President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the top official for Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, says the White House will soon present a tightly guarded peace plan and may do so without the support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
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In an interview published on Sunday in the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds, Kushner was critical of Abbas saying he is not sure if the octogenarian president "has the ability to, or is willing to, lean into finishing a deal."
"If President Abbas is willing to come back to the table, we are ready to engage; if he is not, we will likely air the plan publicly," Kushner added.
Hopes for the Palestinians to approve any US-backed peace plan dimmed last year when the US announced it would move its embassy to Jerusalem, a city contested by both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Palestinians have since cut contacts with Washington and rejected the US as a biased negotiator.
The US envoy said the Palestinian leadership is "scared" that the Palestinian public may approve of the US peace initiative and called on Palestinians to not "let your leadership reject a plan they haven't even seen."
This week Kushner, along with Jason Greenblatt, the US special representative for international negotiations, toured Israel and the Middle East discussing US peace efforts.
The two envoys did not hold meetings with Palestinian officials.
Australian Associated Press