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Dashing All Hope? Trump Says if Kushner Can't Bring Peace to Mideast, 'It Can't Be Done'

© AP Photo / Alex BrandonIn this Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner as he departs after a reception in the East Room of the White House, in Washington
In this Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner as he departs after a reception in the East Room of the White House, in Washington - Sputnik International
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Donald Trump’s son-in-law and political adviser Jared Kushner was previously appointed as a leading figure in brokering a peace deal in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a move that has been questioned and criticised by many.

On Saturday, Donald Trump addressed the Israeli-American Council in Florida, a non-political organisation that brings together the Israeli diaspora in the United States.

The current president referred to a great variety of hotly debated topics during his speech, including the previous administration’s low support for the Jewish state, Ilhan Omar’s championing the movement Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, as well as Tel Aviv’s controversial settlement policy in the West Bank.

The most amusing, however, appeared to be his remark about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, something that, according to Trump, apparently can only be achieved with the help of his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Kushner, one of Trump’s political advisers and husband of his daughter Ivanka, is currently one of the leading figures in brokering and drafting a peace plan between the Israelis and Palestinians, the economic part of which was presented this summer.

“If Jared Kushner can't do it, it can't be done”, Trump said during his speech, emphasising that a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority remains challenging.

The US president’s comment definitely raised some eyebrows, with netizens questioning whether this means that peace between the two sides can ever be achieved, while pointing at Kushner’s apparent lack of qualifications. Others just couldn’t miss the chance to turn this moment into a joke, noting that nothing could be achieved in the White House without Kushner’s involvement.

This is not the first time Kushner’s involvement in the Middle East peace process has been scrutinised, with Trump’s political rival Joe Biden previously questioning his son-in-law’s “credentials” in settlement negotiations, saying that it was “improper” for the US president’s children to hold offices in the White House.

Kushner, who earlier travelled to the Middle East to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in August 2017, did not publicly comment on Biden’s remarks at that time.

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner listens during the American Leadership in Emerging Technology event with President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Washington - Sputnik International
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During the speech Donald Trump also extensively praised the current US administration’s involvement in Israeli politics and its support for the Jewish state, referencing the recent relocation of the American Embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018, insisting that “no president” has ever done anything like that and noting that the move did not lead to massive violence despite all the repercussions he was warned about.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been in a state of military and political conflict since the middle of the 20th century, with many rounds of negotiations failing to produce a lasting peace. Israel has refused to recognise the Palestinian Authority as an independent state, while the Palestinians have denounced Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank.

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