Sisi, Kushner discuss Palestinian-Israeli peace process

CAIRO – 1 August 2019: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received U.S. President Donald Trump’s advisor Jared Kushner in Cairo on Thursday to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli issue and ways to resume the negotiations between both sides, said presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi in a statement.

Accroding to Radi, Kushner praised Egypt’s role in enhancing stability and peace in the Middle East and in combating terrorism. “Kushner reviewed the contacts conducted by the U.S. Delegation with all parties in the region to move forward with reviving the negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, affirming the significance of U.S. talks with Egypt in this regard,” Radi stated.

“President [Sisi] affirmed Egypt’s full support to reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue and push forward efforts to revive the peace process between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, in accordance with the international references,” he added.

Both leaders discussed the bilateral relations between Cairo and Washington, Radi said, noting that Trump’s top advisor praised Egypt’s efforts to implement the economic reforms.

The meeting was attended by Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Trump’s envoy for the Middle East Jason Greenblatt, and U.S. Special Representative for Iran and Senior Policy Advisor to Secretary of State Brian Hook.

The meeting came three days after Sisi’s meeting with Jordanian Monarch Abdullah II, affirming the importance of resuming Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

They asserted that efforts must be intensified to restart the long-stymied peace talks in line with the international resolutions and the Arab peace initiative and on the basis of the two-state solution, with the establishment of a Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, Radi reiterated.

The U.S. is working on implementing what is known as “the deal of the century”. Kushner revealed in remarks to Reuters late June that the U.S. administration allocated $50 billion for the Middle East plan; about half of the $50 billion will be allocated for construction projects in Gaza and for building a corridor linking the West Bank and Gaza strip. Meanwhile, the rest of the money will be divided between Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

The money allocated for Egypt will be used to construct business projects in Sinai for Palestinian citizens who live in Gaza strip.

Revealing more details on the economic part of the deal, U.S. led Manama-hosted the summit “Peace to Prosperity,” in which Egypt and Jordan participated.