The Kushner Factor
By Khaled Salih
In the aftermath of the historic Israel-Hamas deal, President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, granted an extended interview to 60 Minutes to detail the unconventional, deal-driven approach that shattered decades of diplomatic deadlock. When pressed on his extraordinary confidence about the agreement, Jared Kushner did not lean on traditional diplomatic assurances; instead, he cut to the essential core of their mission: “Well, we can’t afford to fail.” He maintained that the finish line they pursued was solely “about saving lives.”
Kushner’s ability to approach this complex global crisis with pragmatic certainty was not newly acquired. He explained that his methodology was forged during President Trump’s first term, where he received comprehensive training in a new school of foreign policy defined by “pragmatic realism,” focused on using strength to avoid conflicts and “figuring out how to make deals—not lecture the world.” This training and experience provided Kushner with a historical foundation in high-stakes regional negotiations that Witkoff did not share.
Kushner’s previous success, particularly with “peace negotiations like the Abraham Accords and ending the GCC dispute,” required an iron will and deep perseverance. He revealed that to secure the Abraham Accords, they had to go “through the alphabet three times and failed at every letter and kept going—and we never quit.” This extensive track record of administration-level experience allowed Kushner to understand the operational dynamics of Washington and the Middle East file. He recalled that when he first worked on this file in the first term, the idea of potentially meeting with Hamas was immediately “shut down and ridiculed by everyone” within the diplomatic establishment.
While both Kushner and Witkoff leveraged their deep, trusted relationships in the Arab world and Israel, it was Kushner’s prior participation and training that helped guide the new negotiation, resulting in a breakthrough that required them to go “through the alphabet seven or eight times”—a testament to the increased complexity of the latest agreement. This established experience, which the envoys referred to as the beneficial alternative to perceived conflict of interest, fundamentally armed Kushner to challenge policy precedents and ultimately serve as the seasoned architect of this historic turn of events.
A New Paradigm
For decades, the landscape of Middle East diplomacy was littered with the remnants of failed peace initiatives, governed by a conventional wisdom that had ossified into dogma. A succession of seasoned foreign policy experts attempted to navigate the region’s complex fault lines, only to produce agreements that were more aspirational than actionable. The strategic importance of re-examining this history of futility is underscored by the emergence of the Abraham Accords—a series of historic normalisation agreements between Israel and several Arab nations—which challenges long-held assumptions and suggests that a different model for statecraft may have broken the diplomatic stalemate.
At the heart of this breakthrough is the emergence of a unique diplomatic approach, which maybe termed as The Kushner Factor. This factor is not a formal doctrine but a synthesis of three distinct elements: a pragmatic, results-oriented business acumen honed in high-stakes real estate; an outsider’s perspective that viewed Washington’s entrenched bureaucracy as an obstacle to be circumvented rather than a process to be followed; and an overarching focus on forging direct, trust-based relationships with a new generation of regional leaders. This approach prioritised personal rapport and transactional logic over institutional protocol and ideological precedent.
Here is an attempt to systematise the components of The Kushner Factor. By drawing exclusively from Jared Kushner’s memoir, Breaking History, and contrasting it with alternative perspectives on U.S. regional relationships, this analysis will examine his formative experiences, his operational strategy within the Trump administration, and the step-by-step execution of the Abraham Accords. To understand the diplomatic success that defied expert predictions, one must first examine the unconventional background that shaped its architect’s approach.
Forging the Diplomat
An analysis of Jared Kushner’s career prior to his White House appointment reveals a unique toolkit for statecraft, forged not in diplomatic salons but in the exigencies of high-stakes real estate and personal crisis. The strategic significance of these foundations is paramount; they directly informed his later actions in the Middle East, providing an operational logic that allowed him to identify opportunities where career diplomats saw only intractable conflict.
Business and Family Crisis
Two formative experiences were paramount in shaping Kushner’s operational mindset: the deep personal humility learned from his father’s imprisonment and the practical negotiating principles mastered during his real estate career. In his memoir, Kushner recounts his father’s incarceration as the “most humbling, difficult, and formative experience” of his life. This trial instilled a profound sense of perspective, teaching him to separate “the fleeting—money, power, and prestige—from the enduring.” This experience, he writes, had a way of “unflattering my thinking,” forging a results-oriented mindset less concerned with public perception and more focused on achieving tangible, lasting outcomes.
His career in real estate refined this mindset into a concrete set of negotiating principles.
Meticulous Due Diligence. An early investment at 82 Monroe Street, where he discovered many apartment units were illegally constructed after taking a seller’s claims at face value, taught him “the importance of conducting due diligence on every detail of a business deal, even those typically taken for granted.”
Calculated Risk-Taking. His success was built on identifying potential in overlooked buildings and “up-and-coming neighborhoods.” This taught him to mitigate downsides while taking “calculated risks” to develop a vision and execute it.
Consensus Building. Managing complex projects required an ability to motivate teams and solve problems, a skill he identifies as “building consensus.”
The Tutti Mangia Philosophy. Kushner adopted the Italian phrase Tutti mangia—“Everyone has to eat”—from a mentor. The principle that making “too good of a deal” incentives the other party to cut corners became central to his approach, emphasizing the creation of sustainable, mutually beneficial agreements.
An Outsider in Washington
Kushner entered the White House viewing Washington’s permanent bureaucracy as an entity “programmed to resist change.” In his memoir, he recounts numerous instances where officials tried to prevent President Trump from fulfilling promises, such as moving the American embassy to Jerusalem or withdrawing from the Iran deal. This perception of institutional inertia, where it takes “only one bureaucratic barrier...to stop progress,” framed his direct engagement with foreign leaders not merely as a preference but as a necessary operational tactic to bypass a system designed for stasis.
His direct access to President Trump proved to be his most powerful tool for bypassing this resistance, allowing him to circumvent the institutional opposition of senior figures like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Chief of Staff John Kelly. The planning for the first presidential trip to Saudi Arabia serves as a key example. Despite insistence from National Security Council staff that presidents do not have lunch with officials who are not heads of state, Kushner arranged a direct meeting between Trump and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Trump “dismissed that bureaucratic protocol,” validating Kushner’s belief in the power of personal diplomacy over rigid procedure.
These foundational elements—business acumen and an outsider’s ability to circumvent bureaucracy—were the core components he applied to the intractable problem of Middle East peace.
The Kushner Doctrine in Action
The Abraham Accords were not a diplomatic accident but the culmination of a multi-year strategy that systematically identified and dismantled long-held assumptions about Middle East peacemaking. This process was a direct application of the principles Kushner had forged in his business career and his time as a Washington outsider. A strategic analysis of the Accords’ development reveals the Kushner Factor at work: a willingness to reject conventional wisdom, a reliance on personal relationships, and a transactional approach that turned a potential crisis into a historic breakthrough.
Rejecting Conventional Wisdom
The Kushner team’s initial strategic review concluded that decades of diplomatic inertia stemmed from a fundamental flaw in prior efforts: a focus on ambiguous principles over actionable specifics. After reviewing previous agreements, he determined they were little more than “a brief set of principles” and “scant on details,” heavily wordsmithed to avoid contested issues. His approach was to do the opposite: develop a highly detailed plan that embraced, rather than dodged, the core points of contention.
This strategy was built on a direct challenge to the prevailing diplomatic consensus, best articulated by former Secretary of State John Kerry, who asserted that there could be “no advanced and separate peace with the Arab world without the Palestinian process.” Kushner frames this as a form of Calculated Risk-Taking; just as he identified potential in overlooked real estate, he questioned this core diplomatic assumption. He writes that he “embraced a new approach” that inverted the traditional model by seeking normalisation with Arab states as a means to create new dynamics for the Palestinian issue, rather than being held captive by it.
The Power of Personal Relationships
Central to Kushner’s operational logic was his decision to bypass traditional State Department channels and engage directly with a new generation of regional leaders. He developed close working relationships with key figures, most notably Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) of the United Arab Emirates. He found these direct discussions far more productive than formal meetings where officials read from “note cards handed to them by their career staffers.” In one meeting, he recalls, “We tore up the talking points and engaged in a genuine discussion,” solidifying his view that real progress was only possible by dealing directly with ultimate decision-makers.
The initial presidential trip to Saudi Arabia provides a stark case study contrasting his approach with the establishment view.
Kushner’s Outsider Approach
The Establishment Insider View
Argued the upside was “super high” and the downside “super low,” offering to take personal responsibility for failure.
Secretary Tillerson argued the Saudis could not be trusted and “never come through” on promises.
Bypassed protocol to arrange a direct lunch between Trump and MBS, believing direct contact was key.
NSC staff insisted that presidents do not have lunch with foreign officials who are not heads of state.
Engaged in a “genuine discussion,” tearing up talking points to forge a partnership.
Preferred formal, structured meetings with career staffers reading from prepared note cards.
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff also confronted allegations that their extensive business dealings—particularly with Gulf States such as Qatar—had created conflicts of interest during their diplomatic efforts. They reframed these financial relationships as strategic advantages, arguing that what critics viewed as “conflicts of interest” were in fact “experience and trusted relationships” that gave them the access needed to succeed. Witkoff explained that their ability to directly reach leaders like Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Mohammed bin Zayed, and Benjamin Netanyahu was “very, very critical” to securing agreements and freeing hostages, while Kushner added that without these “deep relationships,” their breakthrough “would not have occurred.” Both men rejected claims of policy bias, asserting that no action they took strayed from “the interests of America,” and emphasised their financial separation from the process—stating they had divested from private business, received no salary, and would not benefit from Gaza’s projected $50 billion reconstruction. Their defense reframed personal networks not as ethical risks but as indispensable diplomatic tools, highlighting how private capital and trust became the operational foundation of their approach.
The Annexation Gambit
A critical turning point in the negotiations emerged when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled his intent to annex parts of the West Bank. This move was perceived by Arab leaders like MBZ as a major threat that would “reverse the progress” that had been made. What could have been a deal-breaking crisis instead became the catalyst for a historic breakthrough through the application of transactional statecraft.
The sequence of the negotiation illustrates this private-sector M&A logic applied to a sovereign negotiation:
The Offer. MBZ, through Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba, sent a message to Kushner: the UAE was prepared to “fully normalize relations with Israel” if the planned annexation was taken off the table.
The Brokerage. Kushner’s team recognised the opportunity and spent weeks in intensive, quiet negotiations brokering the trade-off.
The Decision. President Trump, when presented with the choice between annexation and normalisation, prioritised the historic peace agreement.
This process was the ultimate application of the Tutti Mangia philosophy on a geopolitical scale. To secure the greater prize of normalisation, Netanyahu had to concede annexation; to secure his primary goal of stopping annexation, MBZ had to offer the valuable concession of normalisation. It was a deal where everyone had to “eat,” leveraging a potential crisis to secure a far greater strategic victory.
Building Momentum
The agreement with the United Arab Emirates created a fundamental realignment of regional strategic architecture, demonstrating to other Arab nations that normalisation with Israel was possible and beneficial. This initial breakthrough created the momentum for a series of subsequent agreements.
Bahrain. Following the UAE’s lead, Bahrain quickly joined the Accords, signaling a broader strategic shift among the Gulf Arab states.
Morocco. A deal was secured for Morocco to normalize relations in exchange for a major U.S. policy shift: formal recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara.
Sudan. As part of a wider diplomatic initiative, Sudan also agreed to join the Abraham Accords.
The successful execution of these agreements produced tangible shifts in the geopolitical landscape for Israel and the United States.
Impact and Legacy
The Abraham Accords were not merely symbolic; they created significant and measurable strategic impacts for their signatories. An analysis of these outcomes, contrasted with subsequent developments in U.S.-regional relations, highlights the unique environment fostered by Kushner’s unconventional diplomatic approach.
A Paradigm Shift
From Israel’s strategic perspective, the Accords must be assessed as a historic victory, effectively fracturing decades of Arab political consensus that had enforced its regional isolation. The agreements forged new alliances built around shared concerns, particularly the common threat posed by Iran, and opened the door for unprecedented economic and security partnerships. This realignment marked a definitive break from the past, moving the region toward a new framework based on mutual interest rather than historical grievance.
A key deliverable of this new paradigm was Saudi Arabia granting permission for commercial flights to and from Israel to cross its airspace. Kushner frames this decision, which he directly requested from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as a crucial step with immense practical and symbolic value. It served as a tacit Saudi endorsement of normalisation and demonstrated the tangible benefits of the direct, trust-based relationship he had cultivated.
America First
The Accords also directly fulfilled several core tenets of the Trump administration’s America First foreign policy. They provided a pathway to achieving key objectives without committing additional U.S. resources or military forces.
Ending “Endless Wars”. By fostering regional partnerships and self-reliance, the Accords helped create conditions that allowed the United States to reduce its military footprint in the Middle East.
Sharing the Defense Burden. The new alliances between Israel and Gulf Arab states shifted more of the responsibility for ensuring regional security to local partners.
Forging Peace Through Strength. The agreements demonstrated a new model for achieving regional stability that was driven by American diplomatic strength rather than direct military intervention.
A Contrasting Perspective on U.S. Relations
The collaborative, high-trust environment described in Kushner’s memoir stands in sharp contrast to sentiments expressed by regional partners regarding the subsequent U.S. administration. In a public discussion, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed a deep-seated mistrust when discussing a potential strike against Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, stating that telling the Americans about the plan “would be like telling Nasrallah; it would leak in five minutes.”
This assertion is a brutal validation of the very mistrust of institutional channels that drove Kushner’s methodology from the beginning, and it reinforces his own observation that “Until I saw high-stakes politics from the inside, I didn’t realize how much goes on that the press fails to capture.” Netanyahu’s statement underscores the unique, and perhaps personality-dependent, nature of the Kushner Factor. The success of the approach detailed in Breaking History appears heavily reliant on a specific rapport that was not automatically transferable across administrations.
This dynamic sets up the final assessment of whether the Kushner Factor is a replicable model or a unique product of a specific person and time.
A compelling counterpoint to the Kushner Factor is presented by Rabbi Pini Dunner, who argues that Jared Kushner’s celebrated transactional diplomacy has evolved into a form of private influence peddling serving Qatari interests. Dunner portrays Qatar as a state that wields its vast natural gas wealth to fund extremist movements, buy Western influence through lobbying and media ownership, and protect its global image through financial leverage. He highlights the 2018 Brookfield deal rescuing Kushner’s 666 Fifth Avenue property, partly financed by Qatari-linked funds, as evidence of troubling conflicts of interest. More recently, Dunner notes Kushner’s coordination of meetings between Qatari leaders and prominent Jewish financiers, framing them as attempts to sanitise Doha’s reputation amid accusations of Hamas financing. His conclusion is stark: Kushner’s “art of the deal” may have drifted from diplomacy into ethical ambiguity, turning trust-based statecraft into a vehicle for private gain and exposing the moral hazards of personality-driven foreign policy.
An Enduring Blueprint?
The Kushner Factor, as analysed through the lens of Breaking History, represents a significant departure from conventional American statecraft. Its core components are a foundation in high-stakes business that prized due diligence and mutual benefit; an outsider’s willingness to defy bureaucratic convention; a reliance on personal, trust-based relationships over institutional processes; and a pragmatic, transactional approach to deal-making that could turn diplomatic crises into strategic opportunities. Based exclusively on the achievements detailed in the source material, the success of this factor is undeniable. It directly led to the conceptualisation and execution of the Abraham Accords, the most significant Middle East peace breakthrough in over a generation.
The ultimate verdict on the Kushner Factor is whether American diplomacy can afford to institutionalise a model so dependent on personal chemistry and executive fiat, or if its success was a fleeting alignment of personality and power, impossible to replicate and dangerous to attempt. The answer will determine whether this unconventional approach is remembered as a historic anomaly or as the dawn of a new paradigm in the art of the deal.
60 Minutes, 20251020, “Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff’s extended 60 Minutes interview.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNa6PcU1Ke0&t=494s
Pini Dunner, 20231213, “Jared Kushner’s Qatari cleanup.” https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/12/13/jared-kushners-qatari-cleanup/
Jared Kushner, 2022, Breaking History. A White House Memoir. New York, Broadside Books/ HarperCollins Publishers Inc..
