Kushner, Israel & Gaza

Jared Kushner: raising Gulf money while negotiating with the Gulf

$6.2B under management, ~99% foreign

Kushner's investment firm, Affinity Partners, manages about $6.2B, roughly 99% of it from foreign investors, chiefly the Saudi, Qatari, and Emirati governments' funds. The New York Times reported he sought $5B or more in new money from Gulf governments while serving as Trump's unpaid Middle East envoy; he files no public financial disclosure.

Their response: Affinity says it “does not intend to take in any additional capital while Jared is volunteering for the government.” White House: his business “has nothing to do with his diplomatic engagements.”

Sources: Bloomberg · New York Times

Kushner's $1 billion stake in an Israeli firm invested in arms makers

$1B+ stake; $340M+ realized

CNN reported that Affinity held the largest stake in Phoenix Financial, an Israeli group with investments in military suppliers including Elbit, while Kushner negotiated over Gaza. Affinity made more than $340M selling a quarter of the stake in July 2026.

Their response: Kushner's attorney: “any suggestion that Jared's diplomatic work influenced Phoenix's investments… is incorrect.”

Sources: CNN

Kushner negotiates on Gaza, Iran and Ukraine as an unpaid volunteer and files no financial disclosure

Trump said on Feb. 19, 2026 that he was making his son-in-law “an envoy of peace” alongside Steve Witkoff. CNN reported on Oct. 1, 2026 that Kushner acts as a volunteer envoy “rather than accepting a government job that would require him to disclose his finances”, and that his wholly owned firm Affinity Partners, as a private company, is not required to say where it invests (Kushner said in March 2026 it had made 28 investments). Witkoff, who holds a government post, does file disclosures. No ethics waiver, recusal list or clearance for the arrangement has been made public.

Their response: White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly to CNN: “Jared Kushner’s personal business activities have nothing to do with his diplomatic engagements, which he conducts on a volunteer basis at the President’s request.” She called conflict concerns a “tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family, and his administration for a decade.” Press secretary Karoline Leavitt, October 2025: “Jared is donating his energy and his time to our government, to the president of the United States, to secure world peace, and that is a very noble thing.”

Sources: CNN investigation (Oct. 1, 2026) · Politico (Feb. 19, 2026) · Rep. Raskin letter to Kushner (Apr. 16, 2026) · CNN (Oct. 10, 2025) · Forbes (Apr. 4, 2026)

Phoenix owns shares in Israeli arms makers, about $380 million traced by CNN; it does not sell weapons

About $380M in arms-maker shares traced by CNN (six stakes, summed)

Phoenix Financial is an insurer, pension and asset manager, not a weapons seller, and Affinity holds no direct stake in any arms maker, CNN found. The stakes CNN could trace in Phoenix’s Israeli filings: at least $265 million in Elbit Systems (about 0.6% of Elbit, held for more than a decade), more than $68 million in drone-camera maker Next Vision, at least $40 million in artillery-fuze maker Reshef, more than 10% of tank-parts maker Ashot Ashkelon, $4 million in Boeing, $2.5 million in Caterpillar and $524,524 in Israel Shipyards. The six stakes with a stated value total roughly $380 million, against about $170 billion that Forbes says Phoenix manages; CNN stressed the filings show “only a fraction” of Phoenix’s holdings. The Reshef and Ashot stakes were bought after Affinity became the largest shareholder.

Their response: Kushner’s attorney to CNN: he has “never participated in or directed Phoenix’s decisions” and had “no involvement in the decision to purchase, hold or sell any of the nine companies”. A Phoenix spokesperson said the firm is “regulated” and that “shareholder value is derived primarily from operating performance rather than investment returns.” CNN: it “found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed.”

Sources: CNN investigation (Oct. 1, 2026) · Forbes (Sept. 16, 2025)

Kushner on his Gulf investors and Israel: “maybe there’s a benefit to having these wars done”

On the “No Priors” podcast in September 2025, as quoted by CNN, Kushner said: “My investors from the Middle East are now looking at Israel, and they’re saying, ‘Wait a minute, maybe there’s a benefit to having these wars done.’” He said Phoenix Financial, the Israeli group in which his firm is the largest shareholder, “is now looking at investments in Saudi Arabia, investments in UAE”, markets that normalization deals of the kind he negotiates would open. The same holding also rose during the fighting: Forbes reported that Phoenix’s share price nearly tripled between Affinity’s first purchase in July 2024 and September 2025. His stated business model gains from Arab-Israeli normalization; whether that shapes his diplomacy is not established.

Their response: Kushner on the same podcast: “When you get an Arab and Israeli together and they start talking about a business opportunity, they forget about everything else and then they realize that there’s a lot of similarities.” His attorney told CNN that “any suggestion that Jared’s diplomatic work influenced Phoenix’s investments in the companies you identify, or vice versa, is incorrect.”

Sources: CNN investigation (Oct. 1, 2026) · Forbes (Sept. 16, 2025) · Politico (Feb. 19, 2026)

The record that cuts the other way: Kushner helped close the Gaza ceasefire and has pushed to keep it

Kushner helped compile the 20-point plan and, with Witkoff, finalized the October 2025 arrangement in Sharm el-Sheikh for the release of all hostages and a partial Israeli withdrawal; a U.S. official told CNN the two had said they would not leave until they had an agreement “to release hostages and end the war”. In August 2026 he met Hamas’s political chief in Egypt and then Netanyahu, who had publicly rejected a U.S.-backed 15-point roadmap; an Israeli official said there was “no breakthrough”. We found no named source saying Kushner has acted to prolong the Gaza war. The ceasefire has not ended the killing: CNN reported in October 2026 that Israel “continues striking the enclave on a near daily basis”.

Their response: A White House official told CNN that Kushner views a peace deal between Israel and Hamas as something that “supersedes anything he has going on in the region”. Trump, sending him to Egypt: “I have Jared. Find anybody more capable.”

Sources: CNN (Oct. 10, 2025) · The Guardian / AP (Aug. 16, 2026) · The Guardian (Aug. 17, 2026) · CNN investigation (Oct. 1, 2026)

Trump’s Iran strike decision rested partly on Kushner and Witkoff’s reading of talks that then collapsed

The Guardian reported on Feb. 23, 2026 that Trump’s decision on striking Iran would “hinge in part on the judgment” of Witkoff and Kushner about the Geneva talks; the U.S.-Israeli attack began Feb. 28, two days after the last session. The Guardian later reported that Britain’s national security adviser, present at the talks, judged Iran’s offer significant enough to prevent a rush to war, that Oman believed the two envoys “either knowingly or through ignorance, were not feeding Trump the truth”, and that one unnamed Gulf diplomat called them “Israeli assets”. The New York Times reported on March 13 that in the same weeks Kushner was seeking $5 billion or more for his firm from Gulf state funds. No evidence has been published that his finances shaped his advice; that link is an allegation.

Their response: Kushner said he and Witkoff had “a pretty deep understanding of the issues that matter in this” (quoted by the Guardian). Witkoff said the Iranians were “deceptive” and “full of subterfuge”. A western diplomat told the Guardian: “Jonathan thought there was a deal to be done, but Iran were not quite there yet, especially on the issue of UN inspections of its nuclear sites.” The White House, on Kushner’s dual role generally: a “tired narrative”.

Sources: The Guardian (Feb. 23, 2026) · The Guardian (Mar. 17, 2026) · The Guardian (Mar. 18, 2026) · New York Times (Mar. 13, 2026) · Rep. Raskin letter to Kushner (Apr. 16, 2026)

Democrats in both chambers opened inquiries into Kushner’s dual role; no answers have been made public

On March 19, 2026, Rep. Robert Garcia and Sen. Ron Wyden wrote to the White House and to Affinity Partners asking how Kushner’s diplomacy is separated from his firm, including a schedule of his foreign trips for Affinity since Jan. 20, 2025. On April 16, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on House Judiciary, demanded 15 categories of records by April 30, citing $6.16 billion under management, 99% of it from foreign nationals, and saying Affinity turned over “virtually none” of the documents sought in a 2022 inquiry. As the minority party, Democrats cannot compel answers; no response, document production, inspector general review or ethics ruling has been made public.

Their response: No reply from Kushner or Affinity to the letters was found. The White House told CNN the conflict concerns are a “tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family, and his administration for a decade.” Kushner told 60 Minutes Overtime in October 2025: “What people call conflicts of interests, Steve and I call experience and trusted relationships.”

Sources: Rep. Raskin letter to Kushner (Apr. 16, 2026) · House Judiciary Democrats press release (Apr. 17, 2026) · The Hill (Mar. 19, 2026) · CNN investigation (Oct. 1, 2026) · The Guardian (Aug. 23, 2026)

Kushner unveiled a “New Gaza” of coastal towers at Davos and promised “amazing investment opportunities”

At the World Economic Forum on Jan. 22, 2026, Kushner presented a master plan with a “coastal tourism” zone long enough for 180 skyscrapers, an airport and 100,000 housing units in Rafah, saying the Board of Peace would apply “free market principles”. The Guardian wrote that the slides treated Gaza “as blank slate, ignoring the property rights of generations of Palestinians”. In February 2024, before returning to diplomacy, he had said “Gaza’s waterfront property, it could be very valuable” and that Israel should “move the people out and then clean it up”. By July 2026 the plan had shrunk to a pilot camp near Rafah, and we found no report of Affinity or its Gulf backers investing in Gaza.

Their response: Kushner at the Board of Peace meeting in February 2026: “A lot of these people are volunteers. They’re doing this not for any personal gain. People are not personally profiting from this.” At Davos: “Without security, nobody’s going to make investments, nobody’s gonna come build there. We need investments in order to start giving jobs.”

Sources: Al Jazeera (Jan. 22, 2026) · The Guardian (Jan. 22, 2026) · CNN investigation (Oct. 1, 2026) · Middle East Eye (Feb. 6, 2025) · The Guardian (July 16, 2026)

Gaza’s governing boards: Trump as chair, his son-in-law, his envoy, a buyout chief and a property billionaire

The White House on Jan. 16, 2026 named the Board of Peace’s executive board, charged with portfolios including “investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization”: Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management chief Marc Rowan, World Bank president Ajay Banga and deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel. Kushner, Witkoff, Blair and Rowan also sit on the Gaza Executive Board with officials from Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and the UAE, a UN coordinator and Yakir Gabay, whom Israel’s Ynet describes as a billionaire real estate mogul. The UN Security Council authorized the board to oversee Gaza until Dec. 31, 2027. No conflict-of-interest rules for members have been published.

Their response: Kushner, February 2026: “A lot of these people are volunteers. They’re doing this not for any personal gain. People are not personally profiting from this.” The White House statement describes the members as “leaders with experience across diplomacy, development, infrastructure, and economic strategy.”

Sources: White House statement (Jan. 16, 2026) · Al Jazeera (Jan. 22, 2026) · Ynet News (Jan. 17, 2026) · The Guardian (June 27, 2026) · CNN investigation (Oct. 1, 2026)

Trump pledged $10 billion of U.S. money to his Board of Peace; its World Bank fund stayed empty

$10B pledged by Trump; not appropriated or paid

At the board’s first meeting on Feb. 19, 2026, Trump said the U.S. was pledging $10 billion to the Board of Peace, the Gaza body he chairs; AP noted the money “would need to be authorized by Congress” and that its source was unclear. On May 27, 2026 the Financial Times, as summarized by the Jerusalem Post, reported that the board’s World Bank fund had received “zero dollars” of $17 billion pledged, and that donations had instead gone to a JPMorgan account with no duty to report to contributors or board members. The State Department had committed to redirect about $1.2 billion of aid to projects on the board’s agenda, none of it managed by the board, and a planned $50 million direct payment had not been made.

Their response: A Board of Peace official to the FT: “A number of options were established to receive funding. At this point, contributors have opted to use other options.” Its spokesperson: “We’re not, like, hoarding money in a bank account and then awarding contracts for things that can’t be delivered.” The board said on X that the FT “tries desperately to sow doubt about the commitment of the US and partners to the Board of Peace.”

Sources: AP (Feb. 19, 2026) · Jerusalem Post, summarizing the Financial Times (May 27, 2026) · Politico (Feb. 19, 2026) · The Guardian (July 16, 2026)

Draft Board of Peace resolution would give its members and contractors legal immunity in Gaza

The Guardian obtained a four-page draft, “Resolution No 2026/3”, that would shield every member of the Board of Peace, its staff, international forces and nonresident contractors from “any arrest, detention or legal proceedings in the courts or other entities in Gaza”, and let the board be given public premises there “free of charge”. Under the June 2026 draft the board’s chair, Trump, could waive a person’s immunity with majority support. Six contracting and war-law specialists who reviewed it for the paper said it left no clear route to accountability. It was not known to be in force.

Their response: A Board of Peace official: “There is no operative resolution or immunity framework of the kind described in your questions ... Any suggestion that this process is designed to create lawlessness or impunity is wrong, misleading and gets the issue entirely backwards.” The official called the suggestion that the president would have a role in establishing or waiving immunity “categorically false”. The White House referred questions to the board.

Sources: The Guardian (June 27, 2026)

Leaked “Gaza Riviera” prospectus proposed a U.S. trusteeship and relocating all 2 million Gazans

The Washington Post on Aug. 31, 2025 published a 38-page prospectus circulating in the administration for a “Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust”: a U.S. trusteeship of at least a decade, “temporary relocation” of all of Gaza’s 2 million people, digital tokens in exchange for land rights, and resorts and “megacities” funded by $100 billion of private investment, the Guardian reported. It was reportedly drawn up by some of the Israelis behind the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, with financial modelling by Boston Consulting Group staff. It was not clear whether the prospectus reflected U.S. policy, the Guardian wrote; it is not the 20-point plan Trump announced a month later.

Their response: Neither the White House nor the State Department answered the Washington Post’s request for comment, the Guardian reported. Boston Consulting Group said the work was not approved and that two senior partners who led it had been fired. The Tony Blair Institute, two of whose staff joined calls on an earlier version, called that version “a BCG deck” and said it had no input into its contents.

Sources: The Guardian (Sept. 1, 2025) · The Guardian (July 7, 2025) · CNBC (Sept. 1, 2025)

State Dept. gave $30 million to a Gaza aid group led by a Trump adviser; UN counted 994 killed nearby

$30M from the State Department

On June 26, 2025 the State Department announced $30 million for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a Delaware group set up in February 2025 to replace UN aid delivery, chaired by Johnnie Moore, an evangelical leader twice appointed by Trump as a White House religious-freedom adviser, and guarded by armed American contractors. The UN human rights office recorded 1,760 Palestinians killed while seeking aid between May 27 and Aug. 13, 2025, 994 of them near the foundation’s sites, and said most were killed by the Israeli military. The group never disclosed its other funders, stopped distributing at the October 2025 ceasefire and shut down on Nov. 24, 2025.

Their response: State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott called the funding “simply the latest iteration of President Trump’s and Secretary Rubio’s pursuit of peace in the region” and said of the reported shootings: “Many of these reports are based on Hamas propaganda.” GHF director John Acree, on closing: “We have succeeded in our mission of showing there’s a better way to deliver aid to Gazans.” GHF said there was no violence inside its sites.

Sources: CBS News (June 27, 2025) · UN human rights office statement (Aug. 15, 2025) · AP (Nov. 24, 2025) · The Guardian (June 3, 2025) · Carnegie Endowment (June 12, 2025)

Rubio used emergency powers to send Israel bombs without congressional review; $12 billion-plus approved

$12B in arms sales to Israel approved by March 2025 (State Department)

On Feb. 28, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared an emergency to waive congressional review of about $3 billion in sales to Israel: $2.04 billion of 2,000-pound bombs and warheads, $675.7 million of other munitions and $295 million of Caterpillar bulldozers. His March 1 statement said he was using “emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance”, reversing what he called Biden’s “partial arms embargo”, and that “nearly $12 billion” in major sales had been approved since Trump took office. A $6.67 billion package followed in January 2026 and Boeing received a contract capped at $8.58 billion for Israeli F-15s in December 2025. No stake in these manufacturers held by Kushner or Witkoff is documented; Kushner files no disclosure.

Their response: Rubio: the decision “is yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump.” In September 2026 the top Democrats on the House and Senate foreign affairs committees, Gregory Meeks and Jeanne Shaheen, put holds on a further $2.8 billion sale of 40,000 one-ton bombs; the State Department did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.

Sources: State Department, Rubio statement (Mar. 1, 2025) · AP (Feb. 28, 2025) · Pentagon contract announcements (Dec. 29, 2025) · The Guardian (Sept. 16, 2026) · CNN investigation (Oct. 1, 2026)

Eric Trump invested in an Israeli military drone maker that then advanced in a Pentagon drone program

$152M raised from investors including Eric Trump; his share undisclosed

Xtend, an Israeli drone-software company whose systems the Israeli army used by the hundreds in the Gaza war, announced on Feb. 17, 2026 a merger with Florida’s JFB Construction at a $1.5 billion valuation, backed by $152 million from investors including Eric Trump, the Times of Israel reported. In June 2026 JFB announced that Xtend had been selected for Phase II of the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance Program, which plans to buy $1 billion of small attack drones over two years; selection is a qualifying stage, not a purchase order. The merged company was due to begin trading on Nasdaq in early September 2026. The size of Eric Trump’s stake has not been disclosed.

Their response: No comment from Eric Trump was reported. JFB chief executive Joseph Basile III said the selection “represents meaningful validation of the company’s autonomous systems, operational capabilities, and growing role within the US defense ecosystem.”

Sources: Times of Israel (Feb. 17, 2026) · Jerusalem Post (June 1, 2026) · Jerusalem Post (Sept. 2, 2026)

Trump asked Israel’s president, in a speech and then in writing, to pardon Netanyahu in his graft trial

In the Knesset on Oct. 13, 2025, Trump turned to President Isaac Herzog and said: “I have an idea, why don’t you give Netanyahu a pardon?”, adding “Who cares about cigars and champagne?” On Nov. 12 he sent Herzog a letter: “I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu”, calling the charges political and unjustified. Netanyahu filed a formal pardon request on Nov. 30, 2025; a minister’s opinion backing it reached Herzog on March 24, 2026. As of mid-June 2026 the trial was still running, with Netanyahu’s cross-examination just completed; no decision by Herzog had been reported.

Their response: Herzog’s office, on receiving the request: “The Office of the President is aware that this is an extraordinary request which carries with it significant implications. After receiving all of the relevant opinions, the president will responsibly and sincerely consider the request.” Netanyahu denies wrongdoing. An Israeli watchdog group called the minister’s recommendation “a disgraceful and improper political decision”.

Sources: Al Jazeera (Nov. 12, 2025) · Times of Israel (Oct. 13, 2025) · Al Jazeera (Nov. 30, 2025) · Jerusalem Post (Mar. 24, 2026) · Jerusalem Post (June 16, 2026)