Donald Trump’s son-in-law and chief Middle East adviser, Jared Kushner, has arrived in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories for a whistlestop visit aimed at restarting the long-dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Kushner’s carefully managed visit – conducted far from media scrutiny and lasting less than a day – comes amid scant indication of any imminent breakthrough between the two sides in a peace process that has been moribund since 2014.
The US president has tasked Kushner with the ambitious goal of laying the groundwork for what he calls the “ultimate deal�, but deep divisions remain, clouding chances of a significant breakthrough in one of the longest Middle East crises.
Kusher, a 36-year-old former real-estate developer, arrived a day after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced work had begun on the first new Israeli settlement in 25 years in the occupied Palestinian Territories, being built to house evicted Jewish residents of the illegal outpost of Amona.
Kushner’s first act on arriving in Israel was to pay a condolence visit on behalf of Trump to the family of Hadas Malka, an Israeli policewoman killed during an attack by three Palestinian assailants on Friday in Jerusalem.
The visit was in keeping with the low profile that the president’s son-in-law has kept, rarely speaking in public and operating largely behind the scenes.
Israeli and US officials gave no details of what was due to be discussed.
A video released by Netanyahu’s office showed the Israeli prime minister – a friend of Kushner’s father – embracing him and saying: “This is an opportunity to pursue our common goals of security, prosperity and peace.
“Jared, I welcome you here in that spirit. I know of your efforts, the president’s efforts, and I look forward to working with you to achieve these common goals.�
Kushner replied: “The president sends his best regards and it’s an honour to be here with you.�
However, journalists were prevented from even filming Kushner’s arrival at Netanyahu’s office. The Associated Press said one of its cameramen was prevented from filming the arrival of his convoy while another was ordered to delete his memory card of all images of the prime minister’s office.
Kushner remained with the Israeli prime minister for about three hours, before heading to the West bank city of Ramallah for a late-night meeting with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.
