U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; Benny Gantz, head of Israel’s Blue and White party; and U.S. peace envoy Jason Greenblatt meet on September 23, 2019 at the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. (Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Jerusalem) JERUSALEM (JTA) — Blue and White head Benny Gantz met with outgoing White House Middle East peace envoy Jason Greenblatt at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
The meeting on Monday afternoon also included the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.
Gantz’s party was the top vote-getter in Israel’s national elections last week.
Greenblatt, Friedman and Gantz “had a cordial discussion on various topics, including the importance of the U.S.- Israel relationship, security challenges within the region and efforts to promote peace,” according to a Blue and White statement.
Greenblatt had met on Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose party finished second to Blue and White in the voting on Tuesday.
Greenblatt, an architect of the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, announced earlier this month that he would step down from his position to return to his family and the private sector.
The Trump administration had said it would release the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan in the days following the election in Israel, though no date has been announced.
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