Trump Says Son-in-Law Jared Kushner Is ‘in Charge’ in Israel, Despite No Official Government Role

Despite holding no formal government position, Jared Kushner appears poised to play a central role in one of the most consequential diplomatic efforts in the modern Middle East.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday, Dec. 29, after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that disarmament would be a key condition as the United States seeks to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas over the Gaza Strip.

“They’re going to be given a very short period of time to disarm,” Trump said, referring to Hamas. “We’ll see how that works out.”

Trump added that “Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be in charge of that from our side,” warning that if Hamas fails to follow through, “there will be hell to pay.”

Witkoff currently serves as the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East. Kushner, however, holds no official post in Trump’s second administration. He is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, and the couple has three children.

Both Witkoff and Kushner have faced criticism for stepping into negotiation roles in Gaza while maintaining extensive business ties across the Middle East, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

During Trump’s first term, Kushner served as a senior adviser but initially failed to secure top-level security clearance amid concerns over foreign influence and his family’s business relationships. That denial was later overridden by a Trump-appointed White House official. It remains unclear whether Kushner currently holds any form of security clearance as he takes on an unofficial negotiating role.

According to a September 2025 analysis by Forbes of the Trump family’s wealth, Kushner is now the second-richest member of the family, trailing only the president. He became a billionaire in 2025, largely through his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, along with Kushner Companies and backing from Middle Eastern investors.

Kushner launched Affinity Partners in 2021 with financial support from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—countries that would play pivotal roles in any future peace agreement or regional restructuring tied to Gaza.

Kushner’s departure from the first Trump administration coincided with a federal pardon issued by the president to his father, Charles Kushner.

In 2005, Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to 18 felony counts, including illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. He admitted to orchestrating retaliation against his brother-in-law, William Schulder, who was cooperating with federal investigators. The scheme involved hiring a sex worker to seduce Schulder and secretly recording the encounter, which was then sent to Schulder’s wife, Kushner’s sister.

Chris Christie, who prosecuted the case as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, later described it as “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” of his career.

Charles Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison, disbarred, and barred from practicing law in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, Trump appointed him as ambassador to France.

During his confirmation hearing, Charles Kushner addressed his past directly. “I think that my past mistakes actually make me better with my judgment, better in my view of life, better in my values, to really make me more qualified to do this job,” he said. “I made a very, very, very serious mistake, and I paid a heavy price for that mistake.”