One of the original architects of the Trump administration’s landmark Abraham Accords, President Donald Trump’s Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner is proving to be a modern-day Henry Kissinger, bringing business acumen to peace deal-making.
Originally sitting out Trump’s 2024 White House bid, Kushner is back at the forefront of Middle East diplomacy, playing a central role in brokering a landmark Gaza peace agreement that could reshape a region roiled by centuries of war and religious unrest.
Kushner led a final round of negotiations alongside U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to secure a deal freeing remaining hostages and withdrawing Israeli troops from parts of Gaza. The breakthrough followed a 20-hour negotiating session.
“Kushner is apprenticing for the role of Trump’s Henry Kissinger,” David Ignatius wrote in The Washington Post, just weeks into the first Trump administration. “He’s the secret emissary, the evaluator of talent, the whisperer of confidential advice.”
Kissinger, the Cold War-era statesman known for “shuttle diplomacy” and strategic realpolitik, was more than merely a talking point. He directly worked with Kushner before the establishment of the Abraham Accords, The Telegraph U.K. reported Sunday.
“They both have extremely broad strategic visions that generally extended further than most of their peers; they both saw opportunities to advance U.S. interests that others didn’t see or couldn’t see,” American Global Strategies’ Alex Gray, who had worked with Kushner, told the Telegraph.
“And they both understood how to use power both within the U.S. government and overseas to advance their vision for American foreign policy.”
The Abraham Accords initially helped in normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab nations. His longstanding ties to Saudi heir apparent Mohammed bin Salman and other regional figures also played a role in the new agreement.
Like Kissinger, Kushner has blended business and diplomacy, launching private-equity firm Affinity Partners after Trump’s first term, backed in part by Saudi investments. The deal cements his position as a key player in Trump’s foreign policy strategy heading into the final stretch of his second term.
Kushner, Witkoff, and Trump met last week at the White House before Hamas terrorists made their final sign-off of the impending release of the remaining hostages.
“Kissinger looked at the world through great-power politics with diplomacy as the instrument of choice,” former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told the Telegraph.
“Jared is a businessman, the Abraham Accords is a business deal. He looks at commercial relationships and capital markets. It’s smart and it’s very real in the Gulf in this moment.
“This mindset allowed Trump to unite the Arabs more than TE Lawrence.”
In invoking T.E. Lawrence — better known as Lawrence of Arabia — Bannon was pointing to the image of a charismatic outsider who used unconventional tactics to unite a fragmented tribal landscape against an entrenched power. Lawrence became famous for leading Arab irregular forces in guerrilla warfare against the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
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