Kushner touts ‘explosion of peace’ following US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
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Jared Kushner praised President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and said it led to an outpouring of peace in the region.
Kushner, a senior White House adviser, and other U.S. officials were in Israel on Monday to take part in the first-ever nonstop flight from Israel to Morocco as the two countries continue the historic work of normalizing relations between Jerusalem and Rabat.
“It turns out Jerusalem is not the cause of the problem — it is the core of the solution,” Kushner said at a tree-planting ceremony alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“In 2017, President Trump was strongly warned that recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel would set off an explosion in the Middle East,” Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law, said, according to the Times of Israel. “As it turned out, there has been an explosion, just not the kind of explosion the experts thought might happen. President Trump’s bold decisions led to an explosion of peace.”
Trump announced in December 2017 that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a move that was condemned by Palestinians and Arab states but praised by Israel and some U.S. lawmakers in both parties. The U.S. opened its embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, and on Monday, its courtyard was named in honor of Kushner.
During his visit to Israel, Kushner touted the historic U.S.-brokered normalization pacts that Israel has pursued with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and now Morocco. The UAE and Bahrain became the third and fourth Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel, following Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979.
“Over the last four months, we’ve now achieved four peace agreements, and thanks to four years of hard work, I do think the benefits of that will be felt for years to come,” Kushner said.
“In planting this garden, we’ll make sure that future generations know what your contribution has been,” Netanyahu told Kushner at the ceremony. “And, on a personal note, I would like to express my appreciation for the young teenager I met many years ago, in fact, in your house, who has grown up to become a man of stature who helped change the history of our region and the history of Israel.”
President-elect Joe Biden has vowed not to reverse the decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem after he is sworn into office next month.
“I’ve been a proud supporter of a secure, democratic Jewish state of Israel my entire life,” Biden said. “My administration will urge both sides to take steps to keep the prospect of a two-state solution alive.”
Tags: News, Jared Kushner, Israel, Peace, Jerusalem, U.S. Embassy, Morocco, Middle East
Original Author: Zachary Halaschak
Original Location: Kushner touts ‘explosion of peace’ following US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital