Can Jared Kushner's investment firm connect Gulf money to Trump's Gaza plan?

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed a remarkable plan for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip and develop it into a "Middle Eastern Riviera." The audacity of this concept has led analysts and diplomats to speculate that Trump may be improvising.

However, a closer analysis reveals that a close family member of Trump has been discussing similar ideas for at least a year, and he possesses the funds and political connections to achieve this goal. This person is none other than Trump's son-in-law and former Middle East advisor, Jared Kushner.

Kushner stated in February 2024: "Gaza's waterfront property is very valuable. The situation there is a bit unfortunate, but from Israel's perspective, I would do my best to move people out and then clean it up." At the time, Israel was weighing whether to invade Rafah, a southern border town in Gaza. Kushner also suggested that Palestinians could be forcibly relocated to Israel's Negev desert or Egypt, but they would later be allowed to return to Gaza.

Nevertheless, international law stipulates these territorial rights, and the U.S. does not control property rights to the Gaza waterfront or its waters. Trump initially stated that a U.S.-controlled Gaza Strip would be inhabited by "people from all over the world," and there would be no reason for Palestinians to return. However, his advisors later walked back this statement.

Kushner's words cannot be ignored. He is not just Trump's in-law, nor is he simply a former White House advisor. After Trump's first presidential term, Kushner founded a private equity fund called Affinity Partners. The fund appears to be tailor-made for Trump's vision of building a luxury city in Gaza.

Kushner entered his Jewish-American family's real estate business through investments in Boston. Later, he entered the real estate world in New York City. His father, Charles Kushner, was nominated by Trump to be the U.S. Ambassador to France. Kushner's recent interest in real estate combines a penchant for exotic properties, adventure, and geopolitics. He plans to build a $1.4 billion luxury resort on Sazan Island, Albania's only island, which was formerly a military base. His fund has already begun transforming the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense building in Belgrade, Serbia, into a luxury hotel and complex.

Although the shadow of the 1990s Balkan wars has receded, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues. Kushner established the fund to promote deeper economic ties between Arab countries and Israel. He was a key architect of Trump's "Abraham Accords" and has forged a particularly close friendship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Kushner once proposed a plan called the "Deal of the Century," which called for Israel to annex 30% of the West Bank and establish a Palestinian quasi-state without an army. The plan attempted to entice the Palestinian Authority by offering $50 billion in economic aid, but it was rejected. Saudi Arabia is a major backer of Affinity Partners, with its sovereign wealth fund providing Kushner with $2 billion. As of last December, the UAE and Qatar had also collectively contributed $1.5 billion to the fund.

With funding from Gulf states, Affinity Partners has invested in two Israeli companies: the insurance company Phoenix Holdings and Shlomo Holdings' car rental division. Shlomo Holdings' parent company, Shmeltzer Holdings, is a partial owner of Israel Shipyards, the sole domestic shipyard for the Israeli Navy.

Joseph Pelzman, a little-known economics professor at George Washington University, stated in an August 2024 podcast that Kushner "wants to put money in" and his investors are "eager to participate," referring to Gaza. Pelzman authored a paper on post-war Gaza reconstruction that almost exactly mirrored Trump's appeal.

The Israeli-American professor stated that his proposal, which calls for the displacement of Palestinians and the construction of luxury resorts by international investors, was "submitted to Trump's people because they were initially interested in it." Pelzman said on a podcast called "America, Baby," hosted by Israeli professor Kobi Balda: "The first thing you have to do is dig up the whole place. Then you have to figure out how to deal with the local population, you have to move them out. Everything has to go... nothing vertical can be left." He also said: "The U.S. can count on Egypt. Egypt is a bankrupt country. We know they're bankrupt, really bankrupt."

Trump's plan was immediately rejected by Gulf allies such as Saudi Arabia, which Trump said the U.S. would use to rebuild the Gaza Strip. His call for direct U.S. involvement in the Gaza Strip also angered some domestic supporters who oppose foreign intervention. But last Thursday, Trump reiterated, just clarifying that his call for a "long-term ownership position" over the war-torn enclave would not require U.S. troops to be stationed there. He said the transfer would take place after Israel ended the fighting and the Palestinians left.

Middle East Eye reported that Trump intends to pressure Gulf states to fund a U.S. takeover of Gaza. In return for funding the forced displacement of Palestinians and the reconstruction of Gaza, Trump intends to offer Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE waterfront property rights.

In a sense, Trump is drawing on the practices of the Gulf states he hopes will fund the project, and those Gulf states are Kushner's investors. The UAE acquired the development rights to Mediterranean real estate by paying $35 billion to develop Ras El Hekma on Egypt's northwest coast in exchange for some form of return on investment. Mawa Muazzam, a professor at the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland, told Middle East Eye: "Trump is reverting to an economic development model while eliminating Palestinian political grievances. This is where the Abraham Accords fell short; the Palestinians were excluded." She added: "The problem is that Netanyahu still thinks he can exclude the Palestinians. This is unacceptable to regional actors such as Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and the Arab Gulf states."