UPDATED: Amateur diplomat Kushner is a complete failure in Middle East
Peacemaking is in no way similar to negotiating real estate deals. Also, never send a boy to do the job of a woman or man who has decades of experience in diplomacy, statesmanship, geostrategic knowledge, and geotactical negotiation jiu-jitsu.
A U.S. official denied reports that President Donald Trump was considering pulling out of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestinians after a rift opened up in the first meeting between Trump aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat reported Saturday that the meeting between Kushner and Abbas had been “tense.” Abbas was allegedly furious when Kushner relayed a set of demands from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a translation of the report by the Jerusalem Post.
Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Palestinian officials were “greatly disappointed” following their Wednesday meeting with Kushner and Jonathan Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East envoy.
Trump and his gang of bust-out artists appear not to have clue one about how to engage in diplomacy:
Al-Hayat’s report claimed that Trump was trying to determine the future of reigniting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in the near future, including the possibility of withdrawing completely from the process altogether.
“(Kushner) will submit his report to the president and, after it is submitted, Trump will decide if there’s a chance for negotiations or it might be preferable to pull out of peace efforts,” the official told the al-Hayat, according to a translation by Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post.
However, a The Jerusalem Post cited a response from a senior US official who called the report “nonsense.”
The al-Hayat report also claimed that the Trump administration disapproved of Abbas for failing to denounce a deadly stabbing attack in occupied East Jerusalem last week.
UPDATE: YnetNews.com reports
A US official has categorically denied rumors suggesting that President Donald Trump is contemplating giving up on launching fresh peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. “Reports that President Trump is considering pulling out of peace talks are nonsense,” the official said.
UPDATE 2: Yes, this is off-topic, but timing is everything!
One month before Election Day, Jared Kushner’s real estate company finalized a $285 million loan as part of a refinancing package for its property near Times Square in Manhattan.
The loan came at a critical moment. Kushner was playing a key role in the presidential campaign of his father-in-law, Donald Trump. The lender, Deutsche Bank, was negotiating to settle a federal mortgage fraud case and charges from New York state regulators that it aided a possible Russian money-laundering scheme. The cases were settled in December and January.
Now, Kushner’s association with Deutsche Bank is among a number of financial matters that could come under focus as his business activities are reviewed by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is examining Kushner as part of a broader investigation into possible Russian influence in the election.
