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Trump Envoy Tweets “Important Progress” after Meeting with Israeli and Palestinian Officials

Mimicking his boss’s penchant for tweeting, President Trump’s international negotiator Jason Greenblatt signaled “important progress” was made in a Ramallah meeting that included Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, Palestinian intelligence and finance chiefs, Israeli finance minister and a senior defense ministry official and Greenblatt. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported the talks included Israeli building on land it conquered in the 1967 war (settlements); the siege of the Gaza Strip and financial issues related to the financial entitlements of the Palestinian National Authority.” Greenblatt had arrived in the region last week when the Trump Trio negotiating Israeli-Palestinian peace made a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia. Although media attention focuses primarily on Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner who is the designated head of the effort, it’s Greenblatt who has been carrying the ball and who has, according to comments by sources in Israel and the Palestinian territories, earned the respect of both sides. When Kushner flew back to the US on Saturday, Greenblatt continued on to Amman, Ramallah and Jerusalem. The Trump strategy to pull off what he calls Israeli-Palestinian rapprochement, “the ultimate deal,” apparently includes more involvement from Sunni-majority Arab states: primarily Saudi Arabia.