Middle East/North Africa

Kushner meets with king of Jordan

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner on Tuesday met with King Abdullah II of Jordan to discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. 

“Building on previous conversations, they discussed increasing cooperation between the United States and Jordan, regional issues, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the Trump Administration’s efforts to facilitate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians,” the White House said in a statement.

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Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt also participated in the meeting. The two Trump administration officials have been tasked with working on peace negotiations.

The meeting between Kushner, Greenblatt and Abdullah comes after the king of Jordan on Monday met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss peace talks.

Axios reported last week that the United Kingdom is planning a gathering with Kushner, foreign secretaries from top Arab nations and European foreign secretaries to talk about the White House’s plan for peace negotiations. British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson talked to Jordan’s foreign secretary about the potential gathering, according to the report.

Kushner, who is also President Trump’s son-in-law, has previously traveled to the region with Greenblatt. 

The United States in May officially moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move met with wide condemnation in both the Middle East and Europe.   

Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem the capital of a future independent state.

The Trump administration argues the embassy move rightfully recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city.