COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) 鈥 Jared Kushner, Donald Trump鈥檚 former White House adviser and his son-in-law, praised the 鈥渧ery valuable鈥 potential of Gaza鈥檚 鈥渨aterfront property," suggesting that Israel should remove civilians while it 鈥渃leans up鈥 the area.
鈥淕aza鈥檚 waterfront property, it could be very valuable, if people would focus on building up livelihoods,鈥 Kushner said in , posted earlier this month on the YouTube channel of the Middle East Initiative, a program of Harvard University鈥檚 Kennedy School of Government, and reported first on Tuesday by The Guardian. 鈥淚f you think about all the money that's gone into this tunnel network and into all the munitions, if that would have gone into education or innovation, what could have been done?鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but I think from Israel鈥檚 perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up,鈥 Kushner added. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 think that Israel has stated that they don鈥檛 want the people to move back there afterwards.鈥
Responding Tuesday on X to 鈥渢hose dishonestly using selected parts鈥 of his remarks, Kushner posted a video of the entire interaction, saying he stood by his comments 鈥渁nd believe the Palestinian people鈥檚 lives will improve ONLY when the international community and their citizenry start demanding accountability from their leadership.鈥
About 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas following the militant group鈥檚 . More than 30,000 Palestinians and over 70,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip since Israel鈥檚 war on Hamas began.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington to discuss a prospective Rafah operation with Biden administration officials.
The agreement to hold such talks came as and spoke Monday, their first interaction in more than a month, as the divide has grown between allies over the food crisis in Gaza and Israel鈥檚 conduct during the war, according to the White House. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the talks will happen in the coming days and are expected to involve military, intelligence and humanitarian experts.
In the interview last month, Kushner also suggested that getting civilians out of Rafah and potentially into Egypt, might be possible 鈥渨ith the right diplomacy,鈥 also positing a plan for the the Negev desert in southern Israel.
Additionally, Kushner suggested that he 鈥渨ould just bulldoze something in the Negev, I would try to move people in there,鈥 adding: 鈥淚 know that won鈥檛 be the popular thing to do, but I think that鈥檚 a better option to do, so you can go in and finish the job.鈥
鈥淚 think Israel鈥檚 gone way more out of their way than a lot of other countries would, to try to protect civilians from casualties," Kushner added.
The debate over the has developed into a major theme of this year's U.S. presidential election, drawing dividing lines between Biden and Trump, as well as within their own parties.
Asked in an interview Monday about Democrats鈥 growing criticism of Netanyahu over his handling of the war in Gaza, that Jews who vote for Democrats 鈥渉ate Israel鈥 and hate 鈥渢heir religion,鈥 igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
He doubled down on those remarks Tuesday, telling reporters in Florida that 鈥渢he Democrats have been very, very opposed to Jewish people.鈥 Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., meanwhile, gave a speech from the Senate floor calling Trump's comments 鈥渦tterly disgusting and a textbook example of the kind of antisemitism facing Jews.鈥
Kushner worked on a wide range of issues and policies in the Trump administration, including Middle East peace efforts. Noting that he is not interested in rejoining the White House if Trump 鈥 who last week became the presumptive GOP nominee 鈥 wins the 2024 presidential election, Kushner said last month that he was focused on his investment business and his living with his family in Florida out of the public eye.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at
