President Donald Trump's son in law and chief Mideast adviser, Jared Kushner, is headed to Jerusalem for his first working visit in hopes of laying the ground work for a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.
Kushner has been tasked by the president with advancing peace efforts, and Wednesday's meetings - he was heading next to see Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - marked his first direct foray in the region, after he accompanied Trump here last month.
The Palestinian Authority has accused the USA delegation of being mouthpieces for the Israel government and refused Washington's watered-down demand to stop paying salaries to Palestinian terrorists, The Times of Israel reported Friday. Still, Netanyahu's announcement of a new settlement on the eve of Kushner's arrival drew a sharp Palestinian rebuke.
Video showed him giving Mr Netanyahu, a friend of Mr Kushner's father, a handshake and a hug as they prepared to sit down with the Israeli ambassador to Washington, the USA ambassador to Israel and other senior officials for preliminary discussions.
But since Trump assumed office, Israel has drastically increased its settlement programme, and is on course to build the most settlements in 25 years.
Reporters from the USA were barred from covering the meetings and did not have an opportunity to ask Kushner questions, although Israeli reporters were allowed in.
President Donald Trump has called it the "deal of the century" and said if Kushner couldn't produce a peace deal, nobody could.
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In December, weeks before Trump was inaugurated, President Barack Obama allowed the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution that declared all settlements in both areas to be illegal.
Greenblatt arrived in Israel on Monday for preliminary discussions in both Jerusalem and Ramallah, and will remain for follow-up talks after Kushner has departed, officials said.
Abbas reportedly also demanded an end to Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank, claiming that it is the source of violence and tension as it prevents the Palestinians from aspiring towards the creation of a sovereign state.
At a security conference on Tuesday, Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon spoke of the need for economic cooperation and said he was open to promoting Palestinian development as long as it does not threaten Israeli security.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has persisted since Israel's occupation of the West Bank in 1967, The New York Times noted. At a White House meeting in February, Netanyahu warmly noted he had known Kushner since he was a child.
The visit came just after Israel started building its first new settlement in the West Bank in 25 years in defiance of the worldwide law and the latest UN Security Council resolution against the illegal move.
For more than 20 years, the USA has pushed for a "two-state solution", meaning an independent Palestinian state living side-by-side and at peace with Israel.
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