Jordan’s Abdullah Tells Kushner There Must Be Palestinian State

Jordan’s King Abdullah told U.S. President Donald Trump’s adviser Jared Kushner on Wednesday that a lasting Middle East peace can only come with the creation of a Palestinian state with east Yerushalayim as its capital.

Kushner is leading a U.S. delegation to the Middle East this week seeking support for a late June workshop aimed at helping the Palestinians, a White House official said on Tuesday.

A palace statement said the monarch, who aides say has been deeply concerned about the still-secret U.S. plan to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, told Kushner that Israel had to withdraw from Yehudah and Shomron, which had been under Jordanian control until the June 1967 war.

“His Majesty stressed the need for a comprehensive and lasting peace based on a two-state solution, leading to an independent Palestinian state on 4 June 1967 lines with east Jerusalem as its capital, the palace statement said.

Jordan is worried the plan could jettison the two-state solution — the long-standing U.S. and international formula that envisages an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

U.S. officials have said the trip, which began in Rabat and will include Yerushalayim, was to bolster support for a June 25-26 conference in Bahrain, in which Kushner is to unveil the first part of Trump’s long-awaited Israeli–Palestinian peace plan.

The plan, touted by Trump as the “deal of the century,” is to encourage investment in the Palestinian territories by Arab donor countries before grappling with thorny political issues at the heart of the conflict.