UNSC to meet with Kushner on Mideast plan

The United States has requested a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting for Feb. 6 at which President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, is to present the administration's new Mideast plan which is opposed by the Palestinian leadership, diplomats said.    

Kushner, a key architect of the plan, will brief the 14 other members at noon (1700 GMT) on Feb. 6, said Ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve of Belgium, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council.    

The Belgian envoy said he was also expecting a formal Palestinian request for a meeting on the plan with their president Mahmud Abbas, who set to visit the United Nations on Feb. 11.    

The Palestinians, who have strongly criticized Trump's plan, have indicated they plan to submit a draft resolution through Tunisia, a non-permanent member of the Security Council.    

The resolution's content has not been divulged as yet, but the United States would likely oppose it, using its veto, if necessary, should it gain the support of nine council members, the minimum required for passage.    

In late 2017, a Palestinian-inspired resolution condemning Washington's unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital received 14 votes in the Security Council, but the United States quashed it with its veto.    

A similar resolution proposed during the U.N. General Assembly, a 193-member body in which no country has a veto, was approved by a vote of 128 in favor, nine against and 35 abstentions. The remaining 21 countries chose not to be present for the vote.    

Kushner is the architect of the plan unveiled by the president a week ago, and rejected on Feb. 1by the Arab League and by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Feb. 3....