Kushner will invite Arab leaders to a peace conference during Middle East visit

Marcy Oster

(JTA) — White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, visiting several Middle Eastern countries, will use the occasion to invite Arab leaders to a peace conference.

The Israeli daily Yediot Acharonot first reported the new development in the Trump Administration’s pursuit of peace in the region on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source in Washington.

The peace conference will take place at Camp David, where President Donald Trump will present his Mideast peace plan, the source told Yediot. Netanyahu will not attend, since it could prevent some Arab leaders from attending the meeting, which will be held before the Sept. 17 elections, according to the report.

Kushner was scheduled to arrive in the region on Wednesday and will visit Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Israel. He will be joined on the trip by U.S. special peace envoy Jason Greenblatt and special Iran envoy Brian Hook.

Greenblatt and Hook co-authored an op-ed Wednesday criticizing Iran for its financial support of Palestinian terrorist groups, and touting the Trump administration’s efforts to bring “the Arab nations and Israel together to an unprecedented degree.”

The plan expected to be presented at Camp David will be short on details, the source told Yediot, including “yes to a Palestinian entity, but not necessarily a Palestinian state, yes to Palestinian presence in Jerusalem, but not necessarily as a capital.”