Kushner presents 'ideas' on Middle East in meeting with EU leaders
Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has made a final stop in his diplomatic tour to sell Washington's plan to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, meeting with senior European officials in Brussels to tout his "deal of the century".
Kushner, a senior White House adviser, presented "his ideas" for the Middle East in a meeting on Tuesday with Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, AFP reported.
But no details were revealed about what exactly Kushner's ideas are, the news agency said.
Kushner and Juncker were joined in their meeting by Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign policy chief, according to a spokeswoman for Juncker, Mina Andreeva.
"During the discussion about the Middle East ... [Juncker and Mogherini] listened to Mr. Kushner's ideas and highlighted the European Union's fundamental interests in lasting peace and stability in the region," said Andreeva, as reported by AFP.
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Kushner has been trying to sell the Trump administration's so-called "deal of the century" to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, making stops in Israel and Jordan, before joining Trump in the UK and then moving on to Belgium.
In Jordan, he was met by protesters denouncing the "deal of the century", while he got a warm welcome by the Trump administration's staunch ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
While the proposal has yet to be unveiled, the United States intends to announce the economic portion of its plan during a summit in Bahrain on 25-26 June.
So far, Kushner has only said the deal would bring economic prosperity to Palestinians.
Palestinian leaders have rejected the upcoming economic conference in the Bahraini capital, Manama, however, saying that the Trump administration is a dishonest broker.
Many Palestine advocates have also said they would reject any proposal that does not guarantee control over their own future - and an end to Israel's continued occupation of their lands.
Kushner also garnered widespread criticism this week after he said in an interview that he doesn't think Palestinians are ready to govern themselves.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also recently raised concerns, saying he feared the Trump administration's plan may not gain traction and would end up being unworkable, the Washington Post first reported earlier this week.
On Monday, more than two dozen Israeli, Palestinian and European civil society groups urged the EU to reject any US-sponsored plan that is not based on international law and human rights principles.
"The [US] plan threatens to further undermine respect for human rights and international law considerations in Israel/Palestine," the organisations wrote in an open letter.
"Ahead of the US plan, the EU must insist on a human rights-based approach as the basic benchmark for its acceptance and engagement," they said.
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