Kushner: Trump team working on Mideast peace plan unconventional, but ‘perfectly qualified’

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner said Sunday the Trump administration’s team tasked with establishing peace in the Middle East is “not a conventional team, but it’s a perfectly qualified team.”

“When we were thinking how to put a team together, the president and I focused on who are the most qualified people,” Kushner said at the Saban Forum, a conference focused on U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Kushner cited attorney Jason Greenblatt and White House deputy national security adviser Dina Powell as key assets in developing a long-term plan for the Middle East. 

{mosads}The president’s son-in-law, who was tasked earlier this year with developing a plan to promote peace in the region, said he believes Israel must reach a peace deal with the Palestinians before it can form an alliance with other Arab nations.

“I think that if we’re going to try and create more stability in the region as a whole, this issue has to be solved,” Kushner said.

President Trump is expected next month to once again delay the decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which was a major campaign promise.

Trump will likely make the announcement next week, but may also officially declare Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city, officials told The Associated Press. 

The Arab League responded, saying the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city would “fuel extremism” and violence in the region.  

Both Israelis and Palestinians “really trust” Trump, Kushner said Sunday, which has allowed the two sides to make progress.