Jason Greenblatt, the White House’s Mideast peace envoy, told the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) summit in Washington, D.C., on Monday that Iran is “a significant spoiler” to the administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. 

“We are just going to have to do everything we can to make sure that they don’t undermine our efforts; they don’t cause mischief, significant trouble,” Greenblatt said during a conversation with CUFI’s co-executive director Shari Dollinger. “We are watching it closely.”

Greenblatt also emphasized that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a “small conflict in the region,” while Iran is the “real threat” to security and stability in the Middle East. “It’s not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I know people like to say that that’s the core conflict of the region. That’s a small conflict in the region. The real issue is Iran, and every leader there believes that under President Trump we have a chance of potentially solving the Iran issue.” 

The administration’s point-person on the peace process also blasted the Palestinian Authority for criticizing his attendance at the controversial unveiling ceremony last week of a new archaeological site in Jerusalem’s City of David. 

“We were accused of Judaizing the city. We will not tolerate that kind of language,” said Greenblatt. “I know that’s been tolerated before. But under President Trump, we will push back on every single… [applause]. No matter the criticism leveled against us, we will push back on it time and time again. You cannot possibly build peace without a foundation of truth. And for somebody to suggest that this tunnel is not truth, they need to be corrected.” 

Greenblatt called on CUFI members “and everyone who believes in this” to “stand up to this garbage, this nonsense, these attacks that are not grounded in reality.”