President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner blamed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas Thursday for a spike in violence in Israel following the unveiling of a new US Middle East peace plan.
Kushner, the architect of the controversial proposal that has been rejected by the Palestinians, said Abbas “does have a responsibility” for the escalation in unrest after the unveiling of the so-called peace plan on January 28.
“He calls for days of rage in response and he said that even before he saw the plan,” Kushner told reporters after briefing UN Security Council members behind closed doors in New York.
Today in #Palestine:
– 4 Palestinians murdered by #Israel
– #Gaza bombed
– 70+ injured in Bethlehem
– Dozens arrested in regime raidsYet, we are told it's the Palestinians who are the terrorists..#DealOfTheCenturyhttps://t.co/u4ACGktGST
— Robert Carter (@Bob_cart124) February 6, 2020
“He rejected the plan before he even saw it, Kushner continued.
“I think that he was surprised with how good the plan was for the Palestinian people but he locked himself into a position before it came out and I don’t know why he did that,” he added.
But on the other hand, critics continue to blame the peace plan as the main reason behind the latest heightened tension in the country. They see the deal greatly favours Israel rather than Palestine. Israeli interests have been given priority over the rights of Palestinian people.
Read more: Israel-Palestine: Deal of the century or the devil’s deal?
The deal was rejected by the Palestinian authorities as it was a one-sided deal which did not even take them into account while chalking out the plan. Some of the critics call this deal as ‘Versailles’ of the Middle East which would result in another extended round of violence in the war-ridden Middle East.
A car-ramming targeting Israeli troops in Jerusalem wounded 14 people Thursday, while two Palestinians were shot dead in clashes in the occupied West Bank.
A third person was killed by Israeli officers inside the Old City in east Jerusalem after firing on police, Israeli officials said.
A spokesman for Abbas blamed Trump’s peace proposal for the unrest.
“There is a long history of the Palestinian leadership paying the families of terrorists, inciting intifadas when they don’t get their way,” said Kushner.
“I just think the international community has grown very tired of that behaviour,” he added.
Kushner described the two-hour-long talks with the Council’s 14 other members as “very constructive.”
Read more: Trump defends his unilateral Middle East plan; excludes Palestine
Kushner meeting with UNSC members is seen by many analysts as an effort to blunt Mehmood Abbas visit to the UN headquarter and to convince the members to drop the long-held position on Palestine.
However, it seems that he failed to convince the UNSC members as the French UN ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said the view from Paris “remains the same”. France still maintains the stand on the issue and calls for the two-state solution based on UN resolutions.