"For many years, Israel has not agreed to a two-state solution," he said. "It took President Trump – who is very, very close with Israel, who’s done a lot of things for Israel, who has credibility with Israel – in order to convince the Israelis that it was time for Palestinians to have a state of their own."
"I think the Israelis would be flexible on certain things," added Kushner. "Some things they won’t be flexible on, some things they will be flexible on. But to make a final peace with the Palestinians, I think you’ll see the Israelis do a lot of things you’d be surprised of."
The White House adviser stressed that the plan will double the size of the territory that the Palestinians have now and will allow the Palestinians to "live a better life" – on condition that they come to the negotiating table.
A Palestinian state could be formed tomorrow, "if they show up to the table and agree to the different terms and conditions," Kushner said.
"These are not wild terms and conditions. These are terms and conditions that every other state in the world has to abide by," he said. "Nobody is entitled to just become a state because you want to be. You have to show the world that you’re ready to be a state."
Kushner urged the Palestinians to read the plan and to see with their own eyes that the US takes their political ambitions seriously, according to the Palestinian Al-Quds news.
"My hope is that we put out a framework and [have] gotten Israel [to be] a much stronger party to show that they’re willing to make huge, historic compromises – with the hope that now the Arab world will support it and show the Palestinian leadership that it’s time to stop corruption in the West Bank, and it’s time to stop corruption in Gaza," stressed Kushner. "The Palestinian people deserve a better future."
The plan is "rooted in the principle that a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians must be based on an agreement that satisfies the basic aspirations of the two peoples – in a manner that guarantees security, dignity and opportunity for all," he told Al-Quds.
Kushner added that, "even during the Oslo Accords negotiations," Israel wasn't ready to recognize a Palestinian state, but that now this is something that can "actually be achieved."
CONCERNING JERUSALEM and Al-Aqsa Mosque, Kushner told Al-Arabiya that Muslims and Palestinians will be able to pray there freely as long as they don't go there to incite violence, hatred and destruction.
Kushner added that the map that was released on Tuesday was a "conceptual map" and that a technical map would be drawn up over the next few months.
The senior adviser urged the Palestinians to come to the negotiating table if they don't like the current borders and state their specific opposition.
"You’re not going to get that by doing a day of rage. all [that] doing a day of rage shows is that they’re not ready to have a state. That’s not what people with states do," said Kushner.
"Repeated ranting of old slogans and insults did not result in a better life for the Palestinian people," Kushner told Al-Quds.
"If Palestinians feel like if it’s not the right thing, they want to change something, they can go on page 13, 42 and 25, and say 'on this line we want this, on that line want that, on the map we want to move this here.'" Kushner told Al-Arabia. "But wholehearted rejections will show the world that they are not interested in peace, they have never been interested in peace. And, quite frankly, in the Palestinian areas, you have a lot of people that are very vested in the status quo."
Kushner pointed out that Israel is not a threat to Saudi Arabia and that it could be Saudi Arabia's biggest ally in advanced technology and defense if peace is reached – since the the Gulf kingdom, the US and Israel are all facing a joint threat from Iran.
The proposed Palestinian state would be tasked with absorbing "a lot" of the Palestinian refugees around the region, but part of the refugees would need to work with their host countries to gain residency. A $50 billion economic plan and a compensation fund will be made available to help deal with the refugees.
Kushner warned that if nothing is done with the deal, the situation will only get worse and worse until a deal can't be made. "It’s difficult to come up with a construct where you have a continuous Palestinian state, where you can drive from one end to the bottom through bridges, tunnels, roads. We figured it out, it was not easy. And then we were able to sit with Israel and get them to agree to freeze settlement for four years. That has never been done before. And get them to agree to a Palestinian state, and get them to agree to a map."
"The question comes down to, what will the Palestinian leadership do? Again, they always miss the opportunity – and everyone in the Middle East jokes about it – but this isn’t funny," stressed Kushner.
The senior adviser admitted that there is a "very high chance" that the current Palestinian leadership will "screw this up," which is why the plan includes a four-year window to work it out.
"I do hope that all the Arab leaders and Arab people throughout the region who care about the Palestinians will come together and tell them that this is an opportunity: Don't blow that like you've blown every opportunity you have had," Kushner said.The date for the cabinet vote on annexing all West Bank settlements has been postponed, likely to next Tuesday.Netanyahu said in the immediate aftermath of the plan’s rollout that the vote would take place on Sunday, though he also said that it would take work from his staff to set the exact parameters of what Israel would be annexing, whether it would mean the municipal borders or their security perimeter.By Wednesday morning, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who is in Washington with the prime minister, said it was taking longer than expected to draw the more precise map, but that the vote will still take place next week.Israelis live on about 4% of the West Bank, and the Trump plan allows for Israel to retain 30% of the area. Next week’s expected cabinet vote will only be on the settlements themselves; the rest of the annexation will take place at another time, Netanyahu said on Tuesday.