WarSclerotic

White House adviser Jared Kushner discussed his Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts with Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday, and the two also discussed increasing U.S.-Turkish cooperation and ways to boost economic conditions in the region.

Kushner, who has responsibility for Washington’s Israel-Palestinian policy, has said the peace plan will address final-status issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including establishing borders.

The White House said the meeting with Erdoğan included Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law, Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook.

Turkey’s Economy Minister Berat Albayrak, who is Erdoğan’s son-in-law, also attended.

“They discussed increasing cooperation between the United States and Turkey, and the Trump administration’s efforts to facilitate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians,” the White House said. “Additionally, they discussed ways to improve the condition of the entire region through economic investment.”

Erdoğan has been one of the most vocal critics of U.S. President Donald Trump’s support for Israel.

Last year he said the United States had forfeited its role as mediator in the Middle East by moving its Israel embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing the city as Israel’s capital.

“The United States has chosen to be part of the problem rather than the solution,” the Turkish president said last May, days before he hosted a summit of Muslim leaders which threatened economic measures against countries which followed the United States in moving their embassies to Jerusalem.

In an interview broadcast on Monday on Sky News Arabia during a visit to U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states, Kushner made no specific mention of a Palestinian state, whose creation had been a key goal of Washington’s peace efforts for two decades.

But he said the long-awaited peace proposal would build on “a lot of the efforts in the past,” including the 1990s Oslo accords that provided a foundation for Palestinian statehood, and would require concessions from both sides.

U.S. officials said that Kushner is expected to focus on the economic component of the plan during his week-long trip to the region.

Kushner has said he plans to release details of the plan sometime after Israel’s April 9 general election.

His comments about the initiative have received a cool reception from Israeli and Palestinian leaders and his trip to Ankara is part of a Mideast tour aimed at building support for the plan.

On Tuesday, Kushner and Greenblatt met with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss cooperation between the two countries and the peace plan.

Israeli warplanes struck numerous Hamas posts in southern Gaza late Wednesday night after a small bomb attached to a bundle of balloons was launched into Israel from the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave.

The explosive device damaged the front window of a home in the Eshkol region.

No casualties were reported.

The bomb exploded near the home of Rachel Danzig, whose home was almost hit by a rocket fired from Gaza during the previous spat of hostilities.

“I’m shaking right now,” she said. “The balloon exploded next to my house, I thought it was literally inside the house. It’s scary because there’s no deterrence. My neighbor has a hole in her garden, glass is shattered all over my home and everything moved from the blast. I’m still traumatized by the first time. My neighbor is absolutely frightened. She’s 70 years old and is in shock.

“Over the past three weeks, they [Palestinians in Gaza] have launched a lot of balloons and because they do it at night, it’s hard to stop it. People could get hurt,” Danzig said.

“The Hamas terrorist organization bears responsibility for anything that occurs in the Gaza Strip and for all the consequences of its terrorist activity there,” the IDF said in a statement.

Israeli warplanes struck numerous Hamas posts in southern Gaza late Wednesday night after a small bomb attached to a bundle of balloons was launched into Israel from the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave.

The explosive device damaged the front window of a home in the Eshkol region.

No casualties were reported.

The bomb exploded near the home of Rachel Danzig, whose home was almost hit by a rocket fired from Gaza during the previous spat of hostilities.

“I’m shaking right now,” she said. “The balloon exploded next to my house, I thought it was literally inside the house. It’s scary because there’s no deterrence. My neighbor has a hole in her garden, glass is shattered all over my home and everything moved from the blast. I’m still traumatized by the first time. My neighbor is absolutely frightened. She’s 70 years old and is in shock.

“Over the past three weeks, they [Palestinians in Gaza] have launched a lot of balloons and because they do it at night, it’s hard to stop it. People could get hurt,” Danzig said.

“The Hamas terrorist organization bears responsibility for anything that occurs in the Gaza Strip and for all the consequences of its terrorist activity there,” the IDF said in a statement.

U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) introduced companion resolutions on Tuesday urging the United States to officially recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The bill emphasizes the strategic importance of Israeli control over the area, which the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, in protecting civilians against threats from Iran in Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel annexed the region in 1981, a move that has not been recognized by the international community.

It also states that “it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of a peace agreement between Israel and Syria will be an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.”

The bill adds that “it is in the United States’ national security interest to ensure that Israel retains control of the Golan Heights [and that] the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad faces diplomatic and geopolitical consequences for its killing of civilians, the ethnic cleansing of Arab Sunnis, and the use of weapons of mass destruction.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the issue of the Golan Heights during a meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton in January. Although the United States does not recognize Israeli control over the Golan Heights, it voted for the first time in November against an annual U.N. resolution condemning the Israeli position.

The measure is also sponsored by Senators Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), and Representatives Brian Mast (R-Florida), Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado), Jim Banks (R-Indiana), Elise Stefanik (R-New York), Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), Mark Meadows (R-North Carolina), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Mark Green (R-Tennessee), Lee Zeldin (R-New York), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) and Jody Hice (R-Georgia).

Although no Democrats are currently behind the bill, members such as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) have voiced support for such U.S. recognition in the past.

In December, Cotton and Cruz introduced a similar measure.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Wednesday to prevent Iran from securing a lasting presence in Syria as he visited Moscow for talks focusing on regional security.

For Netanyahu, it was the first trip to Moscow since September’s downing of a Russian warplane by Syrian forces that were responding to an Israeli air strike. The incident left 15 Russian crew dead and threatened to derail close security ties between Russia and Israel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the start of Wednesday’s talks that “it’s very important to discuss the situation in the region and security issues.”

He added that the high-level consultations are essential in view of the evolving situation.

Netanyahu began the talks by reaffirming Israel’s strong determination to block attempts by Iran to establish a foothold in Syria.

“The greatest threat to stability and security in the region comes from Iran and its satellites,” he said.

“We are determined to continue with our aggressive action against the efforts of Iran, which calls for our destruction and against its attempts to entrench militarily in Syria.”

Moscow has played a delicate diplomatic game of maintaining friendly ties with both Israel and Iran. Last summer, Moscow struck a deal with Tehran to keep its fighters away from the Golan Heights to accommodate Israeli concerns about the Iranian presence in Syria.

Netanyahu noted that he and Putin have had 11 meetings since September 2015 and hailed “the direct, open and true way in which we maintain the relationship between Russia and Israel.”

“The direct connection between us has been an essential element that has prevented risks and conflicts between our militaries and that has contributed to regional security and stability,” the Israeli leader said.

Netanyahu congratulated Putin on the military holiday Russia marked last weekend and invited him to visit Israel to attend the opening of a monument to the Nazi siege of Leningrad during World War II.

“We will never forget the role of Russia and the Red Army in the victory over the Nazis,” he said.

Putin, a native of the city, accepted the offer. The Russian Embassy in Israel tweeted confirmation of his attendance although no date has been set.

Netanyahu praised “excellent bilateral relations,” noting “more than one million Russian speakers who have made a great contribution to Israel, have turned into a part of us and have made Russian culture a part of Israeli culture.”

Speaking after the meeting, Netanyahu said that relations between Israel and Russia following the fighter jet incident had not been discussed.

“We talked about the main issues of interest to us, mostly Iran – and its attempts to base itself in Syria. We went into great detail on that issue and showed examples of that entrenchment as well as the steps we [Israel] are taking to prevent it,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said that Putin had been presented with various intelligence findings about Iran and Syria.

“I always make it clear that we will continue to maintain Israeli freedom of action that we retain as part of our right to self-defense against actors who want to gain a foothold in Syria and I’m saying this publicly in the most honest way possible, as well as in closed-door talks.

Netanyahu said that Putin had expressed an understanding of Israel’s defense needs.

U.K. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Tuesday gave the green light to party members to avoid voting in favor of the United Kingdom’s official designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

On Monday, British Home Secretary Sajid Javid outlawed membership in Hezbollah or support for the terrorist group.

“Hezbollah is continuing in its attempts to destabilize the fragile situation in the Middle East and we are no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party,” Javid said. “Because of this, I have taken the decision to proscribe the group in its entirety.”

Labour said in a statement on Tuesday that Javid had to provide evidence to justify his decision to widen the ban on the terrorist group.

“The home secretary must therefore now demonstrate that this decision was taken in an objective and impartial way and driven by clear and new evidence, not by his leadership ambitions,” a Labour spokesman said.

Asked about the comments, Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said it was for Labour to explain their decision.

“Hezbollah itself has publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings. The group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism,” he added.

“The links between the senior leaders of Hezbollah’s political and military wings as well as the group’s destabilizing role in the region mean that the distinction between the two wings is now untenable,” the spokesman added.

Corbyn has called members of Hezbollah his “friends.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rejected on Wednesday the resignation of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, standing by an ally long targeted by hard-liners in internal factional struggles over a 2015 nuclear deal with the West.

Zarif – a U.S.-educated veteran diplomat who helped craft the pact that curbed Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief – announced his resignation on Instagram on Monday.

“As the supreme leader has described you as a ‘trustworthy, brave and religious’ person in the forefront of resistance against widespread U.S. pressures, I consider accepting your resignation against national interests and reject it,” Rouhani said in a letter published on state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

In another show of confidence, senior Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani said Zarif was the main person in charge of Iranian foreign policy and he was supported by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Wednesday, Zarif thanked Iranians for their support.

“As a modest servant, I have never had any concern but elevating the foreign policy and the status of the foreign ministry,” he added in an Instagram post.

After Rouhani’s announcement, the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency reported that Zarif had attended a ceremony to welcome Armenia’s prime minister to Tehran.

Zarif gave no specific reasons for his resignation.

But his move thrust the schism between Iran’s hard-liners and moderates into the open, effectively challenging Khamenei to pick a side.

The schism between hard-liners and moderates over the nuclear deal shows the tension in Iran between the two factions and between the elected government which runs the country on a day-to-day basis and a clerical establishment with ultimate power.

An ally of Zarif told Reuters his resignation was motivated by criticism of the nuclear accord, under increasingly intense fire in Iran since the United States abandoned it last year.

Since the United States walked out of the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions, Rouhani has had to explain to critics why Iran has continued to abide by its restrictions while reaping virtually none of the foreseen economic benefits.

Uncertainty

The political uncertainty comes at a difficult time for Iran’s leaders as the reimposed U.S. sanctions have dashed hopes of an economic breakthrough. Rouhani has warned that the country is facing the worst economic crisis in 40 years.

Hardships have triggered waves of nation-wide protests, with calls for both Rouhani and clerical leaders to step down.

Some unconfirmed Iranian media reports indicated Zarif had resigned because he had not been informed about a visit by Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday.

Zarif was quoted as condemning “factional fighting” in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday – suggesting political tensions may have played a part in his decision. The Fars news agency reported that the interview had taken place last week, before Zarif’s resignation.

A former pro-reform official warned of dire consequences of Zarif’s resignation is accepted.

“If accepted, it will have a domino effect … and others and even Rouhani might follow him, and this is not something that the country can tolerate when pressured by America and sanctions,” he said.

“Hard-liners will be strengthened and any kind of reform will be buried for at least 10 years.”