Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner on Friday defended the latest in a series of punitive measures taken by the Trump administration against the Palestinians, saying that none of these measures had diminished the chances of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process being crowned a success.
In an interview with The New York Times, Kushner said that U.S. President Donald Trump's tougher policies had actually improved the chances for peace by stripping away the "false realities" that surround Middle East peacemaking.
U.S.-Palestinian ties have been severely strained since Trump took office.
The American president's hard-line policy toward the Palestinians, which so far has seen Washington suspend its multimillion-dollar contribution to the U.N. aid agency to the Palestinians, shutter the PLO's mission in Washington, and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, has prompted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to declare he will not engage with any of Trump's envoys.
Abbas has also declared that given its policies, the U.S. cannot be seen as an impartial mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"There were too many false realities that were created – that people worship – that I think needed to be changed," Kushner said Friday. "All we're doing is dealing with things as we see them and not being scared out of doing the right thing. I think, as a result, you have a much higher chance of actually achieving a real peace."
Kushner lambasted the Palestinians for maligning the Trump administration in the wake of the aid cuts, saying that Palestinian leaders "deserved to lose aid after vilifying the administration. And much of the money that the United States poured into the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and other Palestinian causes had been misspent anyway."
"Nobody is entitled to America's foreign aid," he stated.
In the case of the Palestinians, Kushner argued, U.S. funding had "evolved into a decadeslong entitlement program with no plan to make them self-reliant."
Still, he insisted that the rift between Ramallah and Washington was not unbridgeable.
"In every negotiation I've ever been in, before somebody gets to 'yes,' their answer is 'no.'"
Kushner said he was unfazed by Abbas' posturing, saying that if the latter was a serious leader, he will study the administration's peace plan carefully after it is released, rather than dismissing it altogether.
In previous statements, Abbas said Trump's so-called "deal of the century" – which has yet to be introduced – was "doomed to fail."
With multiple Palestinian officials dismissing the plan as "dead on arrival," some have questioned whether it will ever see the light of day, but Kushner and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt have rejected that premise, saying they are busy consulting with officials in the region.
Greenblatt noted Friday that the Trump administration is prepared for Israeli criticism of elements of its coming Middle East peace plan.
Both Kushner and Greenblatt have stated in the past that the proposed plan would require concessions on both sides and that neither would be "happy" with its final outline.
Greenblatt said work on the peace plan has entered the "pre-launch phase" despite a boycott by Palestinian leaders.
He declined to specify a time frame, except to say it would not be announced at the U.N. General Assembly gathering in New York later this month, or offer any details of a proposal that has drawn deep skepticism even before its unveiling.
Pushing back against widespread perceptions among Palestinians, Arab officials and independent analysts that the peace plan is likely to be decidedly pro-Israel, Greenblatt made clear that both sides can expect parts they will like and dislike.
"We're going to have to defend the plan to Israelis and Palestinians. We are ready for criticism from all sides, but we believe this is the best path forward for everyone," he said.
The United States will recommend compromises but will not seek to impose a deal, he stressed.
"The parties will need to decide if they think the plan works for them and will make their lives better. The parties are the only ones who can make these compromises, and there are no compromises on Israel's security needs."
Some U.S. officials have said they were counting on Arab states to use their influence with the Palestinians to convince them to return to the negotiating table.
With the "political component" of the plan at the point where it covers all core issues of the decades-old conflict, "We do have to get the economic portion of the plan finished," Greenblatt said. "A successful economy is critical for the Palestinians."
That is widely expected to include international funding proposals for the impoverished Gaza Strip.
U.S. officials have also been noncommittal about whether the plan would endorse the creation of a Palestinian state, as the Palestinians have long demanded.
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said earlier this week that "we will not succumb to U.S. threats and bullying."
