Kushner meets Israeli PM

Tel Aviv, Aug 25 (IANS) US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu here in a bid to restart the stagnant Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the media reported.

Accompanied by a high-level American delegation, Kushner on Thursday reiterated Trump's commitment to finding a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which the President has referred to as "the ultimate deal", reports CNN.

Netanyahu said such a deal was "within our reach" and promised to work with the Trump administration "to advance peace, stability and security in our region".

However, the White House is yet to lay out a framework for negotiations following multiple meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Kushner also met Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah where they expressed optimism about working together to achieve a deal.

"We highly appreciate President Trump's efforts to strike a historical peace deal, a statement he repeated more than one time during our meetings in Washington, Riyadh and Bethlehem," Abbas said at the beginning of the meeting.

"We know that things are difficult and complicated, but there is nothing impossible with these good efforts."

Before arriving in the region, Kushner, along with a delegation that includes Special Envoy for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and Deputy Adviser Dina Powell, visited the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, reports CNN.

A day prior to Kushner's meetings with Netanyahu and Abbas, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: "We are not going to state what the outcome has to be. It has to be workable to both sides.

"And I think, really, that's the best view as to not really bias one side over the other, to make sure that they can work through it."

This was Kushner's third official visit to the region.