Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu welcomed the announcement that United States President Trump will soon send a peacemaking delegation, saying in a meeting with his coalition that "President Trump will soon send his representatives Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt to hold talks in the region. They will stop in Jerusalem,of course, and will to try to jump start the diplomatic process. We, of course, welcome them as always "
Trump announced in a statement Friday that he was sending some of his most senior advisers to the region in an effort to advance talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The delegation will include Trumps son in law and middle east point-man Jared Kushner, Senior advisor to the President Jason Greenblatt, and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell.
The trio, who are expected to land late August will meet with leaders from Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt.
A White House official said Friday that the delegation will “focus on the path to substantive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, combating extremism, the situation in Gaza, including how to ease the humanitarian crisis there,"
The official also seemed to rebuff recent claims by Kushner questioning whether a peace deal was even possible. " President Trump has previously noted that achieving an enduring Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement will be difficult but he remains optimistic that peace is possible,” the official said.