Trump pressured Arab leaders to meet Abbas

US President Donald Trump has been putting pressure on Arab countries in order to arrange meetings with Palestinian Authority (PA), PLO and Fatah President Mahmoud Abbas, Al-Watan Voice reported yesterday.

Reporting an Israeli media report, the Palestinian news website said that Trump wants Abbas to return to the negotiations table and resume the PA’s relations with the American administration after they were cut in the wake of relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem.

Israeli media reported that Trump sought the help of Jordan and Egypt to put pressure on Abbas in order to reconcile American-Palestinian relations however Abbas has insisted that Trump withdraw his decisions regarding Jerusalem and UNRWA before any meeting.

PLC: UNRWA’s crisis ‘political, not financial’

Al-Watan Voice reported that Israel Hayom newspaper said one of Abbas’ conditions for reinstating ties with the US is for Trump to change his envoy to the peace process, Jared Kushner,  because is he is a “hypocrite”.

Last week the US said it was no longer willing to support the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) with the annual payment of $360 million. The decision follows revelations that Kushner has been pushing for the refugee status of thousands of Palestinians to be removed in an effort to halt the majority of UNRWA’s operations.

US decision to cut UNRWA funding – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]