Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

New US special Mideast envoy Berkowitz meets Netanyahu to discuss peace effort

U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz, on his first visit to Israel since succeeding Jason Greenblatt, is expected to also meet with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz.

U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Special Representative for the Middle East Avi Berkowitz in the White House, January 2020. Credit: Courtesy.
U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Special Representative for the Middle East Avi Berkowitz in the White House, January 2020. Credit: Courtesy.

Avi Berkowitz, U.S. President Donald Trump’s new special representative for international negotiations, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to discuss the rollout of the Trump administration’s peace plan.

Also attending the meeting was U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

This is Berkowitz’s first visit to Israel since he assumed the position in November, succeeding Jason Greenblatt.

There is speculation that the Trump administration might roll out its long-anticipated plan before Israel’s March 2 elections.

Though the meeting has not yet been announced, Berkowitz is also expected to meet with Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz before returning to Washington.

The meeting between Berkowitz and Netanyahu follows senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner’s meeting with both Netanyahu and Gantz in October.

Anessa Johnson claimed $10 million in damages after the private Washington school fired her for a series of antisemitic social media posts.
U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have precipitated the move by demanding congressional action in a social media post earlier on Wednesday.
JNS sought comment from Aria Fani and received an autoreply, “On leave until September. Will not check email with capitalist frequency.”
A spokesman for the Ivy told JNS that the school believes being required “to create lists of Jewish faculty and staff, and to provide personal contact information, raises serious privacy and First Amendment concerns.”
The new program adds “America First foreign policy lectures” and shifts focus to merit and core diplomatic skills.
Police officers found evidence that Dejaun Angelo was running a marijuana business in his apartment and “hundreds of ammunition boxes” in a storage unit.