Jared Kushner, serving as an unpaid volunteer for the Trump administration, traveled to Egypt and Israel this week with Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. I worked closely with Jared for nearly three years in the White House, and he has a strong and deeply trusted relationship with President Trump. He understands how the president thinks, negotiates and reaches decisions.
Very few people could meet Hamas leaders and regional mediators in Cairo one day and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem the next, with each side knowing he had the president’s confidence. Jared is one of those few. Years ago, critics dismissed Jared as an outsider who knew little about the region, especially compared to career diplomats who had spent decades on the file.
That criticism has not aged well. Jared has now spent close to a decade with the region’s current leadership and understands where they want to go better than most. I’d push back hard on anyone who still thinks otherwise.
Before the visit, Prime Minister Netanyahu had rejected the Board of Peace’s 15-point roadmap. After nearly four hours of constructive talks, Israel and the Board agreed on a path forward, including working groups on Gaza’s demilitarization and public health. That is a practical step toward closing the gap and advancing President Trump’s 20-point plan.
I remain skeptical that Hamas has abandoned its desire to attack Israel and ultimately destroy it, but that does not mean President Trump and his team should stop trying. Jared also developed deep and trusted relationships with leaders across our Arab allies and in Israel. Under President Trump’s leadership, those relationships, combined with Jared’s unrelenting tenacity and determined optimism, created the Abraham Accords.
The agreements normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries and thoroughly shattered assumptions that had constrained Middle East diplomacy for decades, an outcome that eluded plenty of people who once doubted Jared belonged in the room. The ranking Democrats on the House Judiciary, House Oversight and Senate Finance Committees are pursuing investigations into Affinity Partners, the firm Jared founded after leaving government in 2021, which is heavily funded by capital tied to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Opposition to Jared volunteering once again to serve the United States government predates Affinity itself.
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