US envoy: Economic plan will not happen without Palestinian-Israeli agreement

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, told Al Arabiya that Kushner’s economic plan “will not move forward” without a political agreement, reiterating his criticism of the Palestinian Authority's unwillingness to discuss the plan.

“Jared Kushner and a very skilled team from the US government put forth this $50 billion plan to help Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians, and the Lebanese. But none of it will work unless there’s a political plan that both sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians agree to,” Greenblatt said.

The US envoy also said that he thinks people are manipulating answers given by officials about the Bahrain conference. “There are spoilers out there that are saying that this is nothing other than a bribe to the Palestinians.”

In the interview with Al Arabiya’s Nadia Bilbassy, Greenblatt wanted to send a message to the audience: “I want to reiterate for your audience that we understand there is no economic peace alone, but we also want to drive home the point that there is no political peace without making sure the Palestinian lives are improved economically.”

Speaking about the US peace plan, Greenblatt said that it is roughly 60 pages which will be handed to the Palestinians and Israelis, calling on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to make any preconditions just to come back to the discussion table.

Greenblatt was also opposed to the description of the US as a “mediator”, saying that his country is rather a “peace facilitator”.

Asked about his criticism of the Palestinians on Twitter, Greenblatt said that he does not criticize ordinary Palestinians.

“When I sit with ordinary Palestinians, they may disagree with our US policy, they may disagree with certain things that I say, but they are very realistic and warm and welcoming to the discussion. The PA (Palestinian Authority) unfortunately is not welcoming to the discussion. You can’t create peace based on that attitude,” he said.