Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will likely play a pivotal role in the incoming administration’s Middle East efforts without having a formal position in the government, according to diplomats and political allies.
Kushner was heavily involved with the former president’s Middle East diplomacy in his first term and established personal relationships with leaders throughout the region that he has maintained since Trump left office, and sources told CNN those ties are important.
“Friendships are forever in this region,” said one Israeli source who dealt with the first Trump administration. “My assumption is that his role is much more in his hands than anybody else’s.”
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But some U.S. diplomats are concerned about Kushner’s closeness with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and the $2 billion his investment fund, Affinity Partners, received from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and diplomatic sources expressed concerns Trump would prioritize his family’s financial interests over the nation’s interest.
“Prioritizing Saudi Arabia’s prosperity because it could help the Trump family is a major concern for U.S. diplomats,” said a current U.S. diplomat.
Kushner also enjoys a close family relationship to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and spoke earlier this year about the development potential for Gaza’s “valuable” waterfront property, which set off alarm bells for some concerned about the region.
“What we are seeing is an active and bloody conflict, with all that people in the Arab world see is babies being killed,” aid Ghaith Al-Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute. “Those comments were disturbing because Kushner was coming at this with very cold and materialistic language which is very jarring for a people craving empathy. It was very, very tone deaf.”
While diplomats anticipate that Kushner will play an important but informal role in the president-elect’s Middle East efforts, Trump has also picked former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as the next ambassador to Israel, and real estate developer Steve Witkoff will lead the administration’s overall efforts in the region.
“Does Witkoff have an ego? That is the key question,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator at the State Department. “If he wants to succeed and does not establish working relationship with Kushner and [likely secretary of state Marco] Rubio he is making a gigantic mistake.”
