Kushner: Trump is impressed by Abbas and wants to involve him in the “deal of the century” and the US plan may include calling on Palestinian refugees to stay permanently in the territories they reside… Abbas confirms that the Palestinian boycott of the Manama conference caused its failure

Jared Kushner, adviser and brother-in-law of US President Donald Trump, said Wednesday that the latter admired Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and wanted to involve him in the Middle East peace plan, known as the media of the century.

During a press conference in Washington DC, Kushner said Trump was very impressed by Abbas.

He added that Trump was seeking to involve Abbas in the American peace plan to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in due course.

Our doors are always open to the Palestinian leadership.

On the results of the Manama conference held last week in the Bahraini capital, which presented the economic dimension of the deal of the century, Kushner said it is a serious plan, pointing out that the Palestinians need to progress.

He added that the United States cannot launch work until peace understandings are reached.

The official hinted that the US plan may include calling on Palestinian refugees to remain permanently in the territories in which they currently reside, instead of returning to areas annexed by Israel.

However, he considered that Jewish refugees were able to integrate into other communities around the world, but that did not happen to the Palestinians.

The people of Lebanon would like to see a solution to this issue, and we need the support of other States that want to do so.

Last week, Bahrain hosted the Peace for Prosperity Conference, the economic aspect of the deal of the Century, in the presence of Kushner, who is the godfather of the conference and officials as well as businessmen.

The conference promised to inject $ 50 billion into the Palestinian economy and the economies of Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon (countries hosting Palestinian refugees) to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Palestinian leadership has refused to deal with any US moves in the peace file since Trump announced on November 6, 2017, Jerusalem on its eastern and western shores as the capital of Israel, the occupying power, and then the transfer of the US Embassy to it on 14 May 2018.

On the other hand, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that the recent Manama conference, which was held by the United States, failed, and resulted in nothing, because of the lack of participation of Palestine.

He added in a speech during a meeting with the media at the headquarters of the Palestinian presidency in Ramallah, and attended by the Anadolu correspondent, that “any plan and a deal doesn’t participate or accept the Palestinian side will fail”.

He continued: “First the political solution and then the economy, we don’t need an economy, we need dignity, security and state, and then the state needs assistance”.

“The Manama conference started with a letter to Kushner (adviser to the US president and his brother-in-law) and ended with his speech, and what he said was no words, and some Arabs attended and others didn’t attend”, he said.

“The conference is a big lie invented by Kushner to laugh at people, and we don’t laugh at us”.

He pointed out that all the Palestinian rejected the Manama conference, saying “only attended by a Palestinian spy I don’t want to mention his name, and came out under the auspices of Israel”.

“Before the solution of the Palestinian issue, any Arab normalization with Israel is a political mistake that he should not commit”, Abbas told reporters on Wednesday.

He said: “We only want our homeland according to international legitimacy, an independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders occupied in 1967, and resolving the refugee issue”.

“Individual and unilateral decisions don’t apply to us and we don’t accept them.

If they (Israel and the United States) want to impose reality by force, our people are with us and God is with us because we are right, and that is enough”.

Abbas renewed his rejection of the American peace plan in the Middle East, known as the “The deal of the Century”.

“What do we expect Mr. Trump to offer after his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the transfer of his country’s embassy to it, and after the removal of the file of refugees and borders from the table?”.

“They cannot do anything, the deal is over”.

He stressed not to accept the United States as the sole mediator in any peace process, calling for an international mechanism to which the United States is a part.

The Palestinian president said that his country had cut off contacts with the United States since the Trump Declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but it kept the security agreement in the fight against international terrorism.

“The day the United States declares its acceptance of a two-state solution, Jerusalem is an occupied city, and acceptance of international legitimacy on the second day, I will be in the White House”, he said.

“We didn’t close the doors completely with the United States”, he said.

“This is an unacceptable measure that wants to establish false facts, which is now the subject of the Security Council and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)”, he said.

On Sunday evening, American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and US special envoy to the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, participated in the inauguration ceremony of a tunnel south of the Al Aqsa Mosque in the town of Silwan in the occupied city of Jerusalem, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Regarding the tax funds, the Palestinian president confirmed that Palestine refused to receive them from the Israeli side.

“Several times they asked Israel to receive the clearing money we refused, we told them to form a committee to discuss any discounts agreed upon, and so far didn’t form the committee”.

He pointed out that the financial situation of the Authority is difficult, but it continues to spend 60 percent of the salaries of its employees.

The Palestinian Authority is suffering from a severe financial crisis after Israel approved a law last year allowing it to confiscate amounts of taxes it collects for the Palestinian Authority, claiming that these funds are for the prisoners and families of the martyrs.

Israel began implementing its decision on February 17, after the Council of Ministers for Security and Political Affairs (KABNET) approved a monthly payment of $ 11.3 million.