Jared Kushner Urges Israel to Complete Gaza Operation for Development of "Waterfront Property" - Vanity Fair

Written by Bess Levin

In 2017 just before he took office, Donald Trump made a rather audacious prediction that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would solve the Middle East conflict. He said Kushner would surely succeed where others had failed before, hinting at the complexity of the conflict. Unfortunately, Kushner did not come close to bringing peace to the region, despite his extensive reading on the subject. He recently suggested that Israel should focus on exploring real estate opportunities in Gaza instead of dealing with the ongoing conflicts in the region.

A recent interview with Kushner at Harvard has ignited controversy. In the interview, which was made publicly available this month and brought to light by the Guardian, Kushner opined that the Gaza Strip had immense potential for real estate development if the existing population was moved. He suggested to Harvard Professor Tarek Masoud that Israel should relocate the residents and clean up the area for development. He also suggested displacing people living in Rafah, a Palestinian city in southern Gaza, to Egypt with diplomatic means. He even suggested bulldozing parts of the Negev and relocating people there as a better solution.

In the same conversation, Kushner asserted that creating a secure area in the Negev, moving civilians out, and then completing the project would be the correct move. Masoud, seemingly surprised by the suggestion, asked if there was any talk in Israel about this proposal.

Kushner fame short of an answer when he replied he didn’t know. He was nonchalant about moving people from their homes to make space for condominiums. When asked by Masoud if he would pursue such an initiative, Kushner responded that he was merely musing about what he would do from his perspective in Miami Beach.

When confronted about the possibility of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu preventing Palestinians who leave Gaza from returning, Kushner appeared unsure, saying it might be a possibility. He then added that he wasn’t sure what remained of Gaza at this point.

Later, Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, who was commenting on CNN about Kushner’s remarks, was taken aback by Kushner's words. He found Kushner’s comments about the situation in Gaza as 'a little unfortunate' to be callous and insensitive considering the ongoing violence and loss of life in the region. Rogin viewed Kushner’s comments as a likely preview of what Trump administration’s Israel policy might look like. He pointed out that Kushner seemed to be expressing the harsh reality that their approach would involve displacement and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, which is a troubling prospect for an American administration.