Greenblatt: If support for Palestinian cause keeps dropping, it won't last

Former US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt offered insights into the "Deal of the Century" in a special interview with Hamodia published on Friday, where he claimed that up until now, the Palestinians did a “remarkable job of allowing other countries to fund them.”

 

Greenblatt said that that until Trump presented his "Deal of the Century," “there has not yet been a reason for other countries to say: ‘Enough is enough.’"

He also said that while Arab countries are still supportive of the Palestinian cause, its support there and around the world is eroding – and without it, the Palestinian issue will become “unsustainable.” 

 

While discussing the complete control Israeli security services will have over the Palestinian zone should they accept the peace plan, he explained that not only is the zone meant to be demilitarized, but that not having an army is not enough to ensure Israeli concerns. 

 

The reason Israeli security forces will be allowed to operate in the Palestinian state, he said, is to ensure that Israel “can detect tunnels, malign rocket building, [and] any kind of terror activity,” should these things not exist, Israeli security services won’t need to be there.

“But if Palestinians don’t do their job right, because they’re incapable or unwilling," he warned, "that’s all the more reason for Israel’s security responsibility.” 

 

Greenblatt left the White House in September 2019 and is currently seeking work “in the private sector,” Trump tweeted then.

He was replaced by Avi Berkowitz, who previously served as an aide to Jared Kushner. 

 

Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, is both the president's’ son in law and his senior advisor. 

 

The "Deal of the Century" had been authored and promoted by at least three Jewish-Americans, Greenblatt, Kushner and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. 

 

Kushner, who entered the diplomatic world stage when his father-in-law became US president, claimed in a January interview with Sky News Arabia that he had read “25 books” on the Arab-Israeli conflict and has studied it for “three years” and “spoken to every leader in the region.” 

 

Washington Post writer Alexandra Petri joked about the statement by tweeting “I’ve just read 25 books and I’m here to perform your open heart surgery,” hinting that some things cannot be done well simply be reading about them.