Iraq News Now

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner urged a group of

ambassadors on Wednesday to keep an “open mind” about President Donald Trump’s

upcoming Middle East peace proposal and said it will require compromises from

both sides, a source familiar with his remarks said, according to Reuters.

Kushner said the peace plan is to be unveiled after Israel

forms a governing coalition in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu’s election victory and after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which

ends in early June, the source said.

“We will all have to look for reasonable compromises that

will make peace achievable,” Kushner said, according to the source, who asked

to remain anonymous.

Kushner, one of the main architects of the peace proposal

and who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, spoke to about 100 ambassadors

from around the world at Blair House, the presidential guest home across the

street from the White House. He spoke as part of a State Department series of

speeches.

The proposal has two major components: A political piece

that addresses core political issues such as the status of Jerusalem, and an

economic part that aims to help the Palestinians strengthen their economy.

Unclear is whether the plan will propose outright the

creation of a Palestinian state, the Palestinians’ core demand.

During his remarks, Kushner pushed back on the idea that the

Trump peace plan was mostly centered around the economic package, saying the

political component is “very detailed,” the source said.

“He said the plan will require concessions from both sides

but won’t jeopardize the security of Israel,” the source said.

“It requires everybody approaching the plan with an open

mind.”

The White House had no comment.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Wednesday that

Netanyahu is unlikely to follow through on an election pledge to annex Israeli

settlements in the occupied West Bank until after the United States has

unveiled its plan.

“I think we will respect the efforts of the administration.

I don’t think we will see any major action done by our government before the

peace plan will be presented,” Danon told reporters in New York.

The Palestinians and many countries consider the settlements

illegal under the Geneva conventions that bar settling on land captured in war.

Israel disputes this, citing security needs and biblical, historical and

political connections to the land.