Trump's special peace envoy heads back to region for 'follow-up meetings'

Greenblatt, arriving before a private trip with his family for Sukkot, will hold discussions intended to ‘continue the peace track,’ White House says

WASHINGTON — Less than a week after US President Donald Trump met separately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, when all were in New York for the UN General Assembly, his special envoy Jason Greenblatt is heading back to the Middle East for “follow-up meetings,” the White House announced on Sunday.

Greenblatt’s latest round of discussions with the two sides comes just ahead of a private trip to the region he will take with his family for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. A former lawyer for the Trump Organization, Greenblatt is an observant Jew.

His upcoming visit to Israel is intended to “continue the peace track,” a White House official said. “The meetings are part of the administration’s quiet, steady discussions towards peace.” He is leaving Sunday night.

Notwithstanding Trump’s meeting with both the Israeli premier and Palestinian leader last week, the White House said the UN confab would not serve as a forum for Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.

“While President Trump had productive meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas at the United Nations,” the official said, “we always said that the UN would not focus on peace conversations and that those conversations would be happening on a separate track.”

Trump did not mention the decades-long dispute in his speech to the world body, but did emphasize his commitment to peacemaking in other remarks.

“I think we have a very, very good chance, and I certainly will devote everything within my heart and within my soul to get that deal made,” he said before his meeting with Abbas.

“I think we have a pretty good shot — maybe the best shot ever — and that’s what we’re looking to do,” the president said at the time.