Jared Kushner under fire for calling Gaza waterfront property ‘valuable’
Kushner remains an influential figure in former President Donald Trump’s orbit.
Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, faced sharp criticism on Tuesday for comments describing waterfront property in the Gaza Strip as “valuable” in the face of the Israel-Hamas war.
At a February 15 event at Harvard University, Kushner, who served as a senior advisor to Trump during his term in the White House, said “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable … if people would focus on building up livelihoods.” A video of his comments was posted online on March 8.
“It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but from Israel’s perspective I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up,” Kushner said. He then added that Israel should move Palestinian civilians into the Negev desert in the country’s southern region.
Kushner received quick and sharp blowback on social media. Dylan Williams, vice president of government affairs at the left-leaning Center for International Policy, posted on X : “[Just] days after the @ADL’s @JGreenblattADL gave him an award for “his record of policy work,” Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner openly advocates for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.”
Earlier this month, the Anti-Defamation League gave Kushner an award for his “vital and deeply impactful work on the Abraham Accords,” which saw various Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, normalize relations with Israel. The Anti-Defamation League told POLITICO that it is standing by the award, pointing to chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt’s remarks at the award ceremony earlier this month, that “his public service singularly helped further the cause of peace in the Middle East.”
Kushner’s comments come on the heels of Republican attempts to diminish or minimize Palestinian claims to territory and nationhood amid the Israel-Hamas war. GOP lawmakers have insinuated they wish to see Palestinians leave the lands currently occupied and administered by Israel. One Tennessee Republican even advocated to “kill them all” when confronted by a Palestinian activist.
Kushner and his wife, Ivanka, have distanced themselves from Trump since he left office, and Kushner has stated he will not return to the White House if his father-in-law is elected president. But he remains an influential figure in Trump’s orbit.
The Trump campaign did not return a request for comment.
Despite not having any foreign policy experience, Kushner served as an unofficial presidential envoy to Middle Eastern countries during his father-in-law’s presidency. He built a close relationship with Saudi Arabia, helped broker the Abraham Accords and was made the point person in the Trump administration for negotiating an end to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.