Israeli PM meets top Trump advisor in West Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday met with Jared Kushner, a top advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, to discuss U.S. efforts to revive stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

According to a statement released by Netanyahu’s West Jerusalem office, where the meeting took place, the prime minister described the get-together as “an opportunity to pursue our common goals of security, prosperity and peace”.

“I look forward to working with you to reach these common goals,” he said, according to the statement.

Wednesday’s meeting was also attended by Jason Greenblatt, another Trump advisor, and recently appointed U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

On Wednesday evening, Kushner is scheduled to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to U.S. officials, the visit comes as part of Washington’s ongoing efforts to revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace processes.

Earlier peace talks between the two sides broke down in 2014 over Israel's refusal to release a number of Palestinian prisoners despite earlier pledges to do so.

Since then, all attempts to revive talks have failed, due mainly to Israel's insistence on continuing to build Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land.