When details of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza were announced, it soon emerged that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had played a pivotal role in sealing the deal.
After months of stalled talks following the collapse of a previous ceasefire deal in March, Kushner’s role was a key factor in reaching an agreement with Hamas to implement a ceasefire, as well as securing the release of the remaining Israeli captives in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinian captives.
The deadlock between Israeli and Hamas negotiators was finally broken after Kushner, together with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, met directly with senior Hamas official Khalil al-Khaya to seal the hostage release and ceasefire deal.
This resulted in Kushner, who also played a central role in negotiating the Abraham Accords during the first Trump administration, and Witkoff travelling to Jerusalem to present the agreement to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the rest of the Israeli cabinet, which eventually approved the deal on 9 October.
“Jared’s a very smart guy. He did the Abraham Accords," Trump said when asked about the role Kushner had played in securing the peace plan. “He’s a very smart person and he knows the region, knows the people, knows a lot of the players.”
Abraham Accords role
Kushner’s contribution to securing the peace deal has even been acknowledged by Democrats. “He was exceptionally important in the Abraham Accords, knows how to manage Netanyahu, and understands the Arab countries,” commented Thomas R. Nides, who served as the US ambassador to Israel in the Biden administration.
Kushner has visited Israel since childhood, and his family has close ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long been a friend, particularly of Jared’s father, Charles Kushner—a major donor to pro-Israel causes. Netanyahu had, reportedly, even stayed at the Kushners’ home in New Jersey, sleeping in Jared’s bedroom, while the teenager slept in the basement.
Senior US officials said Kushner initially served in an informal advisory role for the final round of peace negotiations and that his involvement with efforts to secure a peace deal had increased over the past few months.
In August, Kushner and former British prime minister Tony Blair reportedly participated in a meeting on Gaza in the White House, presenting the president with ideas for a post-war plan. Diplomatic sources told the Financial Times that Kushner had coordinated with Blair, who had been working on Gaza peace plans for more than a year through his Tony Blair Institute.
At the end of September, Kushner attended meetings held during Netanyahu’s visit to discuss Trump’s 20-point peace deal. That culminated in Kushner’s fast-moving tour through the Middle East last week with Witkoff.
During Trump’s first administration, Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, were arguably the most influential family members in the White House. They enjoyed largely unrestricted access to Trump in his first term and were influential on a vast portfolio, including Middle Eastern peace negotiations and COVID-19 vaccine development.
Despite having no government experience, Kushner—a New Jersey real estate broker—served as an official adviser to the president, even appearing as a speaker at the occasional White House press briefing.
Kushner and Ivanka were heavily scrutinised for their influence in government, lack of qualifications, and mixing of the personal and political. Having been lionised in New York, they suddenly had to operate under the glare of financial disclosures, ethics reviews and constant press scrutiny. Kushner was dogged by an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election (which found no collusion), security clearance troubles and questions over loans to his family’s property business.
In his memoir Breaking History, he recalled the difficulties he experienced. “We knew we would face challenges, but we had no idea of the intensity of the storm that awaited us. It was probably better that we didn’t ... nothing could have prepared us for the ferociousness of Washington— the attacks, the investigations, the false and salacious media reports, perhaps worst of all, the backstabbing within the West Wing itself.”
After leaving their posts in 2021, they relocated from Manhattan to Republican-friendly Miami. There wasn’t much surprise then, before Trump’s return to the White House this year, that the Kushners made clear they would not be following him. As Ivanka explained on a podcast, “Politics—it’s a pretty dark world”, which is “just really at odds with what feels good for me as a human being”.
Early life and career
Kushner was born on 10 January 1981 in Livingston, New Jersey. He is one of four children of Charles Kushner—a billionaire real estate developer who was also a major financial supporter of the Democratic Party and various charities.
