19 Aug 2020; MEMO: Kuwait’s support for Palestinians is “not very constrictive”, Anadolu reported the senior adviser to US President Donald Trump saying yesterday.
During a briefing with reporters, Jared Kushner denied that the US administration is pressuring Kuwait and other Gulf states to normalise relations with Israel, following a similar move by the UAE.
“Countries will do things that are in their interest to do,” Kushner said. “Kuwait has a very spongy history with the Palestinians,” he said.
He referred to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO)’s support for Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait during the 1991 Gulf War, when Kuwait forced more than 400,000 Palestinians out of the country.
“And now they are out there taking a very radical view of the conflict in favour of the Palestinians,” he said. “Obviously, that hasn’t been very constructive.”
Kushner said Trump’s approach is not meant to put pressure on countries because “a relationship that is built on pressure is not one that is going to last.”
On 13 August, US President Donald Trump announced a peace deal between the UAE and Israel brokered by Washington.
Abu Dhabi said the deal was an effort to stave off Tel Aviv’s planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, however, opponents believe normalisation efforts have been in the offing for many years as Israeli officials have made official visits to the UAE and attended conferences in the country which had no diplomatic of other ties with the occupation state.
Netanyahu repeated on Monday that annexation is not off the table, but has simply been delayed.
Following the announcement, Kuwait said its position towards Israel is unchanged and that it will be the last country to normalise relations with the occupation state.
