Jared Kushner meets Netanyahu after Hamas talks: What are his Middle East business links?
Kushner's Gaza Diplomacy and the Billion-Dollar Question: How Middle East Ties Fuel His Investment Empire
A Diplomatic Trip Amid Stalled Peace Efforts
Theindiapostdaily.com – Just one day after sitting down with Hamas representatives in Cairo, Jared Kushner — son-in-law of US President Donald Trump and his designated Middle East envoy — landed in Jerusalem to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The sequence of meetings, reported by the BBC, underscores Washington's urgency to restart a Gaza peace framework that has ground to a halt.
The original 20-point ceasefire plan, endorsed by both Israel and Hamas the previous year, delivered a truce and freed the last hostages seized during the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel. Yet the follow-on phases of that deal have produced almost no tangible movement. Disputes persist over Hamas disarmament, the scope of Israeli military pullback, and who will govern Gaza going forward.
Washington is now pressing a revised 15-point roadmap. Hamas has signed on; Israel has turned it down, per the Associated Press. The document envisions Israeli forces exiting the territory and a fresh civilian Palestinian authority overseeing reconstruction. Israel's refusal followed a statement from Trump's Board of Peace claiming a deal had been struck the prior month for the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza. Trump chairs that board, an entity originally chartered to broker peace in Gaza but subsequently broadened to encompass conflicts worldwide.
The Phoenix Bet: From Failed 2014 Deal to Nine-Fold Return
Kushner's diplomatic footprint in the region runs parallel to deep financial exposure there. Forbes identifies his largest private-equity triumph as his position in Phoenix, an Israeli insurance and financial-services firm.
The first attempt dates to 2014, when the then-33-year-old CEO of Kushner Companies — the New York real-estate outfit co-founded by his father and grandfather — struck a tentative arrangement to buy a 47% stake in Phoenix, partly funded by a seller-side loan. Regulatory obstacles sank the transaction.
A decade later, a second path opened through Affinity Partners, the private-equity vehicle Kushner launched in 2021. Beginning in July 2024, Affinity deployed roughly $250 million to assemble a near-10% holding in Phoenix.
"At the time, most were scared to invest in Israel due to the uncertainty from the war," Kushner told Forbes. "We saw Phoenix as a misunderstood cornerstone asset, and said, 'Let's make a big bet on Israel'."
Kushner has called Phoenix Affinity's "best investment" and stated he has already recouped more than nine times his initial capital. Forbes notes the stock has nearly tripled since Affinity's entry, with leverage amplifying the upside. Phoenix manages approximately $170 billion in assets. Kushner holds no formal seat on the company's board but says he maintains a "very active dialogue" with leadership, meeting executives every few weeks.
Diplomacy as a Business Catalyst
The political track and the investment track have reinforced each other. Kushner walked away from the family real-estate firm in 2017 to serve as a senior adviser during Trump's first term, a posting that deepened his immersion in Middle East diplomacy. He subsequently helped negotiate the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and other states.
After departing the White House in January 2021, he established Affinity Partners in Sunny Isles Beach, a Miami suburb. Forbes reports he has since raised about $4.6 billion, including $1.5 billion last year from two earlier Middle Eastern backers: Qatar's sovereign wealth fund and Abu Dhabi-based Lunate.
Forbes values Kushner's personal fortune at just over $1 billion, up from at least $900 million a year earlier. That wealth spans his Affinity stake, his Kushner Companies interest, and assorted other holdings.
A Broader Portfolio — and One Notable Miss
Affinity now holds roughly 25 positions across at least eight countries. Beyond Phoenix, the book includes building-products distributor QXO and London-based digital bank Revolut, alongside stakes in artificial-intelligence firms.
Not every wager has paid off. Mosaic, a California-based residential solar lender that Affinity backed in 2022, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June.
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