What Jordan accepts publicly, privately

His Majesty King Abdullah received on Wednesday Senior Adviser to the US president Jared Kushner and his accompanying delegation on a visit to the region to discuss US ideas on how to bring the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to a close.

When all is said and done, what Kushner heard in "private" was exactly what he had heard in public: The two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state is the one and only viable solution to the Palestinian problem, and that this solution is what Jordan accepts and supports publicly and privately alike. Everything else, Kushner was told, is not in the cards as far as Jordan is concerned.

How many times must President Donald Trump hear this principled Jordanian stance before it sinks in for all times? King Abdullah has never wavered on the two-state solution with East Jerusalem as its capital, and he is not about now to weaken his resolve on it with the passage of time.

The King has given much thought and reflection to the two-state solution, and it was after a long consideration and reflection that he decided that it offers the bare minimum for a workable solution to the Palestinian cause. If President Trump is truly seeking a permanent solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through his son-in-law Kushner, he must listen, and listen carefully, to what the King has been saying all along about ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict once and for all.

Any iota of deviation from this principled roadmap for ending the Palestinian problem would only perpetuate the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for generations to come with no end in sight.

This is a time to call a spade a spade, and what Kushner has heard from the King should enable him to return home with a clearer picture of where Jordan stands on ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Given the failure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a coalition government in time, which led to the dissolution of the Knesset, the stage is set for a new election in Israel. No one knows for sure what could emerge after the new round of parliamentary elections, set for September of this year.

This uncertainty would make Kushner's stop in Israel inconclusive to say the least. Maybe Kushner was hoping for a miracle during his three stops in the area but from the looks of things, this could not have happened. So Kushner, the godfather of the "deal of the century" must return home empty handed!