UN Security Council to meet with Kushner on Mideast plan

The United States has requested a closed door UN Security Council meeting Thursday for President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, to present the administration's new Mideast peace plan, diplomatic sources told AFP Monday.

Kushner intends to set forth the plan that Washington unveiled last week and to listen to the positions of the council's other 14 members, the sources said.

The meeting would take place a few days before Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas comes to the United Nations -- he is expected February 11 -- to express opposition to the US plan and to demand adherence to international law.

On the occasion of Abbas' visit, the Palestinians have indicated they plan to submit a draft resolution to the Security Council, through Tunisia, a non-permanent member of the council.

The resolution's content has not been divulged as yet, but the United States would likely oppose it, using its veto, if necessary, should it gain the support of nine council members, the minimum required for passage.

In late 2017, a Palestinian-inspired resolution condemning Washington's unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital received 14 votes in the Security Council, but the United States quashed it with its veto.

A similar resolution proposed during the UN General Assembly, a 193-member body in which no country has a veto, was approved by a vote of 128 in favor, nine against and 35 abstentions. The remaining 21 countries chose not to be present for the vote.

Kushner is the architect of the plan unveiled by the president a week ago, and rejected Saturday by the Arab League and by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Monday.

It makes numerous concessions to Israel, proposing the establishment of a Palestinian capital in Abu Dis, a suburb of Jerusalem. The Palestinians have long sought the whole of east Jerusalem as their capital.

The US proposal also gives consent for the annexation of Israeli settlements as well as the Jordan Valley, Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967.

The US mission at the United Nations would provide no details on the request for a Security Council meeting.

In a statement Saturday, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said he has launched a campaign to persuade member countries not to support any Palestinian action that is hostile to the US plan.