Senior Advisor to the US President, Jared Kushner, said the Israeli government has pledged not to take steps to extend sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and Jewish settlements in the West Bank before the parliamentary elections in Israel are held March 2, Israeli radio station Kan reported.

The adviser to the US president also expressed the view that the responsibility for escalating tensions in the region after the publication of Donald Trump’s Middle East settlement plan lies with the Palestinian authorities.

On January 28, Trump announced the key provisions of the 'deal of the century' - a Palestinian-Israeli peace plan. These included recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Jewish settlements that had already appeared on Palestinian territory, as well as the refusal of the Arab state to wage war. Washington proposed to make 'indivisible' Jerusalem the capital of Israel, and 'East Jerusalem' - the capital of Palestine.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu supported the initiative and expressed readiness for the immediate start of peace talks. Abbas and representatives of the radical Hamas movement resolutely rejected the proposals of the US president.

On January 28, Netanyahu announced his intention to submit for approval by the Cabinet of Ministers the question of extending Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and Jewish settlements in the West Bank on 2 February. On January 29, a vote on this issue in the Israeli government was postponed for technical reasons. Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced the creation of a special team to advance the work on the spread of sovereignty.