Kushner: ‘Arab Peace initiative expired’

The US President’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has hinted that the Arab Peace Initiative, endorsed by the Beirut Summit in 2002, will not be the basis for a future solution to the Palestinian crisis, just hours before the launch of the Bahrain workshop.

The initiative included the establishment of an internationally recognised Palestinian State on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital, a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue and Israel’s withdrawal from the Golan Heights and the occupied territories in southern Lebanon in return for Arab recognition of Israel and the normalisation of relations with Israel.

Kushner stated during an interview with Al Jazeera before leaving for Bahrain: “All the parties I have talked to mentioned the Arab Peace Initiative, which was a great effort to solve the crisis. However, if a solution could have been reached, it would have been achieved a long time ago. Therefore, we must all recognise that if a settlement is reached, it will not be based on the Arab Peace Initiative, but will be somewhere between this initiative and the Israeli position.”

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Kushner indicated that the Manama workshop that the United States called for as an effort to boost the deal of the century’s chances, has been successful.

In this regard, Kushner noted that the Bahrain workshop has already achieved success, as it will be attended by several Arab states and other countries all over the world, though there are other parties that will not participate.

As for the criticism directed at Trump’s decision to recognise occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Kushner asserted that “the United States and Congress have had the right to enact this legislation for years.”

The Bahrain workshop, headed by Kushner, focuses on the economic aspects of the so-called deal of the century.