Jared Kushner at Harvard
(Video: Middle East Initiative)
Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, shared his vision for the Middle East after the events of October 7 on Tuesday, saying that in his view Israel should resettle Gazans in the Negev desert while it "cleans up" the Strip. When asked during a Harvard University panel whether Palestinians should be allowed to return to their homes in Gaza, Kushner responded: "Maybe. I am not sure there is much left of Gaza at this point."
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Kushner's idea of relocating Gazans to the Negev somewhat aligns with Trump's peace plan - dubbed the "Deal of the Century" - which Kushner helped formulate. Part of the plan proposed that Israel would transfer lands from the western Negev to a future Palestinian state, despite area residents' rejection of the idea.
Kushner made it clear during the panel that he hasn't discussed his proposal with the Israeli government. "I’m sitting in Miami Beach right now, and I’m looking at the situation and I’m thinking: What would I do if I was there? I know that won’t be the popular thing to do, but I think that’s a better option to do, so you can go in and finish the job. To bulldoze something in the Negev, I would try to move people in there."
He added that "Gaza is waterfront property, it could be very valuable, if people would focus on building up livelihoods. If you think about all the money that’s gone into this tunnel network and into all the munitions, if that would have gone into education or innovation, what could have been done?"
Kushner described the proposal for an independent Palestinian state as a "super bad idea" that rewards terror, saying that "Israel's entry into Rafah is a matter of time, Israel won't live alongside Hamas, and destruction in the Strip will only widen." He said that if he were in Israel's place his top priority would be evacuating Gazans and using diplomacy to transfer them to Egypt or the Negev.
Kushner said he doesn't intend to serve in an official capacity at the White House should Trump win the presidential elections in November, but he remains one of the most sought-after figures by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has previously "pursued" him to invest in the Israeli media market and open a conservative channel similar to Fox News in the country. However, the Prime Minister's Office denied these claims.
Kushner was a key figure in the Abraham Accords, which Trump said in a Fox News interview that he believed Iran should have been included in as well. In the interview, Trump asked to convey a message to Netanyahu. "You have to finish it up and do it quickly, and get back to a world of peace. We need peace in the world. We were close to it. We made the Abraham Accords, I bet you I would’ve had Iran in the Abraham Accords," he said.
In another interview, Trump said: "Now Iran will get nuclear weapons - none of this would have happened with me. If I were in power, Iran would be trembling."
Trump referred to a previous statement in which he said U.S. President Joe Biden "dumped Israel," and added: "Every Jewish person who votes for the Democrats hates their religion. They hate Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves. I think [the Biden administration] hates Israel. The Democrat Party hates Israel."