JERUSALEM, June 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S.President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior Middle East advisor, Jared Kushner, arrived in Israel on Wednesday in an effort to revive the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Kushner is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah.
Shortly after arriving, Kushner visited the family of Hadas Malka, a border police officer who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian while she was on duty in East Jerusalem's Old City last week.
A spokesperson for the Malka family said that Kushner was accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and spend about 30 minutes with Hadas' parents.
"Kushner said that President Trump himself asked him to express condolences on behalf of the U.S.," a friend of the family told the Hebrew-language Ynet news site.
Kushner joined Jason Greenblatt, a top U.S. national security aide, who arrived in Israel on Tuesday and had met with Netanyahu.
The White House said in a statement that the visit would be the first in "many visits" in a bid to achieve a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
During his visit to Israel and the Palestinian National Authority in May, Trump said he pursues "the ultimate deal" between Israel and the Palestinians.
The last round of peace talks, brokered by former Secretary of State John Kerry, reached an impasse in April 2014, mainly over the expansion of the West Bank settlements and the Fatah-Hamas unity government.
Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war and has since been controlling them despite wide condemnation.
