Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, for more than five hours in Jerusalem amid the Trump administration’s efforts to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which have been frozen since 2014.
One of the first signs of the Trump administration’s interest in pursuing a new peace initiative occurred last week, when the U.S. president held his first phone conversation with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. During the conversation, Trump invited the Palestinian leader to visit the White House and, according to a statement released by the White House, “emphasized his personal belief that peace is possible and that the time has come to make a deal.”
Netanyahu, the meeting readout said, told Greenblatt that he looks forward to working with the new U.S. administration and that he believes achieving peace between the Jewish state and its regional neighbors, including the Palestinians, is possible “under President Trump’s leadership.” Greenblatt reaffirmed the Trump administration’s commitment to safeguarding the Jewish state’s security and to achieving lasting peace between the Palestinians and Israel “through direct negotiations.”
Greenblatt and Netanyahu discussed Israeli settlement construction and how to approach that issue from a vantage point that is “consistent” with the goal of advancing security and peace. In early February, responding to Israel’s announcements of intentions to build nearly 6,000 new settlement units, the White House had said, “While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal.”
Just met with Palestinian President Abbas. We had a positive, far-ranging exchange about the current situation pic.twitter.com/DaKYbm2fRx
— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) March 14, 2017
Following his meeting with Netanyahu, Greenblatt met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah.
President Abbas & I discussed how to make progress toward peace, building capacity of Palestinian security forces & stopping incitement.
— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) March 14, 2017
Greenblatt said he believes a “historic” peace deal with Israel is possible with President Donald Trump in office, according to a US Jerusalem Consulate General readout.
During the meeting, Abbas committed to “preventing inflammatory rhetoric and incitement on Israel”, the statement said. Abbas and Greenblatt also discussed building up the PA’s security forces, advancing the peace process, and improving the Palestinian economy.
According to the readout, Abbas told Greenblatt that “he believes that under President Trump’s leadership a historic peace deal is possible, and that it will enhance security throughout the region.”
Important mtg. Talked tech w/ Palestinian entrepreneurs who are launching startups & growing economy. @LeadersOrg pic.twitter.com/1TBo2DFV2C
— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) March 14, 2017
Greenblatt, an Orthodox Jew from Teaneck, N.J., worked as a real estate lawyer with Trump over the course of the past two decades and also advised Trump on Israel during last year’s election campaign.
Lending insight into his approach toward negotiations, Greenblatt had said in a June 2016 interview, jointly published by The Jewish Link of New Jersey and JNS.org, that “you need to listen to the other side, you have to try to piece together everything to try to address as many issues as you can, with both sides satisfied that a fair and appropriate deal has been struck. Not everyone is happy all the time.”
“I am not diminishing the concept of a peace deal or a U.S.-Israel relationship; they are complicated and there are lots of layers,” he said, “but people like Donald [Trump], who are skilled negotiators, and people on his team who have worked on transactions large and small over the course of their careers, are well-suited to these things.”
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(JNS.org and Times of Israel contributed to this article)