Exclusive-Kushner has discussed U.S.-Saudi diplomacy with Saudi crown prince
By Aram Roston and Alexandra Ulmer
WASHINGTON (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, 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.
In a Sept. 24 letter 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.
(Additional reporting by Samia Nakhoul in Beirut. Editing by Jason Szep)
