Jared Kushner Reveals How 'Stupid Word Games' Impacted Middle East Negotiations
Jared Kushner opened up about his role in brokering the recent Gaza ceasefire during an in-depth interview on Sunday’s 60 Minutes, describing years of failed diplomacy in the region as “stupid word games.”
Appearing alongside U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Kushner detailed how the pair helped mediate the deal between Israel and Hamas following their two-year conflict. Host Lesley Stahl said the two men relied less on traditional diplomatic tools and more on “the intensely personal techniques of real estate dealmakers,” including “dangling presidential promises, protections or punishments.”
Kushner told Stahl that, at its core, the negotiation was not complicated. “We wanted the hostages to come out. We wanted a real ceasefire that both sides would respect. We needed a way to bring humanitarian aid into the people,” he said. “And then we had to write all these complex words to deal with the 50 years of stupid word games that everyone in that region is so used to playing.”
He said both sides ultimately wanted the same outcome — peace — but needed help navigating the political language that had bogged down prior negotiations.
Stahl pressed Kushner and Witkoff about their extensive business ties to Middle Eastern countries and whether that presented conflicts of interest...typical of her. Kushner dismissed the criticism. “What people call conflicts of interest, Steve and I call experience and trusted relationships,” he said. “If Steve and I didn’t have these deep relationships, the deal we were able to get done — that freed these hostages — would not have occurred.”
Read more about the peace deal negotiations
