29
SD Karlin
14:47Jered the man-boy really should keep quiet.
Jared Kushner Calls Gaza Seaside Property 'Very Valuable,' Suggests Israel 'Move the People Out Then Clean It Up'
In an interview with Harvard University, Trump's top White House adviser described a potential Palestinian state as 'a super bad idea,' and suggested Israel 'bulldoze something in the Negev' to house displaced Palestinians so it can reconstruct Gaza and 'finish the job'
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner visiting Kibbutz Kfar Azza, in December.Credit: Noam Moshkowitz - Knesset Spokesperson / Reuters
WASHINGTON - Jared Kushner, former U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and key foreign policy advisor, described Gaza's waterfront property as "very valuable" while suggesting Israel should remove Palestinian civilians from Gaza while it "cleans up" the territory.
The comments from Kushner – who made his remarks earlier this month during an interview with Harvard University, though they were first published by The Guardian on Tuesday – add further color to what a potential Trump presidency may portend for the future of Gaza amid Israel's ongoing war.
- American Jewish leaders decry ADL's honoring of Jared Kushner
- Jared Kushner’s Business Interests in Israel Revealed in Full
- Trump on Israel-Hamas war: I'd tell Netanyahu to finish it up and do it quickly
While Kushner has said he is not an active part of Trump's 2024 presidential bid, he is believed to be in contact with the campaign as an informal advisor of sorts.
"Gaza's waterfront property could be very valuable," Kushner told his interviewer, Harvard's Middle East Initiative faculty chair, Prof. Tarek Masoud, "if people would focus on building up livelihoods."
"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 continued. "But I don't think that Israel has stated that they don't want the people to move back there afterwards."
An Israeli flag flies on destroyed buildings on the Mediterranean Sea in Gaza, in February.Credit: Ariel Schalit / AP
Some senior Israeli government officials, in fact, have openly called for mass population transfer – to the chagrin of the Biden administration and the vast majority of the international community.
Kushner further noted that it would be possible to evacuate civilians from Rafah into Egypt "with diplomacy," despite Egypt's insistence that it would not accept displaced Palestinians and that a Rafah operation would jeopardize its relations with Israel – the bedrock of U.S. Mideast foreign policy architecture since the 1978 Camp David Accords.
"But in addition to that, I would just bulldoze something in the Negev, I would try to move people in there," Kushner continued. "I think that's a better option, so you can go in and finish the job."
He doubled down by saying that "I do think right now opening up the Negev, creating a secure area there, moving the civilians out, and then going in and finishing the job would be the right move."
Jared Kushner, left, and Donald Trump in the White House, 2017.Credit: Kevin Lamarque/ REUTERS
Kushner noted that he was "not sure there is much left of Gaza at this point. If you think about even the construct, Gaza was not really a historical precedent [sic]. It was the result of a war. You had tribes in different places, and then Gaza became a thing. Egypt used to run it, and then over time different governments came in."
Franklin Foer: 'Everyday Jewish U.S. life will be punctuated by antisemitism'
SubscribeHe further described a potential Palestinian state as a "a super bad idea" that "would essentially be rewarding an act of terror," and said "maybe" when asked about fears that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would allow the potentially displaced Gazans to return.
The Harvard appearance came hours after Kushner was honored by the Anti-Defamation League for his role in crafting the Abraham Accords. "I really don't care how you vote, but the Abraham Accords are a groundbreaking achievement," said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt when introducing Kushner.
Since the appearance, Trump has criticized both Israel for seeking to maintain bipartisan support in America as well as American Jews who vote for Democrats, saying they hate their religion and should be ashamed of themselves.
28
Feuerstein
13:02
This piece of dreck is a caricature of all the slanderous stereotypes that have been bandied about by antisemites throughout history to dehumanise us.
He is a living and breathing offense - and an effective danger - to all good, honest Jews the world over.
Dormus Jessop
15:13FeuersteinMaybe his Real Estate Corp in Gaza will called "Shylock Investments"!
Feuerstein
15:34FeuersteinShylock was a wronged man who went too stubbornly far in his revenge. Kushner has no such excuse. He’s just a greedy sociopath.
Dormus Jessop
15:56FeuersteinSorry I meant Oliver Twists Fagin. Dickens "Archetypical Jewish Villain". Kushner fits the persona perfectly!
27
Lou Arpino
12:28Ilahn Omar was right after all. It really is all about the Benjamins.
26
Dormus Jessop
12:11What a disgusting example of hate ! Master Race/Chosen People and Lebensraum like vitriol shows what a Zionist really is! A Himmler like personality who has not one redeeming quality! A Slum Lord Weasel, Tax Dodging Jewish Chauvinist, who only sees the pound of flesh he can get his teeth into! His Dorian Gray like face, is EVIL personified!
SD Karlin
14:49Dormus JessopCould he just be a chauvinist? Why qualify this unless you are a racist?
Dormus Jessop
15:06Dormus JessopKushner is the racist! No qualifying need be said. He spells it out by words and actions!
25
pity how much this creature seems to be
11:08emotion deficient, cold robotic that must also have its effects in everyday lives
24
Peter Cohen
10:47quote: and then Gaza became a thing.unquote. Yes, exactly. And then zionism made it into a prison camp.And then Hamas tried to escape the thing. And then Israel invaded the thing.In a few words,Kushner expresses the depth of zionist state philosophy.
23
suzette rey
10:32se monsieur na pas honte,j'espere que se qu'il demande ne se réalisera pas!!!!!!le peuple Palestiniens et chez lui a GAZA méme parmi les ruines et avec les défunts leurs frerre et seurs .que se monsieur reste chez lui.
22
BFA
10:30And the “something in the Negev”, will it have Arbeit Macht Frei over the entrance?
21
Lin
10:22So shocking interview. Jared is frightening.
20
ML
10:07I am looking forward to seeing the expressions on Prof. Tarek Masoud's face when the video comes out.
ML
13:51ML
I watched it so that you don't have to, and it's as awful as you all said it would be.
The camera missed the Prof's face when Kushner rolled out the real estate pitch, but got Kushner's _expression_ of dumb astonishment when Prof. Tarek Masoud suggested that Israel's relationship with the Palestinians was more important than Israel's relations with any other Arab nation.