is part of our ongoing efforts to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians” but offered no specifics about the team’s agenda at its various stops. The administration is keen to win support from members of the Arab League on whom the plan will rely heavily for both economic and political support.

Kushner, Trump’s special representative for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt and special U.S. envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, will also travel to Jordan and Israel as part of the trip.

The Palestinians, who have cut off contact with the Trump administration and have rejected the peace plan sight unseen, are urging fellow Arabs to steer clear of the Bahrain economic workshop to be held on June 25-26. However, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have all signaled they intend to participate.

Morocco and Jordan have yet to offer any public position on either the peace plan or the Bahrain meeting. Both have close ties with the Palestinian leadership and may fear public discontent should they endorse the plan.

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