(JNS.org) In a leaked conversation with congressional interns Monday, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, Jared Kushner, questioned whether the U.S. could offer a “unique” solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the “off-the-record” discussion, which was recorded and leaked to Wired, Kushner offered a rare glimpse into his efforts to solve the Middle East conflict. “This is one of the ones I was asked to take on, and I did with this something that I do with every problem set you get, which is you try to study the historical context to understand how something got to where it is, who was successful, and who wasn’t successful,” Kushner said. “What I’ve determined from looking at it is that not a whole lot has been accomplished over the last 40 or 50 years we’ve been doing this,” he added.
After speaking at length regarding recent efforts to quell the Temple Mount crisis, Kushner questioned whether or not the Trump administration would have anything “unique” to add to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “So, what do we offer that’s unique? I don’t know…I’m sure everyone that’s tried this has been unique in some ways, but again we’re trying to follow very logically,” Kushner said.
Kushner added that the U.S. is trying to work with the various parties in the conflict, but admitted that “there may be no solution,” before conceding the Trump administration will continue to “focus on it and try to come to the right conclusion in the near future.”