KUSHNER: UNCERTAIN IF PALESTINIANS CAN GOVERN THEMSELVES

Kushner said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the Palestinians deserve “self-determination,” but stopped short of backing Palestinian statehood.

White House senior advisor Jared Kushner said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the Palestinians deserve “self-determination,” but stopped short of backing Palestinian statehood and expressed uncertainty over their ability to govern themselves.

Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and an architect of the White House’s yet-to-be-released Middle East peace plan, told the “Axios on HBO” television program it would be a “high bar” when asked if the Palestinians could expect freedom from Israeli military and government interference.

The Palestinian leadership has boycotted a diplomatic effort that Trump has touted as the “Deal of the Century.” Although Kushner has been drafting the plan for two years under a veil of secrecy, it is seen by Palestinian and some Arab officials as tilting heavily in Israel’s favor and denying them a state of their own.

Kushner again avoided saying explicitly whether the plan would include a two-state solution, the bedrock of US policy for decades, calling for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with its capital in east Jerusalem.

But he said: “I do think they should have self-determination. I’m going to leave the details until we come out with the actual plan.”

MORE: https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Kushner-Uncertain-if-Palestinians-can-govern-themselves-591419