Kushner blamed for delay in Mideast peace plan
JERUSALEM — Supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are blaming U.S. presidential adviser Jared Kushner for a delay in plans to immediately annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as envisioned in President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
Mr. Netanyahu appeared to acquiesce to U.S. pressure Tuesday, saying he would hold off on annexation action until a new government is formed after Israeli elections next month. Mr. Kushner and other U.S. officials had sent signals publicly and privately that Israel should not move too fast to reap what many in Mr. Netanyahu’s pro-settlement political base saw as the rewards of the plan released last week.
Israeli media have extensively reported grumblings among key Netanyahu backers, with David Elhayani, chairman of the powerful Yesha Council, which oversees more than 150 settlements, accusing Mr. Kushner of betraying Mr. Netanyahu and not being honest with him.
“Kushner took a knife and put it in Netanyahu’s back,” he told The Washington Post. “Kushner misled the prime minister. He misled everybody. He knew for a long time that Netanyahu wanted to declare sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea — he said it many times over the last year. Gentlemen just don’t act this way.”
Mr. Elhayani, who traveled to Washington last week for the plan’s White House unveiling, said that by putting the brakes on annexing the settlements, Mr. Kushner could cost Mr. Netanyahu the March 2 elections.
Israel is about to engage in an unprecedented third election in less than a year, with Mr. Netanyahu fighting bitterly for his political future, even as he faces three criminal indictments and possibly a public trial.
Hours after standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Mr. Trump at the White House on Jan. 28 as the plan was formally released, Mr. Netanyahu told reporters that he planned to bring a vote on annexation before his cabinet within days. At the same time, U.S. Ambassador
to Israel David Friedman told reporters that the day and the timing were up to Israel.
“If Israelis apply Israeli law to the settlements and territory allocated to Israel under the plan ... then we will recognize Israeli sovereignty,” he said.
Mr. Elhayani said that when he met with Mr. Netanyahu in Washington, the prime minister was very excited: “He said it was a historic time.”
Mr. Elhayani and other settler leaders also met with a senior U.S. official in Washington who told them that if the Palestinians did not accept the plan within 48 hours, Israel would be allowed to declare sovereignty over 30% of the West Bank.
“But something happened after that; they changed their minds,” Mr. Elhayani said.
Mr. Kushner, in interviews and reportedly in conversations with Israeli officials, put the brakes on, saying the move should wait for a new government to be formed after next month’s vote.
“Under the plan as proposed, Israel is free to move forward with extending its sovereignty to the areas that would be under its control” if the U.S.-proposed map were adopted, said Jon Lerner, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington and a former Trump administration official.
“However, just because they are free to do so doesn’t mean that they should do so, or do so immediately, and I think that’s where the tension is.”
Mr. Kushner wants to give some room for Arab, European and other governments to offer encouragement for negotiations under the plan, rather than giving those governments a reason to reject the plan right away, diplomats said.