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- Jared Kushner took a victory lap in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Monday.
- Kushner claimed his work on several Israeli agreements would lead to peace across the region.
- "We are witnessing the last vestiges of what has been known as the Arab-Israeli conflict," he wrote.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Former White House senior advisor Jared Kushner – who is reportedly working on a book about his time serving under his father-in-law, former President Donald Trump – took a bullish view of his influence in bringing peace to the Middle East in a new op-ed published Monday.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Kushner outlined his work on several Israeli deals normalizing relations with regional powers.
In the 40-year-old's view, stodgy conventional wisdom stood in the way of solving problems that were actually quite easy, despite decades of attempted conflict resolution between Israel and Palestinians along with other rival nations. The Trump administration brokered deals between Israel and United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – countries all concerned about Iranian influence – while leaving the Israeli-Palestinian disputes unresolved.
"We are witnessing the last vestiges of what has been known as the Arab-Israeli conflict," Kushner wrote.
Kushner described the longstanding conflict between Israelis and Palestinians as merely a "real-estate dispute" – despite his roadmap for peace being immediately dismissed by Palestinian leaders.
"One of the reasons the Arab-Israeli conflict persisted for so long was the myth that it could be solved only after Israel and the Palestinians resolved their differences," Kushner wrote. "That was never true. The Abraham Accords exposed the conflict as nothing more than a real-estate dispute between Israelis and Palestinians that need not hold up Israel's relations with the broader Arab world. It will ultimately be resolved when both sides agree on an arbitrary boundary line."
One of the biggest sources of criticism surrounding Kusher's efforts came with his general lack of interest in and even dismissiveness of the Palestinians, whom Kushner believes should not have their own recognized state.
To support his argument of buy-in from the Arabic world, Kushner cited tweets from Israel's prime minister that say nice things about Arab leaders.
"Every time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweets something positive in Arabic about an Arab leader, it reinforces that Israel is rooting for the success of the Arab world," Kushner wrote.
The former president's son-in-law later delivered a backhanded compliment to President Joe Biden on the Iran Nuclear Deal, which his administration has been trying to rejoin after Trump abandoned it.
"The Biden administration, however, has one asset that the Trump administration never had-a relationship with Iran," Kushner wrote. "While many were troubled by the Biden team's opening offer to work with Europe and rejoin the Iran deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, I saw it as a smart diplomatic move.
"The Biden administration called Iran's bluff," Kushner continued. "It revealed to the Europeans that the JCPOA is dead and only a new framework can bring stability for the future. When Iran asked for a reward merely for initiating negotiations, President Biden did the right thing and refused."
Kushner described how his pro-business approach to normalizing relations between Israel and neighboring nations could soon lead to Saudi Arabia following suit, and that Biden could benefit from the deals if he continues down the same path.
"Following the new road map will prevent the Biden administration from repeating the mistakes of the past and unlock opportunities for U.S. businesses."
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