Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner says Saudi Arabia is a safer place for Jews than U.S. college campuses.
“One of the ironies is that as an American Jew, you’re safer in Saudi Arabia right now than you are on a college campus like Columbia University,” Kushner, who is Jewish, said on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“They allowed me to speak freely,” Kushner, 42, said of the Saudis after returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia, where he spoke at a conference.
There has been a wave of anti-Semitic incidents across the United States in which pro-Palestinian protesters take out their anger on Jewish students on campus.
Columbia University was forced to postpone its Giving Day fundraiser last week as its campus continues to be affected by tensions over the conflict in Israel. Billionaire donor Leon Cooperman has threatened to cut funding to the institution over anti-Israel activity on campus, including by a professor who called the deadly Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 “shocking.”
New York University students, greeted by a counter-protester (right), participate in a strike promoted by Students for Justice in Palestine on October 25. AFP via Getty Images
On Wednesday night, Jewish students were also forced to remain inside a Cooper Union library in New York City while protesters yelled at them from outside.
Some of the Jewish students heard the protesters chant: “Globalize the intifada from New York to Gaza!” according to New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn).
Kushner, a descendant of a wealthy American Jewish family, has been particularly welcoming to the Saudis. After leaving the Trump-era White House, his private equity firm received a $2 billion investment from the Saudi sovereign fund.
During his time in the Trump administration, Kushner attempted to help mediate normalization between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
A key diplomatic breakthrough occurred in September 2020, when the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to normalize relations with Israel.
But an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel remains elusive.
Jared Kushner took a keen interest in foreign policy and the Middle East during his tenure in the Trump White House. fake images
Polls have indicated that the public in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain distrust the measure. The Biden administration had still tried to foster good relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but since Hamas’ bloody surprise attack on Israel, there are doubts about a warming of tensions between the two countries.
But Kushner remained optimistic that Riyadh could still participate.
“Yes, I think they would like to move forward with the deal with the United States and Israel,” Kushner said when asked if a normalization of relations could still happen.
“The agreement being discussed is not just a partnership with Israel. It is also deepening its ties with the United States,” he said of Saudi Arabia.
Jared Kushner met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in September 2020.SPA/AFP via Getty Images
“We have to keep in mind that if the United States is not close to Saudi Arabia, then [the Saudis] will go in the other direction towards China. And that is why I think the issue is being discussed.”
Before war broke out in Israel, Biden administration officials considered signing a mutual defense treaty with Saudi Arabia and sharing nuclear technology with Riyadh for civilian purposes, the New York Times reported.
Under the hypothetical mutual defense treaty, which is one of the sweeteners believed to still be under consideration, both the United States and Saudi Arabia would agree to support each other militarily if attacked.
Jared Kushner said he was not aware of many of the details of the possible deal negotiated between Israel and Saudi Arabia.FOX
The Biden administration has had a somewhat complicated relationship with the Saudis. During his 2020 campaign, President Biden suggested that the oil giant would be relegated to pariah status.
He had been an outspoken critic of the brutal 2018 disembowelment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Earlier this month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has served as the kingdom’s de facto ruler, kept Secretary of State Antony Blinken waiting for hours for a meeting and did not show up until the next morning, The Washington Post. reported.
Meanwhile, Israel has begun an expanded ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to root out Hamas members, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Saturday. So far, more than 1,400 Israelis and 33 Americans have died in the conflict.
It is estimated that more than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health. That data set has been the subject of controversy due to Hamas’s history.
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