Trump's son-in-law heads to Israel for first visit since January to discuss Gaza plan
Jared Kushner (photo: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, plans to visit Israel next week for talks on the situation in Gaza, according to Axios.
The outlet writes that this will be Kushner's first trip to Israel since January. It comes amid efforts by the White House and Donald Trump's Peace Board to advance the next phase of the Gaza plan, which focuses on the disarmament of Hamas and the potential withdrawal of Israeli troops.
At the same time, Netanyahu's government is highly skeptical of the US plan for Gaza, while the upcoming elections in October make the issue even more politically sensitive.
"We see eye-to-eye on the strategic goal, but Israel has expressed some doubts about the plan, and we want to talk to them in order to make sure we are coordinated," a US official said, noting that the exact dates of the visit could change.
According to Axios, Kushner plans to travel to Israel together with Nickolay Mladenov, who has been appointed the Peace Board's "high representative" for Gaza. He intends to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.
In addition, Kushner may travel to other Middle Eastern countries for talks with regional leaders involved in addressing the situation in Gaza.
The White House does not want the Israeli elections to slow down implementation of the next phase of the plan. At the same time, Netanyahu does not want to make concessions that could hurt him politically. But he also does not want a confrontation with Trump ahead of the elections.
Axios notes that Kushner and Mladenov want to reach an understanding with Netanyahu on further steps in Gaza over the next several months.
"We are not rushing into anything here. We want to make sure all steps in Gaza are being done properly. We think our plan is better than the alternative," one US official said.
What preceded this
A few weeks ago, Donald Trump announced that his Peace Board had reached an agreement with Hamas on disarmament and the transfer of control over civilian affairs and security in the Gaza Strip to a new Palestinian technocratic government.
At the same time, on Sunday, Netanyahu said that he does not accept the 15-point US peace initiative. He said that the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip would take place only if Hamas ceased to exist in reality, rather than merely formally.
However, as a US official told Axios, the White House views Netanyahu's statement as election politics rather than necessarily a statement of policy.
