In interview on CNN, Kushner declines to support Palestinian state

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, declined opportunities in an interview with CNN, Wednesday, to express support for Palestinian statehood.

Jared Kushner refused to say in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer whether the US supports a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict https://t.co/jIRWV69f9A pic.twitter.com/sKFzfTD3OT

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 26, 2019

Speaking from Bahrain, Kushner responded to a question about a future independent state for Palestinians by dismissing such talk as part of “a lot of vernacular that people use that has not effectively led to a solution to the problem”.

“So let me tell you what we do want to see”, he continued, before listing “very good security” for Israelis and Palestinians, an environment “where people feel like they can live and have an opportunity…capital can come in and invest, where jobs can be created”, he said.

“We want to see an area where people can respect each other’s religions and worship freely”, Kushner said. “And we want a place where people can live with dignity and have all the opportunities that people deserve to have”.

Pressed again whether Palestinians will have an independent state, Kushner declined to answer, instead replying: “What I can say is that the plan we are putting out will dramatically improve the lives of the Palestinian people”.

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According to Kushner, the plan will allow everyone “to focus on the two priorities which are the same priorities that President Trump has for America, which is: keeping everyone safe and giving everyone the opportunity to be prosperous”.

Meanwhile, in a separate interview with CNN, senior US official Jason Greenblatt justified what critics have described as his one-sided attacks on Palestinian leaders by claiming that he has not “found anything to criticise” in Israeli conduct.

“I haven’t found anything to criticise that goes over the line”, the special representative said, when asked whether he has ever criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Asked whether he believes the Israeli government has taken any actions that have held up or been unhelpful to the peace process, he said: “No. I think the government of Israel has been engaged”.

By contrast, Greenblatt doubled down on his attacks on Palestinian officials.

“The Palestinian Authority is not only condemning our peace plan; they’re taking action to subvert it, to undermine it, to prevent peace from happening”, he said.

Kushner: Palestinian boycott of US peace plan ‘strategic error’