U.S. special envoy for Middle East peace Jason Greenblatt will arrive in Israel on Wednesday for a meeting with senior diplomats from Russia, the EU and the UN who together with the U.S. form the Quartet, Channel 10 News correspondent Barak Ravid reported Tuesday.
Western diplomats cited in his report said the meeting will deal, among other issues, with the crisis in the Israel-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace process and the Trump administration efforts to draft a peace plan.
The diplomats said that the goal of the Quartet meeting is to further understand where the U.S. is going with regards to the peace process and to try and formulate a joint strategy to de-escalate the current crisis.
A senior White House official said, “Jason Greenblatt will be attending a regular meeting of the Quartet Envoys to exchange information and continue our engagement on advancing peace.”
The Quartet has been on the sidelines in recent years, allowing the U.S. to spearhead efforts to broker an Israel-PA deal.
Those efforts failed in 2014 when the PA unilaterally applied to join international organizations in breach of the conditions of the talks.
In 2016, the Quartet released a report in which it called on Israel to halt its construction in Judea and Samaria, but also called on the PA to stop inciting to violence and terrorism.
According to Ravid’s report, Greenblatt is not going to meet any Palestinian Arab officials during his visit. He is expected to stay in the region until next week and will join U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on his visit in the region.
The PA remains angry with the U.S. following President Donald Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has announced that the PA would "no longer accept" any peace plan proposed by the United States, saying it “has proven to be a dishonest mediator in the peace process.”
Last week, the PA issued a rebuke of Greenblatt after he placed blame for the Samaria terrorist attack in which Rabbi Raziel Shevach was murdered squarely on “Palestinian terrorists,” and said that Palestinian Arab glorification of murder was hindering peace with Israel.