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Trump envoy meets with Palestinians, Israelis on PA economic strategy

Trump’s chief negotiator, on the sidelines of a conference in Brussels, met with Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss ways to improve the economy in the PA-administered areas.

Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trump’s Special Representative for International Negotiations, met in Brussels Thursday with Israeli and Palestinian government ministers to discuss economic initiatives in the Palestinian Authority (PA)-administered areas of Judea and Samaria.

“Headed to Brussels to attend the #AHLC meeting of donors & discuss ways to improve the Palestinian economy with the international community,” Greenblatt tweeted on Wednesday.

AHLC, the 15-member Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, chaired by Norway and co-sponsored by the EU and US, “serves as the principal policy-level coordination mechanism for development assistance to the Palestinian people,” according to its website.

Following Trump’s meeting Wednesday with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Washington, where the US leader expressed confidence that he could help forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by serving as “a mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator” between the two sides, the White House stated that the president has “highlighted his commitment to enabling meaningful economic growth in the West Bank and [Hamas-ruled] Gaza Strip, which will enhance the prospects for a just and lasting peace.”

An “unusual gathering with (Israel’s) Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi and three Palestinian ministers took place on the sidelines of a session of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

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The countries that attended the AHLC meeting, according to the Post, included some with which Israel has no diplomatic ties, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Iran, ISIS also on Trump’s – and Netanyahu’s – Radar

The Iranian nuclear threat and the war against Islamic terror is also on Trump’s agenda for the region, the White House said in a statement.

Netanyahu, in a statement posted Thursday on Facebook, expressed similar views.

“When it comes to Israel’s security – there are no compromises, and against the danger of radical Islam we are honing our defensive and offensive capabilities and thereby ensuring our existence. We are also prepared to summon the world against what is an existential danger… not only to us,” Netanyahu affirmed.

“We will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons,” his statement continues. The nuclear deal made between the Six Global Powers and the Islamic Republic “does  not bind us. Whoever attacks us or tries to attack us, we will retaliate. There will be no ‘trickle,’ no agreement and no restraint. Whoever threatens our existence will find their existence in danger.”

By: Adina Katz, World Israel News