DIPLOMACY: Saudi Crown Prince: Palestinians should take what the U.S. offers. “In a closed-door meeting with heads of Jewish organizations in New York on March 27th, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) gave harsh criticism of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), according to an Israeli foreign ministry cable sent by a diplomat from the Israeli consulate in New York, as well three sources — Israeli and American — who were briefed about the meeting. The bottom line of the crown prince’s criticism: Palestinian leadership needs to finally take the proposals it gets from the U.S. or stop complaining.”

Plus: “He made clear the Palestinian issue was not a top priority for the Saudi government or Saudi public opinion. MBS said Saudi Arabia ‘has much more urgent and important issues to deal with’ like confronting Iran’s influence in the region. . . . A source who was briefed on the meeting told me the attendees were stunned when they heard the Saudi Crown Prince comments on the Palestinian issue. ‘People literally fell off their chairs,’ the source said.”

Amazing that this took a month to leak, but it says volumes about how America’s mideast diplomacy has changed things. And reportedly it was Jared Kushner who got the Crown Prince on board.