Trump son-in-law Kushner has discussed US-Saudi diplomacy with Saudi crown prince
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1 of 2 Jared Kushner attends the funeral for Ivana Trump, socialite and
first wife of former U.S. President Donald Trump, in New York City,
U.S., July 20, 2022. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo
[1/2]Jared
Kushner attends the funeral for Ivana Trump, socialite and first wife
of former U.S. President Donald Trump, in New York City, U.S., July 20,
2022. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights WASHINGTON,
Oct 4 (Reuters) - Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former U.S. President
Donald Trump, has discussed U.S.-Saudi diplomatic negotiations involving
Israel with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman multiple
times since leaving the Trump White House, said a source familiar with
the discussions.
The
source did not identify when the talks took place and whether they
occurred before or after the start of the Gaza conflict. But they
included discussions on the process of normalizing relations between
Israel and Saudi Arabia, a key diplomatic objective of both the Biden
and Trump administrations, the source said.
Kushner,
43, has a close relationship with Saudi Arabia, which congressional
investigators say has invested $2 billion in his private equity fund,
Affinity Partners, which Kushner set up after leaving the White House.
The
news that Kushner and Saudi Arabia’s de-facto leader discussed a peace
accord that U.S. President Joe Biden also has tried to broker
illustrates the importance both Republicans and Democrats place on the
increasingly unstable Middle East amid a razor-close presidential
election. The talks also signal how Trump might manage the crisis in the
region if voters return him to power – and renew questions about
whether Kushner’s financial ties with Riyadh could influence U.S. policy
under his father-in-law.
Saudi Arabia’s investments in Kushner’s fund have been criticized by ethics experts, Democrats in Congress and
even some Republicans, opens new tab,
who have expressed concern that Saudi Arabia’s stake can look like a
payoff since Kushner worked on Saudi issues before leaving Trump’s White
House.
, opens new tab
to Affinity, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance
Committee, wrote that investments by Saudi Arabia in Kushner’s fund
raise “obvious conflicts of interest concerns.”
Affinity
and Kushner have denied that Saudi Arabia’s investments are a payoff or
a conflict of interest. Affinity said Wyden and his Senate staff do not
understand the realities of private equity. “The reason so many people
go to Jared for his insights and his opinions is that he’s had such a
record of successes,” said a spokesperson for Kushner.
The
source close to Kushner declined to provide more details of the
discussions with the crown prince, also known as “MbS, saying he did not
want to violate the friendship between the two. “It wouldn’t be
appropriate for me to share that,” the source said.
A spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not answer questions about Kushner’s discussions with MbS.
In a Sept. 18 speech,
MbS said the kingdom
would not recognize Israel without the creation a Palestinian state,
suggesting a deal may be near impossible for the foreseeable future.
That’s a shift from February when
three sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia
was willing to accept a political commitment from Israel to create a
Palestinian state, rather than anything more binding, in a bid to get a
defense pact with Washington approved before the U.S. presidential
election.
To
encourage Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel, the Biden administration
has offered Riyadh security guarantees, assistance with a civilian
nuclear program and a renewed push for a Palestinian state. The deal
could reshape the Middle East by uniting two long-time foes and binding
the world's biggest oil exporter to Washington at a time when China is
making inroads in the region.
But
the Gaza conflict has thrown the talks into uncertainty. The war and
humanitarian crisis have strengthened Arab and Muslim support for the
Palestinians in their decades-long conflict with Israel over land and
statehood, making it difficult for Riyadh to discuss recognizing Israel
without addressing Palestinian aspirations.
The
U.S. election is also a factor as Trump, a Republican, vies with Vice
President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, in a historically tight race for
the White House.
The
Saudi relationship with Trump was notably close. Trump’s first foreign
trip as president in 2017 was to Riyadh, accompanied by Kushner. After
Saudi expatriate opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at
the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Trump stood by the crown prince in
spite of a U.S. intelligence assessment that he had authorized the
killing. MbS denied involvement.
Two
sources familiar with Saudi strategy said that if Trump returns to the
White House, the crown prince would welcome making a deal with Israel
under his leadership. If Harris were to win, the agreement would still
move forward, the sources said. Either way, the sources see it as a
win-win for MbS, even if it requires a few more months of patience.
On
Sept. 27, Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the prospect of
an agreement in positive terms. “What blessing such a peace with Saudi
Arabia would bring,” he said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
Normalizing
Israeli-Saudi relations would mark an expansion of the “Abraham
Accords” sealed when Trump was in office. The accords led to the
normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates,
Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. Kushner, who is close to Israel, led the
negotiations as a senior adviser in Trump’s White House.
Three
sources close to Kushner said that if Trump wins November’s
presidential election, they expect Kushner to be involved in the Saudi
talks, albeit in an unofficial capacity. A spokesperson for Kushner
denied that he is seeking such a role.
If
Kushner were to be involved in diplomatic talks as a private citizen in
a second Trump term, it could pose a significant conflict of interest,
ethics experts say, putting Kushner in the extraordinary position of
conducting government-level negotiations with one of his major financial
investors.
While
Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, have largely stayed away from
Trump's campaign events, they were present at the Republican National
Convention in July, sitting and clapping in the family box behind Trump.