Middle East ‘shouldn't be stuck in conflicts of the past’, says Kushner

Jared Kushner, White House senior adviser, says there is a lot of optimism that the Middle East doesn’t need to be “stuck in conflicts of the past” following the announcement of the UAE-Israel accord last week.

“What I have seen over the last four days is that a lot more people are now beginning to be optimistic about the potential” for the region.

“People are looking at all the great opportunities that can exist by working together if we let go of some of the conflicts of the past and figure out how to carve a much brighter and better future,” he said.

“We do believe there will be more normalisation with Israel and we do believe at some point that the Israeli-Palestinian issue will get resolved”.

He said the Middle East was a “very big issue” when Donald Trump was elected as US president in 2016, citing the Iran nuclear deal and Tehran’s continuing regional aggression, the threat of ISIS, as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Mr Trump had “built trust back among his allies” over the past four years, he said, and had dealt with these issues by standing up for “what is right”.

Mr Kushner said the region had started to see how harmful Iranian aggression was and that it was critical that “bad actors” were stopped from exploiting divisions.

“Iran’s place in the region had changed quite dramatically thanks to Mr Trump’s leadership and the sanctions that he had imposed”.

The Arab-Israel peace process in pictures

PLO chairman Yasser Arafat holds the second phase of the Oslo peace accords after the initialling of the document, September 24, 1995, as Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres looks on. Israel and the PLO will officially sign the agreement in Washington later this week. REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (R) during their meeting at Erez Crossing point, northen Gaza Strip, December 24, 1996. Arafat and Netanyahu met here in search of an agreement to end Israeli occupation of Hebron and revive the peace process. In the background at left is U.S. mediator Dennis Ross. REUTERS

Egyptian President Anouar el-Sadate (L) meets Israeli Prime minister Menahem Begin in Tel Aviv on November 23, 1977. AFP

Photo taken on 20 November 1977 of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (R) during a joint press conference he gave with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during his historic visit to Israel. Anwar al-Sadat's visit to Israel led fifteen months later to the signing of the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country. AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (2nd R) and Jordan's King Hussein (2nd L) are directed where to sign by unidentified aides as US President Bill Clinton (C) looks on during ceremonies at the White House in Washington, on July 25, 1994. AFP

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both gesture for the other to leave a meeting December 24 1996, in the Israeli Civil Administration headquarters located along the Israeli - Gaza Strip border area. The two leaders met for for over three hours in a bid to clinch the agreement on the long-delayed Israeli troop redeployment in Hebron. Although no agreement was reached U.S. envoy Dennis-Ross said that "real progress" was made towards the long-elusive accord. REUTERS

US President Bill Clinton (c) applauds as Jordan's King Hussein Ibn Talal (r) and Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin shake hands during the Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty signing ceremony at the Araba Israeli-Jordanian border 26 October 1994. AFP

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (R) greets Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres in Doha, 30 January 2007. AFP

US President Bill Clinton (C), Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (2nd-L), PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat (2nd-R), King Hussein I of Jordan (L)and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) arrive for the signing ceremony of a Palestinian autonomy accord in the West Bank, at the white House in Washington, DC, 28 September 1995. AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (from L to R) prepare to start their meeting at an Israeli military base at the Erez crossing point, the main point of passage from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The three met for the third time in two weeks in an intensive US push to seal a new interim Mideast peace accord. AFP

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (R) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after United States' special envoy Dennis Ross (C) spoke, early January 15 after the two leaders met and agreed on the term for the long overdue Israeli troop redeployment in Hebron. The talks lasted less than two hours and concluded months of negotiations which will lead to the end of the Israeli military occupation in about 80 percent of Hebron. REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (R) jokingly pushes Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (C) into the Laurel cabin on the grounds of Camp David as U.S. President Bill Clinton watches during peace talks, July 11 2000. Arafat and Barak were insisting that the other proceed through the door first. Camp David is the venue where Egypt and Israel made peace in September 1978, and the Laurel cabin was the site of many of the meetings. REUTERS

Mahmoud Abbas (L), the Palestinian negotiator better known as Abu Mazen, and Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon turn to the cameras and smile as they shake hands at the start of their meeting in Sharon's office November 18. The two met to review the work of all the Israeli-Palestinian peace committees and to set a date for the resumption of final status talks. REUTERS

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R) greets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Jerusalem September 16, 2008. REUTERS

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat (R) shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (L), as U.S. President Bill Clinton stands between them, after the signing of the Israeli-PLO peace accord, at the White House in Washington September 13, 1993. REUTERS

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (C) sits next to at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (R) during a working meeting in the Houghton House at the Wye River Plantation Conference Center in Maryland 16 October, 1998. AFP

U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin join hands in celebration of the signing of the Treaty of Peace Between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel at the White House in Washington, D.C., March 26, 1979. REUTERS

U.S. President George W. Bush discusses the Middle East peace process with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel (L) and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (R) in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003. REUTERS

U.S. President Barack Obama watches Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) shake hands during a trilateral meeting in New York September 22, 2009. REUTERS

United States' special envoy Dennis Ross looks on as Saeb Erekat (L), the chief Palestinian negotiator, and Dan Shomron, the chief Israeli negotiator, initial the documents that bring to a conclusion the long-delayed and overdue Israeli troop redeployment in the West Bank city of Hebron. Palestinian President Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu shook hands on the deal, and now both sides will take the agreement to their respective cabinets for approval. The troop redeployment will take place within ten days. REUTERS

His comments were made following the announcement of the Abraham Accord on August 13, in which Israel agreed to halt its plans for annexation of Palestinian territories in exchange for establishing diplomatic ties with the UAE.

The agreement is expected to develop trade, technology and healthcare links between the UAE and Israel. Earlier this week, companies from the two countries announced a co-operation agreement to develop a fast and accurate coronavirus testing kit together.

Mr Kushner said the UAE and Israel are “two security, technology and economic powerhouses”.

The broader aim among US officials is to re-energise the regional peace process.

The White House special adviser said the accord meant “the Palestinian people had hope and there is still an opportunity for a negotiated settlement”.

He said the “ball is really in the court of the Palestinians now and obviously we welcome them anytime to come to the table".

“I think that President Trump has earned the trust of a lot of the regional partners and that has enabled this historic peace breakthrough to come about”.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the UN special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, have expressed support for the accord and said it could create space for re-engagement with the peace process, although Palestinian reaction has been less enthusiastic.

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, had previously rejected Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, which was released in January.

Regionally, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan and Egypt have declared their support for the new initiative.

Mr Kushner said that “we have not put pressure on any other state” to establish relations with Israel, but that it was in their interests to do so.

Countries will do things that are in their interests to do, he said.

“A relationship that is built on pressure is not going to last.”

Mr Kushner said the Trump administration has had many discussions with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the Palestinian issue.

“King Salman has a strong place in his heart for the Palestinian people and for their cause and the Crown Prince does as well. They want the Palestinian people to have a state and economic opportunities and they would like to see this resolved.”