UN must break ‘habits’
Says Kushner as he defends Middle East plan
Donald Trump’s son-in-law and architect of the new US peace plan for the Middle East, Jared Kushner, has called on the UN Security Council to break its “habits” and solve the “hardest problem in the world”, in a rare interview.
Kushner on Thursday presented the US peace plan to the UN Security Council, using maps and graphics to illustrate his contention that the parallel developments of Israeli settlements and Palestinian aspirations would lead to a point of no return for the creation of a Palestinian state.
“People want to see fresh thinking and progress,” Kushner told reporters from six media outlets, including AFP. “What we are doing is just trying to fight against habits,” he said.
The US plan retains a two-state solution and proposes making Abu Dis the capital of a Palestinian state. Palestinians however want all of east Jerusalem to be the capital of any future state.
The US proposal also gives consent for Israel to annex Israeli settlements as well as the Jordan Valley, a narrow strip of land much of which is inside the West Bank, a key part of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
Asked whether Israel could be flexible on the question of east Jerusalem, Kushner said that was up to the two parties themselves to decide.
Kushner also accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas of not wanting to reach a peace deal.
“I never felt like he was willing to get into details either because he is not a detail-oriented person or because he didn’t know what he wanted to accomplish.”
“He liked high level principles, but you can’t solve problems with high level principles,” he added.