Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, arrived in Israel on Wednesday for meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a spokeswoman for the US Embassy told CNN.
Kushner’s first stop was a private condolence visit to the family of Hadas Malka, the Israeli border policewoman killed near the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday, the spokeswoman said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kushner will meet with Netanyahu before he heads to the West Bank in the evening to meet with Abbas.
Trump has made it clear that working toward achieving a lasting peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians is a top priority for him, a White House official told CNN ahead of Kushner’s arrival.
Trump has asked some of his most trusted advisers to spearhead that effort, including Kushner and assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt. The two men work closely together.
In May, Kushner and Greenblatt both accompanied the President on his visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem to discuss a peace agreement.
Since then, conversations have been ongoing, the White House official said.
Kushner, the 36-year-old commercial real estate magnate whose marriage to Trump’s eldest daughter has thrust the otherwise inexperienced diplomat into the center of US foreign relations, now wields a hefty foreign affairs portfolio in the Trump administration.
He has compiled a globe-spanning itinerary including North America, the Middle East and China.