U.S.: No peace plan before September 17 elections in Israel
Two days after Trump says the long-delayed proposal could be published ahead of the Israeli vote, his Mideast special envoy Jason Greenblatt tweets that no parts of the plan will be released until after Israelis go to the polls
The United States will not be releasing any or all of its plan for Middle East peace before the September 17 elections in Israel, Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, said Wednesday.
The plan, referred to by U.S. President Donald Trump as the "deal of the century" and developed by his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, was scheduled to be revealed sometime this summer.
Those plans, however, were put on hold after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government following the April 9 national elections in Israel, leading to an unprecedented second vote within the same year.
We have decided that we will not be releasing the peace vision (or parts of it) prior to the Israeli election.
— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) August 28, 2019
The Twitter comment by Greenblatt comes just two days after Trump announced on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Biarritz, France on Monday that the plan may be revealed before the Israeli elections.
That claim contradicted Trump's own statement last week when he told reporters the long-delayed proposal would most likely be delayed until after the vote in Israel.
“We will probably wait for the release of the Middle East peace plan until after the Israeli elections,” Trump said at the time.
Kushner has long been involved in the Trump administration's plans for Middle East peace. In June, he spearheaded a two-day workshop in Bahrain aimed at building support for a program to combine private investment and support from regional governments to transform economically devastated Palestinian communities.
“My direct message to the Palestinians is that despite what those who have let you down in the past have told you, President Trump and America has not given up on you,” Kushner said at the conference. “This workshop is for you, and if this is executed correctly, it will lead to a better future for the Palestinian people: a future of dignity, prosperity and opportunity.”
Kushner’s audience in the tiny Gulf kingdom did not include any official Palestinian delegation. Israel, which will have to sign off on many of the proposal’s projects, was not invited to send any government officials, either.
Those who heard Kushner in person were Arab finance ministers, the heads of international financial organizations and global business executives and investors.
