White House Adviser Jared Kushner on Wednesday criticized the Palestinian Authority and Hamas leadership for calling for a "Day of Rage" in response to the presentation of US President Donald Trump's "deal of the century."
"They (the Palestinians) rejected the plan before they saw it," Kushner told CNN. "They thought it wasn't gonna be as good as it was so I think they look quite foolish today. Also, one of the great ironies is they keep saying they want to be a state."
"If you're a state, you don't call for days of rage when you don't get what you want. So, this is a real moment for them to show the world: Are you ready to become a state or not?"
He also noted that the plan is "a big opportunity for the Palestinians and they have a perfect track record of blowing every opportunity they've had in their past, but perhaps maybe their leadership will read the details of it, stop posturing and do what's best to try to make the Palestinians' lives better."
When asked why the new "deal of the century" might succeed when the previous agreements, including Oslo and the Road Map, Kushner said: "I've studied this now very closely for the last three years. I have not found any maps, from any past negotiations, that have ever been produced, nor has there ever been a map in the history of this that has been accepted by the State of Israel."
Trump, he said "has unified the region around common goals and shared ethos," and that the fact that an Israeli prime minister agreed to negotiate on the framework on the basis of a state is "a very significant achievement."
"There's finally a real effort on the table, there's a real plan on the table, a real offer... The terms are not final terms. This is an opening offer and if the Palestinians come -- and they have some adjustments, they want to move the line, they want to change one of the sentences, they want to negotiate on different thing -- there'll be flexibility."