Jason Greenblatt
Jason GreenblattReuters

Jason Greenblatt, US Special Representative for International Negotiations, stressed on Tuesday night that Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders had been invited to the US-led Warsaw conference on the Middle East, but had declined the invitation.

Greenblatt’s comments on Twitter came in response to former US Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, who claimed that the Trump administration hadn’t invited the PA to the conference.

“Dear Martin- sorry but sources have misinformed you. The US did invite the Palestinians to join the conference and would have welcomed them there. They declined,” wrote Greenblatt.

On Friday, a US official said that Palestinian Arab officials had been invited to the conference, which will be attended by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who will provide an update on the Trump administration’s peace plan.

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat later said that Palestinian Arab officials will not participate in the conference, describing it as “an attempt at bypassing the Arab Peace Initiative and destroying the Palestinian National project.”

The PA has rejected the US peace plan being formulated by the Trump administration before it has even been unveiled and has been boycotting the US ever since Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December of 2017.