Israel welcomes US delegation

Jerusalem, Aug 13 (IANS)   Israel welcomes a delegation that US President Donald Trump will send later this month in an effort to reignite the peace talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"President Trump will soon send his representatives, Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, for talks in the Middle East region including in Jerusalem, in an effort to advance the peace process," Netanyahu told his weekly cabinet meeting. "We will welcome them as always," he added.

On Friday, the White House said Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his senior adviser Jason Greenblatt would soon be sent to the region to hold meetings with regional leaders and discuss a "path to substantive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks", Xinhua news agency reported.

They will meet leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, a White House official said.

Trump believes regional talks are important but he "reaffirms that peace between Israelis and Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties and that the US will continue working closely with the parties to make progress towards that goal", the official added.

Kushner was appointed to help broker a deal between Israel and the Palestinians after Trump took office in January.

During his first trip to the region in May, Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Israel and the West Bank. He promised to bring "the ultimate deal" between Israel and the Palestinians but did not specify how he would do it.

The latest round of talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014, mainly over Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.