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Jared Kushner working to rebuild US ties with Palestinian Authority, push Saudi deal – report

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner reportedly working behind the scenes with Saudi Arabia to improve administration’s ties with the Palestinian Authority as part of an effort to secure Saudi-Israeli normalization.

By World Israel News Staff

US presidential envoy Jared Kushner is working behind the scenes with Saudi Arabia to establish a new communication channel between the Trump administration and the Palestinian Authority as part of a renewed effort to secure normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, according to an Israeli television report.

Channel 14 reported Wednesday that Riyadh has recently signaled a willingness to resume discussions about joining the Abraham Accords, but is demanding significant Israeli concessions in Judea and Samaria.

According to the report, Kushner is attempting to use Saudi mediation to restore direct contact between Washington and the Palestinian Authority and strengthen the PA’s standing within the Trump administration.

The talks would reportedly seek to produce a new memorandum of understanding that could serve as the basis for further negotiations among the United States, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinians.

Channel 14 did not identify the sources for its report or provide details about the proposed concessions, the contents of the potential memorandum or the Palestinian officials involved. The White House, Saudi government and Palestinian Authority have not publicly confirmed the reported channel.

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The report nevertheless comes amid a broader American effort to revive Saudi-Israeli normalization after the war with Iran altered the region’s diplomatic and security landscape.

Axios reported earlier this week that Kushner and US envoy Steve Witkoff had agreed to coordinate with the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham on a renewed normalization initiative. Graham reportedly discussed the plan with President Donald Trump, senior Saudi officials and Israeli officials before his death.

The initiative envisioned intensive negotiations after Israel’s October election and the US midterm elections, with the goal of assembling the components of an agreement before a new Congress took office.

Saudi Arabia has continued to insist that normalization must be accompanied by major progress toward Palestinian statehood.

Saudi officials were demanding an “irreversible, time-bound path toward the creation of a Palestinian state,” according to the Axios report. Such a demand would face strong resistance from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current government and many members of the governing coalition.

The proposed agreement could also include a formal US-Saudi defense treaty. Such a treaty would require approval from two-thirds of the US Senate, meaning Democratic support would likely be necessary.

Democratic senators would be expected to demand Israeli commitments on the Palestinian issue before supporting increased American security guarantees and advanced weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.

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The reported Kushner initiative appears intended to address both the Saudi and American political obstacles by giving the Palestinian Authority a formal role in a broader regional framework.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that a future agreement with Israel cannot bypass the Palestinian question. Reuters reported last year that Riyadh had told Washington it would not recognize Israel without a credible roadmap toward a Palestinian state.

Saudi officials also called for the Palestinian Authority to return to power in Gaza as part of a postwar arrangement, alongside an Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of an international security force.

Saudi diplomat Manal Radwan reaffirmed the kingdom’s position at a meeting of international donors in Brussels this week, saying Riyadh would continue “standing alongside the Palestinian government politically, economically and diplomatically.”

She said Saudi Arabia remained committed to the creation of an independent Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines, with east Jerusalem as its capital.