US officials involved in Middle East conflict have been busy of late making overtures to the Palestinians. After the failed Bahrain workshop and the Jerusalem tunnel sledgehammer public relations disaster, officials from the Donald Trump administration have begun a proactive campaign softening their position toward the Palestinians.

It began with the US president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, saying President Trump “is very fond” of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. It has also included talk about the possibility of reopening the PLO representative office in Washington.

In a July 7 interview with the pro-PLO daily Al-Ayyam, Trump’s senior adviser Jason Greenblatt conditioned the opening of the PLO office on a return to negotiations. “It is possible to reopen the PLO representative office in Washington DC once they return to negotiations. The PLO office could have stayed open by means of a waiver. We could have signed it if they were involved in the peace process," he said.

Greenblatt, in answer to submitted written questions, told Al-Ayyam, “But President Abbas threatened Israel by going to the International Criminal Court and we had to close it.”