The US president’s son-in-law played a key role in brokering a deal that could bring him huge profits if the plan to rebuild Gaza ever comes to fruition.
By Andrew ROTH
For a man with no official role in the White House, Jared Kushner literally took center stage last week as Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East. As the Trump administration celebrated the achievement of a ceasefire in Gaza, Kushner (Trump’s son-in-law) appeared at “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv, addressing a raucous crowd that had booed at the mention of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then erupted in cheers: “Thank you Trump!”
“October 7th was a devastating day for me,” said Kushner, who had swapped his usual business suit for a simple black T-shirt. “Since that day, my heart has not felt whole.” He said he felt a duty “to see the hostages returned home, to see their families get the closure they deserve, and to see this nightmare end. And to see the suffering of the people in Gaza who, for the most part, were experiencing this situation through no fault of their own, except for the fact that they were born into a terrible reality.” It was a strong diplomatic statement for a man whose boss had threatened to bring “hell” to Gaza. But behind the scenes, the quiet heir to his father’s real estate empire has become a key bridge for Trump’s contacts with the Middle East, using his personal connections to the Region’s leaders while simultaneously positioning himself as a beneficiary if the Gaza reconstruction project ever comes to fruition.
A notable return to politics, following the departure of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, from the public scene following the January 6th riots in Congress, which followed Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.
Today, Kushner, who manages billions of dollars in investments through his company Affinity Partners, including sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is at the center of power in Washington.
“There is certainly a huge conflict of interest here,” said Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, who called the influence a form of blatant corruption. But, he added, “What is strange is that the Trump organization is so deeply involved financially in the Middle East that this corruption could be the factor that keeps the ceasefire going. Because everyone involved has a vested interest and a motive to stop the war.” The administration has denied that there is any conflict of interest between Kushner’s diplomatic work and his management of investment funds originating from Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Qatar. “It is repugnant that you are suggesting that it is inappropriate for Jared Kushner, who enjoys broad international respect and mutual trust with these important partners, to draft a detailed 20-point plan that no other administration would be able to achieve,” White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said during a press conference this month. “Jared is donating his time and energy to the US government and president to achieve world peace, and that is a very noble thing.”
Kushner, born to a Jewish family in New Jersey, had no experience in diplomacy before his father, Charles Kushner (a real estate developer in New York), nominated him to be part of Trump’s first administration.
In his first term, he was mocked for an interview in which he said, “I’ve been studying this for three years. I’ve read 25 books. I’ve spoken to every leader in the Region.” Now, Trump supporters share that interview with a sense of some vindication. After Trump returned to the White House in January, Kushner and Ivanka remained in their $24 million Miami villa, taking no official role in the administration, distancing themselves more than in his first term. Kushner’s role in the ceasefire negotiations only became public in August, when he and Tony Blair attended a White House meeting to discuss post-war reconstruction and governance of Gaza.
“I put Jared in this position because he is very smart and he knows the Region, the people and the actors,” Trump said last week after announcing the deal.
In an interview with the New York Times, Kushner said simply that he and Steve Witkoff, the president’s Middle East envoy, are “deal experts,” seasoned in the New York real estate world who understand what motivates people. “A lot of the people who deal with these issues are history professors or diplomats. We’re deal people, a different kind of game,” Kushner said. According to U.S. officials, Kushner and Witkoff had been given almost unlimited authority by Trump to broker a ceasefire agreement, which included:
– a closed-door meeting between Trump and Arab leaders during the UN General Assembly to test a 20-point plan for Gaza,
– convincing Netanyahu to apologize to the Qatari prime minister after an Israeli airstrike in Doha,
– and an unprecedented meeting between White House officials and Hamas, which officials said represented the best chance to stop the war in Gaza by October 2023.
“One of his strengths was that he had no official status,” a former U.S. diplomat said of Kushner. “He could work behind the scenes, and through his business connections, build credibility between the parties to get the deal done.” Since his first term, diplomats and aides say Kushner has pushed a vision that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an obstacle to a greater rapprochement between Israel and the Gulf Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, that would transform the Region economically. After Israel’s attack on Qatar, Kushner and Witkoff saw an opportunity, while Arab leaders worried that it could set a precedent for more attacks.
In a case first reported by the Wall Street Journal and later confirmed by US officials, Kushner and Witkoff dictated the text of the apology that Netanyahu gave by phone to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, shortly before Netanyahu appeared with Trump at a summit at the White House in late September.
“It was a mature move,” one U.S. official said of their ceasefire efforts. “It gave us a bit of an edge.” Observers say Kushner’s influence on Middle East policy has been felt since early in Trump’s second term. One of his most talked-about ideas, rebuilding Gaza as a “coastal paradise,” was first proposed by him at a Harvard event in 2024. Trump’s critics accused him of promoting ethnic cleansing after he said Palestinians could be forcibly evicted from Gaza before reconstruction, an idea Kushner had also suggested earlier.
Aaron David Miller, a former diplomat and Middle East mediator, recalls a meeting he had with Kushner during Trump’s first term, where he demonstrated his cold approach to diplomacy in the Region: “Don’t talk to me about history,” Kushner told him. “I don’t care about history. We’re doing things differently here.”
The Kushner family has had close ties to Netanyahu for decades, largely through Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, who has been a major donor to pro-Israel causes. The relationship was so close that Netanyahu once slept at the Kushner family’s New Jersey home. Still, Kushner told Miller that one of the keys to Trump’s diplomacy was that he would make it impossible for any Israeli prime minister to say “no.” “I had no idea … that this fundamental principle would create a situation unlike any American president I’ve ever worked with,” Miller said. Describing the talks, a U.S. official said that Trump’s vocal support for Israel allowed Kushner and Witkoff to work closely with Arab leaders, even meeting directly with Hamas, without alienating Netanyahu’s government.
“Trump, Kushner and Witkoff have always been 100% on Israel’s side,” a US official said. “Israel has a lot of confidence in President Trump that he would never ask them to do anything that would jeopardize their security.” (The Guardian)
