Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet this week with United States Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the sidelines of a summit in Poland primarily focusing on Iran. Ministers from nearly 80 countries will gather at the American-sponsored conference to “promote a future of peace and security in the Middle East.” Despite receiving a formal invitation, the Palestinian Authority will not be sending representatives to Warsaw amid an ongoing boycott of Trump administration officials imposed in December 2017 following the White House’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “The first issue on the agenda is Iran—how to continue preventing it from entrenching in Syria, how to thwart its aggression in the region and, above all, how to prevent [Tehran] from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said after confirming his attendance at the February 13-14 event. To this end, numerous committees reportedly will be set up to monitor Iranian activities related to terrorism, the development of ballistic missiles and human rights, among other issues. President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is expected to reveal in the Polish capital elements of Washington’s two-years-in-the-making Israeli-Palestinian peace plan; this, ahead of a planned tour of Arab capitals later this month geared towards shoring up support before the proposal’s anticipated release following Israel’s April 9 elections.
Analysis of Jared Kushner’s upcoming trip to the Middle East: