Jared Kushner, the former senior advisor to Donald Trump and his son-in-law, said in a February 15 interview that Gaza’s waterfront property could be “very valuable” if Israel or Palestine would focus on building up livelihoods.
In the interview with Tarek Masoud, the Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Governance at Harvard University, Kushner suggested that due to a “rather unfortunate situation” Israel should remove civilians from the beachfront regions and “clean up” the area, Knewz.com has learned.
Kushner later defended his comments after the interview was published on March 7 and was picked up by the media on Wednesday, claiming they were “dishonestly using selected parts of my remarks” to sensationalize his commentary.
“I expressed my dismay that the Palestinian people have watched their leaders squander decades of Western aid on tunnels and weapons rather than on improving their lives,” he said on X.
For more context, Kushner was responding to a question from Masoud about concerns from Arabs in the region that, if Gazans leave the region, then Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would never let them back in.
“Maybe, but I am not sure there is much left of Gaza at this point,” Kushner responded.
He then offered a brief history of Gaza before saying the question facing authorities is, “how do we deal with the terror threat that is there, so it’s not a threat to Israel or Egypt?”
“Neither side wants a terrorist organization enclaved right between them. And Gaza is waterfront property, it could be very valuable if people would focus on building up livelihoods,” Kushner said. “You think about all the money that has gone into this tunnel network and munitions, if it had gone into education or innovation, what could have been done.
“It’s a rather unfortunate situation there, but if I were Israel I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up. But I don’t think Israel has stated they don’t want the people to move back there afterward.”
Kushner does not support calls for a ceasefire, saying Israel is simply trying to secure itself so the October 7 attacks are not repeated.
“The dilemma that Israeli leadership has right now is, do you do a short-term deal right now that leaves you vulnerable in the future? Or do you take this current situation and try to figure out a way where you can create a paradigm where your civilians will be safe and this will not happen again?”
Kushner also said authorities should “clear out” civilians from Rafah and send them to Egypt, a proposition that Cairo has explicitly refused.
He then added that Israel should “bulldoze the Negev,” referring to a desert in central Israel, to create a secure area for civilians so the Israel Defense Forces can “go in [to Rafah] and finish the job.”
Kushner then spent much of the interview offering a pro-Israel version of its history, which he used to defend the Trump administration policies in the Middle East, calling the UN Security Council “anti-Semitic” for its approach towards Israel.
The post Jared Kushner Calls Gaza Valuable ‘Waterfront Property,’ Urges Israel to ‘Clean Up,’ Remove Civilians From Area appeared first on Knewz.
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Author: Kevin McSpadden
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