Netanyahu wants to make doubly sure that the US is involved in peace negotiations with the Palestinians, so much so he says he will only attend a summit in Tokyo if the US will be there:
Japanese foreign minister proposed Netanyahu to come for a summit in Tokyo with Palestinian President Abbas, Jared Kushner and Shinzo Abe. Netanyahu said he will come only if he gets a green light from the White House
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) December 26, 2017
Here’s more:
TIMES OF ISRAEL – Japan’s foreign minister reportedly invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to a four-way peace summit in Tokyo that would also include Jared Kushner, who is overseeing US President Donald Trump’s efforts to revive peace talks.
According to a report by the Walla news website, Taro Kono extended the invitation to Netanyahu and Abbas during his separate meetings on Monday with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and Ramallah.
According to Channel 10, Netanyahu said he was open to attending, but only if the US agreed.
“If Kushner is there, I will also be there,” the report quoted Netanyahu as telling Kono.
While I hate the idea of peace negotiations between Israel and the terrorists, it’s awesome to see Netanyahu stand strongly with the US after Trump’s recent Jerusalem recognition. After all, the Palestinians have made clear they don’t trust the US anymore in the peace process and won’t meet with the US.
Even though the US was invited, it would be easy for the US to be sidelined at some point in the process. What’s clear from this now is that Netanyahu is not going to let that happen. He’s going to ensure that the US is involved or else he won’t be. [sce emoji=”clap”/]