Jared Kushner is back in the spotlight after playing a key role in Gaza peace negotiations.
Donald Trump's son-in-law and former Middle East adviser was a near ubiquitous presence during the President's first term, but he has largely steered clear of the second Trump administration as he pursued major business deals in the region.
That all changed in recent weeks as the Trump administration sought to push a Gaza deal over the finish line, with the President turning to Mr Kushner to use his influence with regional partners to win support for the plan.
“I put Jared there because he's a very smart person, and he knows the region, knows the people, knows a lot of the players,” Mr Trump said on Thursday, a day after he announced that Israel and Hamas had signed the first stage of a deal to end the war in Gaza.
Most of the negotiations had been conducted by special envoy Steve Witkoff and his team but it became apparent he needed help closing the deal, a source familiar with negotiations told The National.
This week, Mr Kushner – who holds no official role in the administration – joined Mr Witkoff in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm El Sheikh to take part in talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Thursday, Mr Kushner met Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and, alongside Mr Witkoff, attended an Israeli cabinet meeting that ratified the deal.
The peace deal, based on a 20-point plan unveiled by Mr Trump last month, has so far received widespread international support, including from Arab and Muslim countries.
Mr Trump has cast it as a major first step towards peace in the wider Middle East.
“Obviously, bringing the hostages home has been a top priority for President Trump for a very long time, and we have all worked tirelessly to achieve this,” Mr Kushner said in the Israeli cabinet meeting.
“But I really want to say that none of this would have been possible without the heroism of the IDF and the soldiers – what they have achieved not only in Gaza, but also in the entire arena over the past two years: in eliminating Hezbollah in the north and significantly weakening it, and also in what you have done in Iran.”
Mr Kushner previously said Gaza is “very valuable waterfront property” and had been working on a post-conflict plan – not the peace deal itself – when he was tagged in, the source said.
Mr Trump has credited Mr Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, as having been instrumental in delivering the Abraham Accords during his first term and said more countries would sign on, given the possible end to the war in Gaza.
Observers say Mr Kushner's involvement in that effort allowed him to build diplomatic relationships while giving him a better understanding of the region and its key players.
“Jared is a very smart guy. He did the Abraham Accords … by the way, that's going to be filled up rather quickly. People want to join the Abraham Accords,” Mr Trump said.
US officials on Thursday said the Gaza ceasefire deal paves the way for Saudi-Israel normalisation efforts, as well as with Indonesia, Algeria, Syria and Lebanon.
Mr Kushner's involvement in the Gaza deal comes days after his firm Affinity Partners joined Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and private equity firm Silver Lake to purchase Electronic Arts, the company behind video games such as Fifa, The Sims and Battlefield. The $55 billion deal is one of biggest in gaming history.
Tom Warwick, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, says Mr Trump is a president that likes the idea of “empowered special envoys”, but there is a small number of people who enjoy his trust.
“Jared Kushner is clearly one of those,” Mr Warwick told The National.
Mr Kushner's primary role up until recently, he explained, was bringing Tony Blair into the conversation.
Mr Blair, a former UK prime minister, served as special envoy for the Quartet on the Middle East. From 2007 to 2015, he was involved in efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a mix of political and economic incentives.
Officials speaking on background say Mr Blair and his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change were invited to offer “technical input” to Mr Trump's peace plan for Gaza.
He was consulted on ideas for governance structures in a postwar Gaza, humanitarian aid and reconstruction frameworks.
Under the plan, Hamas would be ousted and Gaza would be governed by a “Board of Peace”, a transitional authority headed by Mr Trump. Mr Blair would also have a senior position.
Mr Warwick said it's possible that Mr Kushner could be involved in the board.
“Whether the Trump administration chooses to give Jared Kushner a more permanent, prominent role, I don't think that's been decided yet,” he said.
After Mr Kushner left the first Trump administration, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund made a $2 billion investment in his private equity fund, leading to criticism he had profited from his time in the White House.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said such criticism was “despicable”.
Mr Kushner is “widely respected around the world and has great trust in relationships with these critical partners in these countries to strike a 20 point comprehensive, detailed peace plan that no other administration would ever be able to achieve”, she said last week.
His net worth is now in excess of $1 billion, according to Forbes.
